Jacob Goede’s racing career at Elko Speedway can be broken up into two stints.
The first five years, beginning in 2002, saw him finish second in the late model division points twice, and third once. After taking some time away from the track to travel across the country to race, Goede returned to Elko in 2014.
In the five years since, he’s won five straight championships in the track’s top series.
Goede will begin the season this weekend at Elko, a 0.375-mile semi-banked oval in Elko, Minnesota. And while he has seen incredible success at his home track the last half-decade, he’s still racing for more.
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“I always want to be better, and I know we can be too,” Goede said. “I know there’s always room to improve.”
Goede’s competitive edge on the track started when he was 7 years old and began racing quarter midgets. He did that until he was 15 and made the switch to late models, a car he spent a full summer just practicing on before getting into a real race.
While the late model veteran said he spent some time also playing baseball growing up, racing has always been his passion, and his dad made sure he and his two younger brothers knew the hard work that went into being successful in the sport.
“My dad got us into it, but at the same time he didn’t make it super easy,” Goede said. “If we wanted to race we had to work on the car, whether that meant just cleaning it or whatever. You had to show some interest otherwise were weren’t going to continue doing it. That was huge for me and my brothers… and I think that just carried over. If you want to do something you’ve got to work at it. It’s not just going to be handed to you. That’s how I grew up and that’s how I still feel.”
After taking time away from his home state to travel the country racing, Goede returned home after getting married in 2011 and welcoming his first daughter in 2012. Now married with three kids, getting to race closer to home is easier, plus it helps, he said, that his whole family can be there to see him get behind the wheel every weekend.
While he said he still travels to race occasionally, it’s not as fun for him if his family can’t be there to watch and cheer him on.
Winning at Elko hasn’t come easy for Goede, but with each win and championship comes more confidence. And with confidence comes the drive to keep competing and finding victory lane.
“Honestly, it was hardest to win the first one,” he said. “I’d been close my first three years or so… We ran really good but couldn’t actually win the championship, so finally in 2014 when we won the first one, it was a trying season but I guess we made it happen.
“After that I think just the confidence of having won one before and then two, I think the biggest thing is just having confidence and continuing to work on it too. You always want to be better. That’s probably most of it, just continuing to try and improve, and then the biggest thing I think is just the mindset and the confidence that you get with the experience.”
Goede enjoys going to the track every week and knowing his car will be the one to beat, even if that does come with added pressure – “But it drives me, it continues to drive me to want to be better as well,” he said. “It doesn’t matter how good the season was before, I want to improve come the next year. I won I think nine features last year, so this year I want to win 10 or 12.”
There aren’t any real goals Goede has written down that he goes into every season wanting to accomplish, but there is one long term goal he’s going for. He’s been told the record for most track championships by a single driver at Elko Speedway is nine.
He was also told by fellow competitors that that record will likely never be broken.
He’d like to prove them wrong.
“That’s a little bit of driving motivation right there to keep going,” he said. “I guess that’s probably my biggest goal. Might as well try to win 10 and put my name at the top.”
Goede will begin the season at Elko this Saturday, with sponsors Suburban Chevrolet and GM Performance Parts, his wife’s business called Baby Gowdy – “without her support I obviously couldn’t be doing this” – Getz Trucking, Motor Racing Products, Murgic Racing Engines, and Big Johnson Tires.
He’s been on the track at La Crosse Speedway in Wisconsin a few times this season to get warmed up for 2019 so he can shake the rust off and be ready to go as his run for No. 6 begins.
Goede and his team made improvements on this year’s car, and so far those seem to be working. He’s ready to put them to the test this weekend.
“I guess always wanting to be better. I want to keep winning championships,” he said. “I appreciate what NASCAR does. We’ve gone to the banquet every year. They make it fun and I don’t know, I just want to keep going I guess and maybe see how many we can win. Eventually it’s going to come to an end but I’m going to try to enjoy it while I can and see how many we can win. I still want to do some super late model stuff, but for right now this fits well with us.
“The competition is tough at Elko. It’s not just a gimme, that’s for sure. We’ve got to be on our game, and that’s kind of what drives me to keep going. I want to continue to win and it’s not easy, but someone’s got to win, and it might as well be me.”
Elko Speedway will open the season this Saturday with Eve of Destruction, featuring NASCAR racing from late models, Thunder Cars, and Legends, beginning at 6 p.m.