Sobbing Strikes First in SLMR West Opener

The first Malvern Bank Super Late Model Racing Series event of 2026 saw the reigning west series champion back in victory lane in Sunday’s season opener at Stuart Speedway.

The opening round of the 2026 season for the SLMR late models saw the west series kick off the year on the smallest track on the tour, the high-banked, quarter-mile Stuart Speedway in Stuart, Iowa. Sunday marked the first time the track played host to the series’ season opener.

Things got off to a very rough start in Deathrage Opticial hot laps when Derek Daly, making his SLMR debut, caught the turn one wall and barrel-rolled two times before landing right-side up. Daly was able to walk away from the wreck, but he would be done for the evening.

The first Keyser Manufacturing Top Qualifier of the new season was 2024 West Series Champion, Bill Leighton Jr. The La Vista, Nebraska laid down a blistering 13.187 second lap time to lead the first of 3 qualifying groups. Group two was led by 4-time Series Champion Tad Pospisil as he stopped the clock at 13.447 seconds. The third and final group was topped by Daniel Hilsabeck with a 13.407 second lap set by the Earlham, Iowa driver.

The three heat races on the night were won by Andrew Kosiski, Jeff Tharp and Dylan Sillman. After points were tallied following the heats, Hilsabeck returned as the top point earner. This meant he would have the first chance to take the Skyline Materials Lucky 6th Place Starter challenge. A massive $2,000 bonus was rolled over from the previous season into the opener, but Hilsabeck declined the challenge and would start fourth in the main event. The Lucky 6th Place starting spot would ultimately go to Jason Hahne.

It was Jesse Sobbing and Bill Leighton Jr., The West Series Champions from the last two seasons, who shared the front row for the 30-lap main event. Leighton jumped out to the early lead, but his time up front only lasted for two laps as Sobbing got ahead of them as they led the pack off turn two on the third lap.

The only caution of the race came out on lap 8 when Darrel DeFrance and Paul Glendenning got tangled up near the end of the pack. Neither car sustained heavy damage, so both drivers continued on with the race.

When Action resumed, Sobbing led while Leighton ran second. A bit further behind them, Tad Pospisil, Daniel Hilsabeck and Jake Neal swapped positions 3rd-5th back and forth. The race for the lead began to get just as competitive as Sobbing and Leighton navigated lapped traffic. Leighton tried to mount a charge late in the distance, but Sobbing kept out of harm’s way and found enough speed to stay ahead to run out the laps and score the first feature win of the 2026 season.

Sobbing’s victory was his first SLMR win at Stuart and the 11th SLMR win of his career. It also makes him the sixth different winner in nine races at the track. In addition, the win served as a bit of redemption after coming up one spot short of the win at the same track the year before.

Bill Leighton Jr. would have to settle for second while Tad Pospisil came in third. Jake Neal charged late to take back fourth, while Daniel Hilsabeck rounded out the top five. Corey Zeitner would be the race’s Hoosier Tire Hard Charger Award winner as he went from 16th to finish 10th.

After an action-packed opener for the West Series, the SLMR East Series will get to open their part of the season with a Memorial Day Weekend tripleheader in eastern Iowa. Kicking off the weekend will be the tour’s first-ever visit to the Bloomfield Speedway in Bloomfield on Friday, May 22nd. The next night, the series heads north to the Maquoketa Speedway in Maquoketa before finishing out the weekend on Sunday at the Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway in Dubuque.

#SLMR #BestOfTheWest