Third Straight Win at Thayer County for Pospisil

Tad Pospisil continued his good fortunes in Deshler, Nebraska during the Malvern Bank Super Late Model Racing Series’ return to Thayer County Speedway for Friday’s Thayer County Fair Races.

For the sixth consecutive year, the SLMR series made its annual trip to the Thayer County Fairgrounds for a battle in front of a massive crowd in Deshler. The race was the third race of the season in the Cornhusker State, and it was the richest SLMR race the track has ever held with a $5,000 top prize on the line. The race was also the fifth Dual Series race of the season and the first Dual race ever hosted at Thayer County.

Jason Hahne added his fourth Keyser Manufacturing Top Qualifier Award to his 2026 campaign. The Webster City, Iowa driver clocked in at 15.778 seconds in the opening group of qualifiers. Jake Neal, who won the inaugural SLMR event at Thayer County in 2021, laid down a 16.305 second lap to be on top of group two. The third and final group was led by reigning West Series Champion Jesse Sobbing with his 15.848 second lap.

The three heat races on the night were won by Dylan Sillman, Troy Daly and Kyle Berck. After the points were tallied, Jake Neal scored the highest and earned the first chance to take on the Skyline Materials Lucky 6th Place Starter Challenge. He declined the challenge giving the bonus opportunity to his fellow Omaha racer Troy Daly. If Daly could pull off his first-ever SLMR victory, he could add an extra $2,750 on top of the $5,000 payday.

Tad Pospisil was the driver who would lead the field to the green flag from pole position for the 25-lap Malvern Bank Main Event. Jadyn Friesen, who was making only his second ever Series start, was on the outside of the front row. Pospisil took the early lead while Blair Nothdurft was quick to work his way to the second spot. Multiple drivers were hustling for early track position when the first caution came out on lap three for a 2-car incident in turn one.

Racing resumed, and it turned into a high-speed game of inches as Pospisil and Nothdurft battled each other and lapped traffic for the spot. A bit further back in the pack, Jadyn Friesen found himself locked in a battle with Jesse Sobbing and Kyle Berck for fifth.

The caution would not come back out until the 10-to-go mark when Kale Kosiski spun in turn one. Following the spin, the biggest incident of the night came on the ensuing restart. Troy Daly and Mike Collins made contact as the field rushed into turn one. Daly got sideways and ended up barrel-rolling two times before hitting the catch fence and ending up on top of the front stretch wall. He managed to climb out of the car and walk away.

After the green flag came back out, the battles through the field continued on. Friesen and Jacob Hobscheidt found themselves in a tight race for the sixth position. Hobscheidt would unfortunately face mechanical failure bringing out the the next caution with only five laps remaining.

It would not take long for the final caution to come out as Bill Leighton Jr. ended up spinning in turn four with three circuits remaining setting up a dash to the checkered flag.

Pospisil kept a slim lead over Nothdurft after the race went back to green, and for the third consecutive year, Pospisil took home the big check at the Thayer County Fair. It was the Norfolk, Nebraska driver’s third win of the 2026 season and his 52nd career SLMR Series victory. Blair Nothdurft would have to settle for second while Jake Neal took third. Jason Hahne and Jesse Sobbing finished out the top five.

The Malvern Bank SLMR Series will finish out the weekend with a second Dual Series race in Nebraska as Norfolk’s Off-Road Speedway will host their first-ever Dual Series event. Following that will be a West Series weekend on August 14th and 15th with stops at Park Jefferson Speedway in North Sioux City, South Dakota and Shelby County Speedway in Harlan, Iowa.

 

Credit: Anthony Ainslie