Sobbing Breaks Through with Home Track Victory at Adams County
Jesse Sobbing successfully defended home turf with the Malvern Bank Super Late Model Racing Series as he took victory in Saturday’s return to the Adams County Speedway.
The third race of the Dirt Track Bank Elite 8 Series took both East and West tours to the biggest track on the tour, the half-mile Adams County Speedway in Corning, Iowa. A tough field of 26 cars made the trip for a chance at a $4,000 payday in the Ray Houck Memorial Late Model Showdown.
Major developments began in hot laps as Dallon Murty, who was third in the East Series points, suffered broken steering in his primary car. Luckily for him, Jesse Sobbing let Murty drive his backup #99 car for the remainder of the night.
East Series Points Leader Dylan Thornton dropped the fastest lap of Keyser Manufacturing Qualifying. The California native put up a 20.082 second lap to lead group 2. The first group saw Murty make full use of Sobbing’s backup car as he topped group 1 with a 20.282 second lap. The final group saw a 20.175 second lap set by Jesse Sobbing.
The three heat races on the night were won by Chris Spieker, who was making his first series start on the year, Dylan Sillman, and Chad Simpson. Trouble would strike Jason Hahne as he ended up in a rollover incident in the first heat race. The Webster City, Iowa driver would unfortunately be done for the night. Kyle Berck sustained heavy front end damage in a botched start in the third heat, also ending his night.
Dylan Thornton would end up at the top of the point sheet giving him first pick at the $400 Skyline Materials Lucky 6th Place Starting Spot. He would declined the challenge giving the sixth starting position to Dallon Murty.
At the end of night, 23 cars took center stage for the 30-lap Ray Houck Memorial main event. Jesse Sobbing and Dylan Thornton shared the front row just like they did the night before at Marshalltown.
Sobbing took the lead early before the caution came out on lap 2 when Jacob Hobscheidt was off the pace followed by a brief 2-car tangle between Dylan Sillman and Charlie McKenna. McKenna was able to continue on while Sillman and Hobscheidt were done for the night.
When racing resumed, Sobbing and Thornton began their battle for the race lead while Chad Simpson and Bill Leighton went to settle the third spot. Tad Pospisil also worked his way into the top five.
Trouble would strike fifth-place running Chris Spieker as he spun out in turn two bringing out the race’s second caution.
Leighton made a bid for the second spot, but Thornton was able to fend off the charge and then track down Sobbing for the lead.
Thornton’s race took a wild turn as he jumped the outside line and dropped the right-rear wheel over the edge of the track. He recovered but fell back to fifth, but then going into turns 1 and 2, Thornton dropped off the track and fell clear back to around the 20th position.
With eight laps remaining, Bill Leighton Jr. went for the race lead through turns 3 and 4. Leighton and Sobbing made contact coming off turn four, but Leighton managed to take the lead away. Shortly after, Chad Simpson slid off the race track while running third. The Mount Vernon, Iowa driver would rally back but fell back late in the race to finish 20th.
On the ensuing restart, Leighton went low into turn one while Sobbing hustled on the outside line to take the lead back. One lap after that pass, the final caution came out when C J Horn spun out in turn four.
Sobbing had to fend off Leighton one final time as the two took the white flag. Through the final two corners, Leighton went low on entry to turn three, but his slide job attempt was not enough to clear Sobbing, and Sobbing charged down the front stretch to claim his first win of the 2025 season. It was Sobbing’s first win in a late model at Adams County Speedway and his 11th win of his career with the Malvern Bank Series.
Bill Leighton Jr. had to settle for second, and after a tough night at Marshalltown, Tad Pospisil rebounded to finish third. Dallon Murty took home an impressive fourth in Sobbing’s second car, and Dylan Thornton rallied back from his early misfortune to round out the top five.
A big tripleheader weekend is next up for both tours. The Dirt Track Bank Elite 8 Series continues for rounds 4-6 with a visit to the Cresco Speedway in Cresco, Iowa on August 28th. After that, it is a doubleheader debut as the series invades Spring Valley, Minnesota’s Deer Creek Speedway.
Credit: Anthony Ainslie
Photo Credit: Mike Rufer
