Simpson gets Father’s Day Victory at Mason City
Chad Simpson notched his first win of the Malvern Bank Super Late Model Racing season after dominating Sunday’s showdown at Mason City Motor Speedway.
Race 7 of the 2025 season saw the tour head to the high-banked 1/3 mile on the North Iowa Fairgrounds in Mason City for a Father’s Day battle. A field of 26 cars from all over Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Minnesota made the trip for a chance at a $3,000 payday.
The three Keyser Manufacturing Qualifying groups were topped by Curt Schroeder, Dylan Thornton and Jason Hahne to start the night. Later in the night, Lance Matthees, Dave Eckrich and J.D. Auringer won the three heat races.
Tim Ward would go on to win Sunday’s Predator Custom Trailers B feature. After three provisionals were used, 23 cars took to the speedway for the 30-lap main event.
The race took a little while to get going. On the opening start, a 3-car involving J C Wyman, Tim Ward and Andy Eckrich saw Wyman’s car nearly end up upside-down but instead ended up on top of Ward’s car.
After a second called-back start, the race went caution-free for the remainder of the distance. Chad Simpson took the lead while Jason Hahne and Justin Zeitner gave chase. As Simpson pulled away, Hahne and Zeitner battled off and on for the second position.
Further back in the field, C J Horn and Dallon Murty had a tight-knit battle for the sixth spot. The two Rookie of the Year contenders raced each other all the way to end finishing sixth and seventh.
When the score was settled after 30 laps, Chad Simpson claimed his first victory of the year after leading every circuit. It was Simpson’s sixth career series win, and the Mt. Vernon, Iowa native became the fifth different winner in 5 series races at Mason City Motor Speedway.
Jason Hahne won the battle for second while Justin Zeitner came in third. Dylan Thornton took fourth while Blair Nothdurft rounded out the top five. In addition, Minnesota’s Nick Panitzke, in his Malvern Bank Series debut, recorded his first feature top 10 finish after coming in ninth.
The East Series continues action on Friday, June 20th as the tour heads to the half-mile Lafayette County Speedway in Darlington, Wisconsin. The very next night, the series makes its big debut at the Winneshiek Raceway in Decorah, Iowa.
Anthony Ainslie
Mike Rufer Photography
