May 11, 2024 | By Anthony Ainslie

Dylan Thornton Wins in Malvern Bank Series Debut at Stuart

STUART, Ia. — The brand-new season for the Malvern Bank Super Late Models East Series saw a brand- new winner in Friday’s season opener at Stuart International Speedway.

The high-banked quarter-mile oval in Stuart, Iowa was the sight for the first race of the 2024 season for the Malvern Bank East Series. It was the first time Stuart played host to season opener for either the East or West tours. Drivers from Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, Missouri, and California packed the pit area for a chance to win the Blackberry Brandy Brawl.

Jason Hahne was the fastest in time trials to start the night as the Webster City, Iowa native posted a 13.006 second lap in group A. Meanwhile, Daniel Hilsabeck was fastest in group B with a 13.317 second lap time.

The four heat races on the night were won by Defending East Series Champion Chad Holladay, Blair Nothdurft, Dylan Thornton, and Chris Spieker. Afterward, Dave Eckrich would win the B-feature on the night. After provisionals were decided, 24 cars took to the speedway for the 25-lap finale.
Things took a little while to get going as a 4-car pileup brought out the first caution of the night on lap two. Dave Eckrich and Brian Kosiski both had their nights ended while Corey Zeitner and Darrel DeFrance were able to continue on with minimal damage.

When racing resumed, Daniel Hilsabeck led the way. The Earlham, Iowa driver went on to lead the most laps in the race in only his second career start with the Malvern Bank East Series. While he led, Defending West Series Champion Tad Pospisil challenged him for the lead with Dylan Thornton working his way up the order.

Trouble would strike JC Wyman and Andrew Kosiski as the two were locked in a tight battle for third. Contact into turn one sent both drivers around with only Ten laps to go in the race. Wyman would continue on to finish 15th while Kosiski would go on to finish 21st.

The heartbreaks would not stop there, as with only five laps remaining, race-long leader Daniel Hilsabeck snagged a part of turn four and spun out while in the lead nearly collecting second-place Dylan Thornton. Thornton would inherit the lead while Hilsabeck took his car to the pit area. He would be credited with 20th in the finishing order.

As for Thornton, the driver from Santa Maria, California, in his series debut, would lead the final five laps of the race and would pick up the $3,000 top prize winning the Blackberry Brandy Brawl. The victory makes Thornton the 47th different winner all-time with the Malvern Bank Super Late Models Series and the first from California to win with the series.

Blair Nothdurft took second on the night making it a career-best finish with the series while Tad Pospisil finished third. Jason Hahne came in fourth, and Chad Holladay came from 13th to round out the top five.

With the opening round in the books, the East Series sets its sights on the Independence Motor Speedway in Independence, Iowa for round two of the season on Saturday. After that, the West Series kicks off their season on May 18th as the tour makes its annual trip to the Central Missouri Speedway in Warrensburg, Missouri.



RESULTS

MalvernBank A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 38T-Dylan Thornton[5]; 2. 76-Blair Nothdurft[7]; 3. 04-Tad Pospisil[4]; 4. 76H-Jason Hahne[8]; 5. 32C-Chad Holladay[13]; 6. 56-Andy Eckrich[14]; 7. 56S-Chris Spieker[3]; 8. 35D-Dylan Sillman[18]; 9. 24-Bill Leighton[12]; 10. 22-Charlie McKenna[9]; 11. 1-Jake Bridge[20]; 12. 10T-Jeff Tharp[16]; 13. 43-Derrick Stewart[10]; 14. 44-Luke Goedert[11]; 15. 4-JC Wyman[2]; 16. 99D-Darrel DeFrance[22]; 17. 32G-Curtis Glover[23]; 18. 20-Zach Less[24]; 19. 15C-Curt Schroeder[21]; 20. 22D-Daniel Hilsabeck[1]; 21. 53-Andrew Kosiski[6]; 22. 26JR-Corey Zeitner[15]; 23. 58-Dave Eckrich[17]; 24. 52-Brian Kosiski[19]

Predator Custom Trailers B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 58-Dave Eckrich[3]; 2. 35D-Dylan Sillman[1]; 3. 52-Brian Kosiski[2]; 4. 1-Jake Bridge[5]; 5. 20-Zach Less[8]; 6. 32G-Curtis Glover[6]; 7. 99D-Darrel DeFrance[10]; 8. 42-Fred Remley[9]; 9. 15C-Curt Schroeder[7]; 10. 65-Jon Binning[11]; 11. 77-Jeff Aikey[4]; 12. 99-Jesse Sobbing[12]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 32C-Chad Holladay[1]; 2. 44-Luke Goedert[2]; 3. 4-JC Wyman[4]; 4. 52-Brian Kosiski[3]; 5. 22-Charlie McKenna[5]; 6. 76H-Jason Hahne[6]; 7. 65-Jon Binning[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 76-Blair Nothdurft[2]; 2. 77-Jeff Aikey[1]; 3. 43-Derrick Stewart[3]; 4. 32G-Curtis Glover[6]; 5. 35D-Dylan Sillman[4]; 6. 10T-Jeff Tharp[5]; 7. (DNS) 99-Jesse Sobbing

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 38T-Dylan Thornton[3]; 2. 53-Andrew Kosiski[4]; 3. 04-Tad Pospisil[5]; 4. 22D-Daniel Hilsabeck[6]; 5. 20-Zach Less[7]; 6. 15C-Curt Schroeder[2]; 7. 99D-Darrel DeFrance[1]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 56S-Chris Spieker[4]; 2. 26JR-Corey Zeitner[2]; 3. 56-Andy Eckrich[3]; 4. 1-Jake Bridge[1]; 5. 24-Bill Leighton[5]; 6. 42-Fred Remley[7]; 7. 58-Dave Eckrich[6]

Qualifying A: 1. 76H-Jason Hahne, 00:13.008[3]; 2. 10T-Jeff Tharp, 00:13.032[2]; 3. 22-Charlie McKenna, 00:13.102[4]; 4. 99-Jesse Sobbing, 00:13.160[10]; 5. 4-JC Wyman, 00:13.164[6]; 6. 35D-Dylan Sillman, 00:13.279[7]; 7. 52-Brian Kosiski, 00:13.307[5]; 8. 43-Derrick Stewart, 00:13.408[12]; 9. 44-Luke Goedert, 00:13.424[9]; 10. 76-Blair Nothdurft, 00:13.443[13]; 11. 32C-Chad Holladay, 00:13.492[14]; 12. 77-Jeff Aikey, 00:13.528[11]; 13. 65-Jon Binning, 00:13.949[8]; 14. 32G-Curtis Glover, 00:13.949[1]

Qualifying B: 1. 22D-Daniel Hilsabeck, 00:13.317[14]; 2. 58-Dave Eckrich, 00:13.344[5]; 3. 04-Tad Pospisil, 00:13.361[9]; 4. 24-Bill Leighton, 00:13.428[8]; 5. 53-Andrew Kosiski, 00:13.449[4]; 6. 56S-Chris Spieker, 00:13.600[1]; 7. 38T-Dylan Thornton, 00:13.614[13]; 8. 56-Andy Eckrich, 00:13.659[7]; 9. 15C-Curt Schroeder, 00:13.740[10]; 10. 26JR-Corey Zeitner, 00:13.753[12]; 11. 99D-Darrel DeFrance, 00:13.782[11]; 12. 1-Jake Bridge, 00:13.804[2]; 13. 20-Zach Less, 00:13.805[3]; 14. 42-Fred Remley, 00:13.814[6]