Hahne Outduels Simpson for Dubuque Victory

Jason Hahne returned to victory lane in the Malvern Bank Super Late Models East Series Memorial Day weekend finale on Sunday at Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway.

After a washout at Davenport, Iowa on Friday and a caution-free Saturday showdown, the tour closed out its Memorial Day weekend tripleheader at the high-banked 3/8 mile oval at the Dubuque County Fairgrounds. Dubuque would prove to be an important race as three drivers were all tied for the championship points lead. Dylan Thornton, Dallon Murty and Chad Simpson all sat on 388 points after three nights of action on the tour. Jesse Glenz was the fastest overall in Keyser Manufacturing qualifying. The Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin laid down a 14.731 second lap to outpace the rest of group 4. Groups 1, 2 and 3 were led by Dylan Thornton, Dave Eckrich and C J Horn.

Heat racing saw some new winners as Don Geist, the lone Colorado native, and Dubuque regular Luke Merfeld won heat races 2 and 4. Meanwhile, Iowans Charlie McKenna and Jesse Sobbing took victory in heats 1 and 3. After heats concluded, Jesse Glenz was the Skyline Materials Lucky 6th Place top point driver. He initially declined to start sixth in the feature for a chance at a $600 bonus. However, he redrew the sixth spot anyway.

After Fred Remley won the Predator Custom Trailers B Feature, 23 cars took to the speedway for the 30-lap Malvern Bank Main Event. Don Geist sat on pole position for the first time in his career with Jason Hahne on his outside. Hahne would capitalize on his starting spot as he would jump out to an early lead.

The first of 3 cautions came out on lap two when Jesse Glenz and Jesse Sobbing made contact while battling for fourth. Glenz spun sideways and collected Charlie McKenna and Luke Merfeld. Glenz would continue on and battled all the way back to finish eighth while Merfeld and McKenna both ended their nights early. Merfeld was credited with 21st and McKenna 23rd.

When racing resumed, Hahne continued to lead while Dylan Thornton, Jesse Sobbing, Dave Eckrich, and Chad Simpson waged war for the remainder of the top five. Thornton and Sobbing put on arguably the most spirited battle of the race as the two former modified drivers exchanged slide jobs throughout the majority of the green-flag laps.

Caution number 2 came out two laps shy of halfway when Pole Sitter Don Geist went down with a flat tire in turn one slowing down and taking his car back towards the pit area. He would finish 20th.

Hahne continued to lead while Thornton and Sobbing continued their race for second. Before long, the battle became a 3-car duel as Chad Simpson joined the fray. The Mt. Vernon, Iowa driver utilized the bottom lane to his advantage and powered by Thornton and Sobbing for third and then second.

C J Horn was the final caution victim of the night as he lost power coming off turn two. This set up a 7-lap dash to the finish. Hahne continued to run the top side while Simpson ran the bottom of turns 1 and 2 and the then followed Hahne on the top of turns 3 and 4.

When the checkered flag flew, it was Hahne, who led all 30 laps but outlasted the pressure from Simpson, to capture his first win of the season breaking a 51-race losing streak. It was his fourth career series win and his first win since Southern Iowa Speedway back in 2023. Hahne also became the first repeat winner at Dubuque in four visits to the track. Chad Simpson recorded his fourth consecutive second-place finisher of the season, and with that run, he effectively took over the points lead leaving Dubuque. Jesse Sobbing took third while Dylan Thornton finished fourth, and Jacob Hobscheidt charged from 18th to round out the top five nabbing him the Hoosier Tire Hard Charger Award.

With Memorial Day weekend in the history books, the East Series finishes out the month of May with a doubleheader in southeastern Iowa. On Friday, May 30th, the tour gears up for the 4th Annual Tony Stewart Tribute at the C J Speedway in Columbus Junction, and then the tour will head to the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson on the 31st.

#SLMR #BeastsOfTheEast