October 6, 2024 | By Anthony Ainslie

Leighton and Eckrich Crowned 2024 Malvern Bank Champions; Pospisil Dominates Pumpkin Dash Finale at Adams County

CORNING, Ia. — The Malvern Bank Super Late Models Series saw two brand-new champions after Saturday’s finale in the second annual Pumpkin Dash.

Both tours returned to action at the half-mile Adams County Speedway in Corning, Iowa for the second night of the Pumpkin Dash weekend and the final race of the 2024 season. After everyone competed in two rounds of heat races the night before, two heat races were used to fill out the remainder of the feature starting lineup.

Dylan Sillman and Chad Holladay were the winners of the two heat races, and then, 26 drivers returned to the speedway for the final main event of the season. Tad Pospisil started on the pole for the 30-lap finale with Andrew Kosiski starting on his outside. JC Wyman would have the honor of being the Skyline Materials Lucky 6th Place Starter in the feature. The Griswald, Iowa driver would have a shot at a $300 bonus if he could win the final main event of the year.

Pospisil jumped out to the early lead as Jake Neal was quick to challenge Kosiski for second. Pospisil led going into the first of 2 cautions on the evening. Zach Less came to a stop in turn four with damage, and then, just two laps later, Justin Zeitner slowed to a stop in the same place in turn four.

When racing resumed, Pospisil continued to lead while Jake Neal kept the race close for a few laps. Kosiski continued to run third while Bill Leighton Jr. started to fade back a few spots and wound up in a battle with Dylan Thornton

Meanwhile, Chad Holladay and Andy Eckrich were passing through the field as they were in a tight battle to decide the East Series championship. Eckrich had only an 8-point advantage over Holladay as the two were making their way up the running order.

The race for the win became a 3-car dash to the finish with two laps to go. Pospisil led while Neal and Kosiski closed in as Pospisil was trying to navigate lapped traffic. Neal came close, but Pospisil had the stronger run off the outside lane.

Pospisil would lead all 30 laps and win the second annual Pumpkin Dash. It was Pospisil’s seventh win on the season and his 45th career series victory. It was also his first win at Adams County Speedway since May 2021.

Jake Neal would cross in second with Andrew Kosiski taking third. Dylan Thornton and Corey Zeitner would round out the top five.

Bill Leighton Jr. would go on to finish sixth, which was well enough to secure his first-ever West Series Championship. Leighton would finish the year with four wins and take the title over Pospisil by 20 points in the final tally.

On the East Series, Chad Holladay, who was second in points, finished ninth while Andy Eckrich finished 11th. The gap was just enough for Eckrich to win his first East Series title by just two points over Holladay.

Meanwhile, Dylan Thornton’s performance was more than enough to secure him the East Series Rookie of the Year honor. The California native finished third in the East Series standings with two wins to his credit.

Jake Bridge wrapped up the West Series Rookie of the Year title with a 15th place finish in the final feature event.

And so, the 2024 Malvern Bank Super Late Models Season has officially come to an end. Both tours raced a total of 26 nights across 22 different tracks across Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. A total of 11 different drivers found victory lane including two first-time winners. Another exciting season is not history, and now plans begin for the 2025 season.


RESULTS

A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 04-Tad Pospisil[1]; 2. 6-Jake Neal[4]; 3. 53-Andrew Kosiski[2]; 4. 38T-Dylan Thornton[11]; 5. 26JR-Corey Zeitner[13]; 6. 24-Bill Leighton[5]; 7. 10T-Jeff Tharp[9]; 8. 4-JC Wyman[6]; 9. 32C-Chad Holladay[8]; 10. 22-Charlie McKenna[15]; 11. 56-Andy Eckrich[19]; 12. 35D-Dylan Sillman[7]; 13. 52-Brian Kosiski[18]; 14. 76H-Jason Hahne[17]; 15. 1-Jake Bridge[12]; 16. 33-Paul Glendenning[23]; 17. 58-Dave Eckrich[10]; 18. 3C-Mike Collins[20]; 19. 30-Curtis Glover[16]; 20. 99D-Darrel DeFrance[25]; 21. 15C-Curt Schroeder[22]; 22. 18-Ty Webster[24]; 23. 56S-Chris Spieker[21]; 24. 62-Justin Zeitner[3]; 25. 20-Zach Less[14]; 26. 14-Kyle Berck[26]

Heat 1 (12 Laps): 1. 35D-Dylan Sillman[2]; 2. 10T-Jeff Tharp[1]; 3. 58-Dave Eckrich[3]; 4. 1-Jake Bridge[7]; 5. 20-Zach Less[9]; 6. 30-Curtis Glover[4]; 7. 52-Brian Kosiski[5]; 8. 3C-Mike Collins[8]; 9. 15C-Curt Schroeder[6]; 10. 18-Ty Webster[10]; 11. (DNS) 33X-Dennis Elliott

