Thornton Cashes in big with Rallen Zeitner Memorial Victory
Dylan Thornton found his way to victory lane once again in Saturday’s Malvern Bank Super Late Model Series’ return to the Shelby County Speedway.
The third annual Rallen Zeitner Memorial at Harlan, Iowa’s 1/3 mile bullring played host to the first East vs. West Dual race of the year for the series. A stout 42-car field packed the pit area for a chance at a whopping $10,076 payday plus a possible $3,040 in lap money.
West Series Point Leader Jesse Sobbing was the fastest overall in Keyser Manufacturing Qualifying to start off the night. The inaugural Zeitner Memorial winner clocked in at 14.401 seconds to be the top driver in group 2. The first group was led by defending race winner Justin Zeitner when he stopped the clock at 14.545 seconds. Tim Ward was quickest in group 3 with a 14.771 second lap. Jacob Hobscheidt took top qualifying honors in group 4 as he clocked in at 15.139 seconds, and the fifth and final group was topped by Zach Zeitner with a lap of 15.202 seconds.
The nights five heat race winners received a bonus $200 courtesy of MHC Kenworth and CTI Carrier Transco Inc. Dallon Murty, Brett Hopp, Bill Leighton Jr., Dylan Thornton, and Kyle Berck all took bonus for their heat race victories.
After heat races, Jesse Sobbing was the top point earner which gave him the first shot at the $2,000 Skyline Materials Lucky 6th Place Starter bonus money. Sobbing accepted the challenge and took his spot in the main event.
Two Predator Custom Trailers B Features were needed to help set up the remainder of the field. Both features were won by Shane DeMey and Jeff Tharp with Jake Neal and Tim Ward also transferring.
After provisionals were settled, a 28-car field saluted the fans 4-wide behind the Zeitner and Sons Transport semi-truck pace vehicle before doing battle for 40 laps.
The first five laps saw three different leaders. Pole Sitter Chad Simpson led first before giving the lead briefly to Justin Zeitner and then taking the lead back. On lap five, Dylan Thornton took command of the top spot and did his best to run away of the show.
Multiple drivers found themselves in either spins or wrecks or having mechanical issues. Justin Zeitner, the defending race winner, had troubles after contact with Chad Simpson damaged the nose and hood of his car while battling for second. Zeitner would not be able to continue resulting in a 27th-place finish.
East Series Point Leader Simpson would have problems of his own after flattening a tire with 22 laps remaining. Simpson’s crew changed out the tire and charged back through to finish 10th.
Before Simpson’s problems, Bill Leighton Jr. also suffered a flat tire. The reigning West Series Champion got the tire changed under caution and rallied back to finish 13th.
During the final push for the win, Thornton continued to lead while Jesse Sobbing waged a fierce battle with Rookie of the Year contenders Dallon Murty and Tim Ward for the second spot. Meanwhile, none of them would be able to challenge Thornton in the closing laps.
Dylan Thornton would go on to score the win bagging him the $10,076 top prize plus $2,660 in lap money for leading 35 of the 40 laps. Combined with his heat race win and leading at the halfway point of the race, Thornton’s payout was roughly $13,136 when it was all said and done. The win was his fifth win of the season, and the victory officially put him back in the East Series points lead but only by two points over Chad Simpson.
Jesse Sobbing won the battle for second while Dallon Murty took third. Tim Ward charged from 20th to take fourth, and Jason Hahne rounded out the top five. An extra mention goes to the hard charger on the night, Charlie McKenna who started dead last in 28th and came home 8th at the end.
The richest race of the year is in the books, and next up, the West Series heads north to the Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, South Dakota for the 15th annual Silver Dollar Nationals on July 17th and 18th. After that is an Iowa tripleheader on July 24-26 starting with an East Race at Hamilton County Speedway in Webster City followed by two dual races with the Dale DeFrance Memorial at Marshalltown Speedway in Marshalltown and the Ray Houck Late Model Showdown at Adams County Speedway in Corning.
By: Anthony Ainslie
Photo Credit: Mike Rufer
