Thornton Triumphs in Friday Night Thriller in Stuart
Dylan Thornton became the first repeat winner with the Malvern Bank Super Late Models Series after an intense Friday night battle at Stuart Speedway.
The shortest track on the Malvern Bank Series Schedule hosted the West series for the second round of the year. A 26-car field from Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota made the trip for a chance to take home the big prize in Stuart, Iowa.
Tad Pospisil started the night being the top qualifier, as the 4-time West Series Champion stopped the clock at 12.529 seconds. The three heat races on the night were won by Dylan Sillman, Bill Leighton Jr. and Dylan Thornton.
Thornton’s performance would give him enough passing and finishing points to award him the first pick at the Skyline Materials Lucky 6th Place Starting Spot in the feature, of which he accepted. Thornton would have a chance at a $900 bonuse should he win the main event.
Andrew Kosiski won the Predator Custom Trailers B feature, and after provisionals were decided, 24 cars took to the speedway for the 30-lap main event. Charlie McKenna sat on pole position with the lone South Dakota native in the field, Blair Nothdurft, on the outside.
Nothdurft started off the feature as the leader while Jesse Sobbing was quick to take the second spot from McKenna. The biggest incident came on lap seven when a 3-car incident at the tail end of the field caused the top five runners to get sideways to avoid heavy contact. Nothdurft, Sobbing, Corey Zeitner, and Dylan Thornton got tangled up but only sustained minimal damage.
When racing got back underway, Nothdurft continued to lead while Sobbing applied heavy pressure for the lead. As that race played out, Dylan Thornton worked his way to the front to make it a 3-car battle up front. Sobbing would take the lead for a few laps only for Nothrdurft to take it back.
With ten laps remaining, Thornton made the dive into turn one to slide Nothdurft and took the race lead away. Thornton would lead going into the final caution of the race with seven laps remaining.
It was Thornton vs. Sobbing for the win in the final push to the checkered flag. Sobbing used the bottom in turns 1 and 2 and then would try to stay with Thornton on the top of turns 3 and 4.
After 30 laps, it was Dylan Thornton who took his second win of the year and his first on the West Series. It was also Thornton’s second consecutive series win at Stuart. As an added bonus, Thornton picked up the Skyline Materials Lucky 6th Place starter bonus money making it a $3,900 payday.
Jesse Sobbing came home second while Dallon Murty charged from 11th to finish third. Blair Nothdurft took fourth while Corey Zeitner rounded out the top five.
With Stuart in the books, the East Series is back in action on Saturday with the tour’s visit to the Independence Motor Speedway in Independence, Iowa. Following that, the East Series will gear up for a Memorial Day tripleheader with stops at Davenport, Maquoketa and Dubuque.
