Nothdurft Strikes Late for Hampel Memorial Victory

Blair Nothdurft pulled off a late-race thriller at the Adams County Speedway in Saturday’s Gail and Karen Hampel Memorial.

The next stop for the Malvern Bank Super Late Model Racing Series saw the tour make their second and final visit of the year to the half-mile oval at the Adams County Fairgrounds in Corning, Iowa for the third Dual race of the season. A field of 28 cars packed the pit area for a chance at a $5,000 pay day at the end of the night. Saturday’s race also marked the 30th all-time visit to the Adams County Speedway for the SLMR Series making the track only the third track in history to hit the 30-race milestone.

Keyser Manufacturing qualifying saw Jesse Sobbing take the overall fast time to start the evening. The Reigning West Series Champion and current West Points Leader topped the first group with a lap of 20.020 seconds. The second group on the night was led by Jason Hahne as he timed in at 20.049 seconds. The third and final group was topped by East Series Points Leader Blair Nothdurft. The lone South Dakota native in the field stopped the clock at 20.043 seconds.

The first heat race was initially won by C J Horn, but after a post-race tech inspection failure, Jesse Sobbing was promoted to the win. Heat 2 was won by Jake Neal while Justin Zeitner, in his first SLMR Series start of the year, dominated to win the third and final heat race of the night.

After the points from qualifying and heat races were tallied up, Sobbing returned as the top point driver, and he accepted the Skyline Materials Lucky 6th Place Starter challenge. If Sobbing could win on his home track, he could add an extra $2,500 on top of the $5,000 top prize.

Justin Zeitner served as pole sitter for the 30-lap main event with Kale Kosiski on his outside. Zeitner quickly jumped out to the early lead while Kale Kosiski battle Blair Nothdurft for second.

The first of 3 cautions on the night came out nine laps in for a spin in turn 3 when Mike Collins went around. When racing resumed, Zeitner continued to lead while Kosiski and Nothdurft continued to wage war for the runner-up spot. All the while, Tad Pospisil, Jason Hahne and Bill Leighton Jr. went after each other for fourth.

Heartbreak struck Kosiski while he was running third as he jumped the cushion and spun out in turn 1 right before the halfway mark of the race. The Ralston, Nebraska driver would continue on but would later get collected in a second incident and was later sidelined with a flat tire late in the distance resulting in a 24th-place finish.

The final stretch to the checkered flag became a game of inches as Justin Zeitner and Blair Nothdurft squared off for the lead. Bill Leighton Jr. briefly made a charge for the lead but was fended off by Zeitner and Nothdurft got back around Leighton for second.

Nothdurft spent around five laps sizing up Zeitner and drawing closer and closer, and with only three laps remaining, Nothdurft made his move. He went to the low side of turn 1 and got the low lane to stick and completed the go-ahead overtake for the lead.

Nothdurft managed to run out the laps, and the Renner, South Dakota driver took home his second win of the year, his first since the East Series season opener at Maquoketa Speedway back in May. It was also Nothdurft’s third career win with SLMR and his first at Adams County Speedway. Justin Zeitner would come in second while Bill Leighton Jr. took third. Jason Hahne won the battle for fourth while Tad Pospisil finished out the top five.

A pair of Dual Series races are next up on the Malvern Bank SLMR Series as the tour heads back to Nebraska. On Friday, August 8th, both East and West Series head over for the 2026 Thayer County Fair races in Deshler, and then following that night will be the annual visit to Norfolk’s Off-Road Speedway.

 

Credit: Anthony Ainslie