Heat 2 (12 Laps): 1. 32C-Chad Holladay[2]; 2. 14-Kyle Berck[1]; 3. 38T-Dylan Thornton[4]; 4. 26JR-Corey Zeitner[5]; 5. 22-Charlie McKenna[7]; 6. 76H-Jason Hahne[6]; 7. 56-Andy Eckrich[3]; 8. 56S-Chris Spieker[10]; 9. 33-Paul Glendenning[8]; 10. 99D-Darrel DeFrance[9]


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HOBBY STOCK

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 7B-Eric Stanton[20]; 2. 21-Cody Werner[3]; 3. 9-Kolby Sabin[7]; 4. 7-Tom Myers[1]; 5. 37D-Brad Derry[8]; 6. 18-Kenton Walston[13]; 7. 5D-Anthony Davis[5]; 8. 69-Jason Tetzlaff[2]; 9. 22-Jim Tull[17]; 10. 12G-Tyler Gray[9]; 11. 42T-Tyson Overton[24]; 12. 16-Buddy Haidsiak[25]; 13. 81DD-Daniel Davis[26]; 14. 65-Brad Burhenne[15]; 15. 3-Jamie Luft[19]; 16. 74-Heath Anderson[6]; 17. 100-Spencer Zellweger[16]; 18. 92-Dave Schafroth[4]; 19. (DNF) 4Q-Kris Chadwick[14]; 20. (DNF) 21B-Bennett Johnson[11]; 21. (DNF) 30-Nathan Mumm[21]; 22. (DNF) 44-Tim McCollum[12]; 23. (DNF) 64L-Tommy Luft[23]; 24. (DNF) 69E-Dakota Eccles[22]; 25. (DNF) 19H-Sam Hudson[18]; 26. (DNF) 5Z-Zander Steiner[27]; 27. (DNF) 22X-Tanner Dixon[10]

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 69-Jason Tetzlaff[4]; 2. 9-Kolby Sabin[1]; 3. 44-Tim McCollum[5]; 4. 18-Kenton Walston[6]; 5. 22-Jim Tull[7]; 6. 30-Nathan Mumm[3]; 7. 16-Buddy Haidsiak[2]

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 7-Tom Myers[1]; 2. 21-Cody Werner[5]; 3. 12G-Tyler Gray[4]; 4. 4Q-Kris Chadwick[3]; 5. 19H-Sam Hudson[6]; 6. 69E-Dakota Eccles[2]; 7. 81DD-Daniel Davis[7]

Heat 3 (6 Laps): 1. 5D-Anthony Davis[1]; 2. 37D-Brad Derry[2]; 3. 74-Heath Anderson[5]; 4. 65-Brad Burhenne[6]; 5. 3-Jamie Luft[3]; 6. (DNF) 64L-Tommy Luft[4]; 7. (DNF) 5Z-Zander Steiner[7]

Heat 4 (6 Laps): 1. 22X-Tanner Dixon[2]; 2. 21B-Bennett Johnson[1]; 3. 92-Dave Schafroth[4]; 4. 100-Spencer Zellweger[5]; 5. 7B-Eric Stanton[6]; 6. (DNF) 42T-Tyson Overton[3]


MODIFIEDS

A Feature 1 (18 Laps): 1. 1-Justin Zeitner[5]; 2. 70-Jesse Dennis[6]; 3. 10J-Josh Cooper[1]; 4. 5-Todd Shute[9]; 5. 71-Jeff James[8]; 6. 3W-Garett Wilson[2]; 7. 36T-Jeff Wiggins[11]; 8. 93N-Colton Nelson[3]; 9. 11F-Colton Garside[10]; 10. 95N-Garrett Nelson[16]; 11. 11-Austin Hardisty[12]; 12. 38-Craig Garner[14]; 13. 72-DJ Most[13]; 14. 37F-Tyler Fudge[4]; 15. 29-Monte Most[15]; 16. (DNF) 88-Hayden Johnston[7]; 17. (DNF) 17-Tate Haffner[17]; 18. (DNF) 17X-Jon Plowman[18]

Heat 1 Top 4 Redraw (6 Laps): 1. 70-Jesse Dennis[2]; 2. 10J-Josh Cooper[1]; 3. 93N-Colton Nelson[3]; 4. 11-Austin Hardisty[6]; 5. 72-DJ Most[4]; 6. (DNF) 29-Monte Most[5]

Heat 2 Top 4 Redraw (6 Laps): 1. 71-Jeff James[2]; 2. 5-Todd Shute[5]; 3. 36T-Jeff Wiggins[1]; 4. 88-Hayden Johnston[3]; 5. (DNF) 17X-Jon Plowman[6]; 6. (DQ) 95N-Garrett Nelson[4]

Heat 3 Top 4 Redraw (6 Laps): 1. 1-Justin Zeitner[1]; 2. 11F-Colton Garside[2]; 3. 3W-Garett Wilson[4]; 4. 37F-Tyler Fudge[5]; 5. 38-Craig Garner[3]; 6. 17-Tate Haffner[6]