Posposil Outduels Hobscheidt in Photo Finish at U.S. 30 Speedway
The Malvern Bank Super Late Model Racing West Series kicked off the Independence Day weekend with a Thursday night of high-speed action at Columbus, Nebraska’s U.S. 30 Speedway.
The fourth race for the SLMR West Series took the tour back to the Cornhusker State for the annual trip to the 1/3-mile U.S. 30 Speedway. The tour kicked off a busy month of July with a strong field of 27 cars making the trip for a chance at a $3,000 payday in front of a near sold-out crowd.
Jake Neal took the Keyser Manufacturing Top Qualifier honor as he laid down a 14.803 second lap in group 1. Points Leader Charlie McKenna was fastest in group 2 with his 15.115 second lap time. Meanwhile, 7-Time Series Champion Kyle Berck headed the third and final group when he timed in at 15.195 seconds.
The three heat races on the night were won by Cory Dumpert, Jacob Hobscheidt and Tad Pospisil. After the points were finalized, Charlie McKenna was at the top of the order giving him the first chance at the Skyline Materials Lucky Sixth Place Starting Bonus worth $1,250. McKenna declined the offer, and thus, the bonus opportunity went to Kyle Berck.
The Predator Custom Trailers B Feature on the night was won by Alex Banks while Mike Collins, Jadyn Friesen and Jacob Anson also transferred to the main event. Friesen was making his SLMR debut and managed to make his first main event start while Anson would make his second career main event start in only his second ever appearance with the series.
After two provisionals were decided, 22 cars took to the speedway for Thursday’s 30-lap Malvern Bank Main event. Tad Pospisil sat on pole Position with Jacob Hobscheidt sat on the outside front row.
The race would take a little while to get going as a couple of early cautions stopped and started the progress of the race. On the opening lap, Mike Collins and Jadyn Friesen both spun down the back stretch. Both would continue on.
Pospisil and Hobscheidt would trade the race lead through the early laps of the main event. However, things took a big turn as Charlie McKenna, the West Series Points Leader, went down with mechanical issues. The team tried to make repairs but were unsuccessful in getting the car back out on the track. The Ames, Iowa driver would finish back in 20th.
After a couple more cautions were sprinkled in through the first ten laps of the race, Hobscheidt established the race lead as he along with many more of the leaders went to the outside line for speed and momentum.
Another dramatic turn in the race saw fifth-place-running Kyle Berck run into the back of a lapped car while battling Jason Hahne for fourth with just seven laps remaining. The Marquette, Nebraska driver suffered nose damage to the front of the car which proved to be very challenging to manage. Berck would restart in fifth but fell back to finish tenth.
The closing laps saw multiple unofficial lead changes between Pospisil and Hobscheidt. The two Nebraska natives see-sawed for the top spot with Hobscheidt carrying heavy momentum on the outside line against the wall and Pospisil rolling his car smoothly around the bottom. The back-and-forth battle went right down to the final lap, and as the duo came off the final corner, it was Pospisil narrowly edging out Hobscheidt for the win by 0.054 seconds, or about half a car length, in an absolute classic of a feature.
The win was Pospisil’s second in the last 3 races after winning in Oskaloosa, Iowa the Wednesday of the previous week. It was his 51st win all-time with SLMR and his second series win at U.S. 30 Speedway. Plus, with the win, Pospisil officially took over the West Series championship points lead going into the next round.
Hobscheidt would have to settle for second after leading most of the distance while Blair Nothdurft took third. Jake Neal was fourth, and Jason Hahne rounded out the top five. Reigning West Series Champion Jesse Sobbing would nab the Hoosier Tire Hard Charger award as he went from 12th to 7th in the final order.
The SLMR West Series and East Series are set to come together for the next race on the 2026 season. It will be the richest race of the year as both tours will go head-to-head for a $10,000 payday in the kickoff to the 16th Annual Silver Dollar Nationals at the Shelby County Speedway in Harlan, Iowa on Wednesday, July 15th.
Credit: Anthony Ainslie
