Elke Pelch has been taking pictures as long as they’ve known what a camera is (ask their mom, there are pictures of the ceiling to prove it). They moved to Minnesota for art school and have taken a few unexpected detours in life.

A fan of NASCAR since watching Dale Sr. as a child, they never considered combining their two summer hobbies into a common interest until their husband pushed them into it. After he became the announcer at LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway (asphalt, WI) and Chateau Speedway (dirt, MN), they were already spending every weekend at a track, so bringing the camera became second nature. As of 2026, they’re in their third season lugging the camera along full-time to tracks.

While racing is the current hyper-fixation, Elke also loves taking nature photography and does portraits here and there. There’s never a trip that doesn’t involve several hundred shots of everything they can find … mostly dead trees and rocks, if they’re honest. Regardless of what they’re shooting, photography is their passion and they’d like to think it shows in their art.

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