Murty Continues Winning Ways at Shelby County
By Anthony Ainslie
8/16/25
Dallon Murty continued his rookie season in grand fashion claiming another victory in Saturday’s Malvern Bank Super Late Model Racing Series’ return to Shelby County Speedway.
The high-banked 1/3-mile bullring at the Shelby County Fairgrounds in Harlan, Iowa played host to the West Series for the track’s final appearance on the 2025 Malvern Bank Series schedule. A stout field of 32 cars packed the pit area for a Saturday night showdown presented by Max I. Walker Uniform Services with $5,156 going to the winner.
Andrew Kosiski came out first in group one of Keyser Manufacturing qualifying time trials and set the fastest time of the night. Kosiski laid down a blistering 13.939 second lap, which was the only 13-second lap of the entire time trial session. Group two was topped by East Series Rookie of the Year Contender, Tim Ward with his 14.226 second lap. The third group was topped by a 14.515 second lap time set by Brian Kosiski, while Dallon Murty was fastest in the fourth and final group with a 14.549 second lap.
The four heat races on the night were won by J C Wyman, Jacob Hobscheidt, Andy Eckrich, and Josh Leonard. Bill Leighton Jr. would score the most points after heat racing action was completed which gave him the first chance at an $800 bonus for the Skyline Materials Lucky 6th Place Starter challenge. The Reigning West Series Champion declined the offer, so Kyle Berck would take over the 6th-place starting position.
Jason Hahne and Corey Zeitner picked up wins in the two Predator Custom Trailers B features while C J Horn and Cory Dumpert also transferred to the main event. After six provisionals were awarded, 26 cars took center stage for the 30-lap Max I. Walker main event. Pole Sitter Blair Nothdurft took the opening lead while Dallon Murty and Bill Leighton Jr. battle for second. Nothdurft was trying to become the first South Dakota driver to win with the Malvern Bank Series.
Murty continued to apply pressure to Nothdurft. The two leaders would encounter lapped traffic, and Murty was able to run the high side to perfection as Nothdurft went low to try and clear the slower car ahead of them.
As the two came off of turn four to begin lap 10, Murty narrowly edged out Nothdurft for the lead at the flagstand and then took the lead outright as they came off turn two.
Nothdurft would eventually fade back to finish sixth in order. Meanwhile, West Series Point Leader Jesse Sobbing made his way into the podium positions while Chad Simpson also climbed his way forward.
Only two cautions would slow the pace of the race. The first came for Darrel DeFrance who came to a stop in turn two on lap 11. The Marshalltown, Iowa driver would head back to the pit area resulting in him finishing 25th.
Trouble would also strike fourth-place running Tim Ward when the Harcourt, Iowa driver suffered mechanical woes. The East Series Rookie of the Year driver would come home in 24th.
In the closing stages of the race, Jesse Sobbing made a strong charge to the second position, but the Malvern, Iowa driver could not catch Murty despite his best efforts. Murty went on to run out the laps and capture his fifth Malvern Bank Series win, tying him with East Series Point Leader Dylan Thornton for most wins among drivers on both tours in 2025. One night after bagging $5,086 in his Bill Kirk Memorial victory at Park Jefferson Speedway, Murty collects $5,156 at Harlan, bringing his weekend total to $10,242 in two nights. Murty also became the 11th different winner in 16 races for the Malvern Bank Series at Shelby County.
Jesse Sobbing would have to settle for a runner-up finish while Chad Simpson took third. Bill Leighton Jr. finished fourth, while Dylan Schmer rounded out the top five, his first top-5 finish of the year and his best with the series so far.
The final leg of the tripleheader weekend for the West Series remains as the tour heads back to Nebraska for a Sunday showdown at the U.S. 30 Speedway in Columbus for the Tom Kobus Memorial. After that, it’s a pair of Iowa Dual Races on August 22nd and 23rd with the Dale DeFrance Memorial at Marshalltown Speedway in Marshalltown and then the Ray Houck Memorial Late Model Showdown at the Adams County Speedway in Corning.
