Leighton Wins I-80

It had been a month since the drivers of the Malvern Bank SLMR Series had taken to the track but that all changed Saturday night when the Series returned to life for championship night at the I-80 Speedway during the Speedway Motors Cornhusker Classic. 30 cars would be in attendance for the $3,000 to-win season closing race.

Robbie Andersen, Andrew Kosiski, Bill Leighton Jr, and JC Wyman claimed the heat race wins to begin the night. Kyle Berck and Troy Daly then rolled to the B-Feature wins.

For the 30 lap A-Feature, Robbie Andersen and Bill Leighton Jr would bring the field the initial green flag. The field slowed for 4 yellows before the first lap was completed. First yellow collected Jake Hobscheidt, Brad Perdue, Troy Daly, and Paul Conrad. The second yellow flew as Jason O’Brien had stopped in turn 2. The third yellow was a product of contact between Curt Schroeder and Chad Holladay sending Schroeder spinning. Then the fourth was for JC Wyman as he spun down the backstretch after contact with JC Wyman.

The race was restarted for the fifth time and Bill Leighton powered out to the lead with the field in tow and battling for position behind him. The yellow was displayed yet again on lap 5 after Jason O’Brien had stopped in turn 2 with a flat left rear tire. Another restart and quick yellow slowed the field again after Nate Beyenhof and Dylan Schmer went through the spin cycle on lap 7.

With six quick yellows the running order had been shaken up from the original starting grid. Bill Leighton brought the field back to green trailed by Robbie Andersen, Andrew Kosiski, Corey Zeitner and Ben Schaller. After restarting from the tail of the field after his spin JC Wyman had rocketed through the field and now found himself in the 8^th spot and challenging for more within laps of the restart. At the half way point Leighton began to work his way through lap traffic as he continued to pull away from the field.

The battle for the second spot had begun between Robbie Andersen and Andrew Kosiski. While those two continued their battle through lap traffic this allowed Corey Zeitner, Ben Schaller, and Tad Pospisil to run them down and make a 2-car battle for 2^nd place a 5-car battle. With 11 laps left to go Kosiski finally cleared Andersen and pulled away. Schaller surrendered the fifth spot to Pospisil on the next lap while Pospisil set his sights on Corey and Robbie for third. Tad soon slipped by both the 19 and 82 for 3^rd and then ran down Kosiski for the second spot claiming 2^nd just a few laps later.

As the checkered flag waved for the final time of the season it was Bill Leighton Jr and his 24-team finding their way to victory lane claiming the $3,000 payday. Tad Pospisil came home second, Andrew Kosiski in third, Robbie Andersen with a season best finish of fourth, and Corey Zeitner rounding out the top 5 and your 2019 Malvern Bank SLMR Series champion, Kyle Berck, closes out 2019 with a 9^th place finish. This is Berck’s second straight MBSLMR title and Series’ record 7^th of his career. The win for Leighton is his 15^th MBSLMR win of his career and now has won a race in 9 straight MBSLMR season.

Results:

Speedway Motors Heat Race #1: 1. Robbie Andersen, 2. Ben Schaller, 3. Gary Brown Jr, 4. Gary Webb, 5. Troy Daly, 6. Brad Perdue, 7. Jason O’Brien, 8. Brian Barrett

Keyser Manufacturing Heat Race #2: 1. Andrew Kosiski, 2. Josh Krug, 3. Chad Holladay, 4. Zach Zeitner, 5. Nate Beyenhof, 6. Josh Leonard, 7. Brett Hopp

Roth Racing Heat Race #3: 1. Bill Leighton Jr, 2. Curt Schroeder, 3. Dylan Schmer, 4. Brian Kosiski, 5. Jim Johnson, 6. Scott Daly, 7. Tyler Smith

Kosiski Auto Parts Heat Race #4: 1. JC Wyman, 2. Corey Zeitner, 3. Tad Pospisil, 4. Jacob Hobscheidt, 5. Kyle Berck, 6. Paul Conrad, 7. Darrel DeFrance, 8. Brad Vogt

B-Feature #1: 1. Kyle Berck, 2. Nate Beyenhof, 3. Josh Leonard, 4. Jason O’Brien, 5. Scott Daly, 6. Brian Barrett, 7. Brett Hopp

B-Feature #2: 1. Troy Daly, 2. Jim Johnson, 3. Brad Perdue, 4. Paul Conrad, 5. Darrel DeFrance, 6. Brad Vogt, 7. Tyler Smith

A-Feature: 1. Bill Leighton Jr, 2. Tad Pospisil, 3. Andrew Kosiski, 4. Robbie Andersen, 5. Corey Zeitner, 6. Ben Schaller, 7. Josh Krug, 8. Gary Brown Jr, 9. Kyle Berck, 10. JC Wyman, 11. Jacob Hobscheidt, 12. Zach Zeitner, 13. Josh Leonard, 14. Jason O’Brien, 15. Nate Beyenhof, 16. Dylan Schmer, 17. Jim Johnson, 18. Brian Kosiski, 19. Brad Perdue, 20. Troy Daly, 21. Curt Schroeder, 22. Chad Holladay, 23. Gary Webb, 24. Paul Conrad

Contingency Awards:

Speedway Motors Heat Race #1: Robbie Andersen

Keyser Manufacturing Heat Race #2: Andrew Kosiski

Roth Racing Heat Race #3: Bill Leighton Jr

Kosiski Auto Parts Heat Race #4: JC Wyman

Hoosier Tire Hard Charger: Jason O’Brien

VP Fuels Top Qualifier: Bill Leighton Jr

Dynamic Drivelines Hard Luck Award: Paul Conrad

Sardeson Racing Worst Draw: Jason O’Brien

Speedway Motors Back-Up Award: Curt Schroeder

Keizer Wheels Last Man In: Paul Conrad

Wehrs Machine A Feature Pole Sitter: Robbie Andersen

Predator Trailers B Feature King: Kyle Berck

Hooker Harness 5^th Place: Corey Zeitner

Out Pace Products 7^th Place: Josh Krug

Simpson Performance Products 8^th Place: Kyle Berck

Braswell Carburetion 10^th Place: JC Wyman

Brinn Transmission 12^th Place: Zach Zeitner

Penske Top 3 Finishers: Bill Leighton Jr, Tad Pospisil, Andrew Kosiski

Rod End Supply Lap Leaders: Bill Leighton Jr

Top 16 in the Final Series Point Standings:

Series Sponsors: Beyea Headers, Braswell Carburetion, Brinn Transmissions, Dynamic Drivelines, Helmet Head Design, Hooker Harness, Hoosier Tire, JE Pistons, Keizer Wheels, Keyser Manufacturing, Kosiski Auto Parts, Malvern Bank, My Race Pass, N&W Transfer, Out-Pace Products, Penske Racing Shocks, Performance Bodies, Predator Trailers, Real Wheels, Rod End Supply, Roth Racing, Sardeson Racing, Simpson Performance Products, Speedway Motors, Storm Solution Specialists, Swartz Chassis, VP Fuels, Wehrs Machine, and Zeitner and Sons Trucking.