April 26, 2025 | By Anthony Ainslie

Dylan Thornton Outduels Simpson in East Series Opener

MEMPHIS, Mo. — The Malvern Bank Super Late Model Racing Series kicked off their 2025 season Friday with an exciting East Series opener.

The new year saw the East Series make its first ever visit to the Scotland County Speedway in Memphis, Missouri. Drivers from Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa, and Wisconsin made the trip for the first of 4 races in the Show-Me State.

2024 Rookie of the Year Dylan Thornton started the night off with being the top qualifier of the night. He clocked in at 17.628 seconds in the first group. The three heat races on the night were won by rookie Dallon Murty, Shane DeMay and Andrew Kosiski.

Jesse Sobbing was the Skyline Materials Lucky 6th Place Starter. The 2022 West Series Champion took the challenge to add a $500 bonus if he would win the main event.

Iowans Chad Simpson and CJ Horn started on the front row of the 30-lap feature, and early on, Simpson pulled out to an early race lead. Meanwhile, Dylan Thornton and Andrew Kosiski battled for the second spot with Thornton eventually taking the runner-up position.

Before long, it was Simpson vs. Thornton for the lead, and ultimately the race win. Thornton tracked down Simpson and threw the go-ahead slide job for the lead in turn three on lap 12. From there, Thornton extended his advantage until the two leaders got to lapped traffic.

The closing laps saw a close, strategic battle between Thornton and Simpson. At the end of 30 caution-free laps, Thornton kept ahead of Simpson just enough to secure the $3,000 win. It was his third career series victory and the second consecutive year that Thornton won the season opener for the East Series after he won at Stuart, Iowa one season ago.

Simpson would have to settle for second while Dallon Murty finished third in his first ever Malvern Bank Series start. Jesse Sobbing and Jake Neal rounded out the top five.

The West Series is next to start their season at the Off-Road Speedway in Norfolk, Nebraska. Meanwhile, the East Series gets a break before returning to action on May 10th at the Independence Motor Speedway in Independence, Iowa.


RESULTS

Malvern Bank A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 38T-Dylan Thornton[5]; 2. 25-Chad Simpson[1]; 3. 99X-Dallon Murty[10]; 4. 99-Jesse Sobbing[6]; 5. 6-Jake Neal[7]; 6. 53-Andrew Kosiski[3]; 7. 22-Charlie McKenna[12]; 8. 50-Kayden Clatt[4]; 9. 4TW-Tim Ward[9]; 10. 76H-Jason Hahne[11]; 11. 22B-Austen Becerra[18]; 12. 01-Jacob Hobscheidt[16]; 13. 01X-CJ Horn[2]; 14. 10T-Jeff Tharp[17]; 15. 15M-Shane DeMey[8]; 16. 58-Dave Eckrich[14]; 17. 15C-Curt Schroeder[21]; 18. 33-Paul Glendenning[19]; 19. 99D-Darrel DeFrance[20]; 20. 42-Fred Remley[22]; 21. 11X-Tom Berry Jr[13]; 22. 56-Andy Eckrich[15]; 23. (DNS) 43-Derrick Stewart

Predator Custom Trailers B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 01-Jacob Hobscheidt[1]; 2. 10T-Jeff Tharp[3]; 3. 22B-Austen Becerra[6]; 4. 33-Paul Glendenning[2]; 5. 15C-Curt Schroeder[7]; 6. 1T-Tucker Cox[5]; 7. 99D-Darrel DeFrance[9]; 8. 42-Fred Remley[8]; 9. 44W-David Webster[4]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 99X-Dallon Murty[1]; 2. 6-Jake Neal[2]; 3. 25-Chad Simpson[4]; 4. 38T-Dylan Thornton[6]; 5. 56-Andy Eckrich[3]; 6. 43-Derrick Stewart[5]; 7. 10T-Jeff Tharp[7]; 8. 22B-Austen Becerra[8]; 9. 99D-Darrel DeFrance[9]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 15M-Shane DeMey[2]; 2. 99-Jesse Sobbing[6]; 3. 11X-Tom Berry Jr[3]; 4. 76H-Jason Hahne[4]; 5. 4TW-Tim Ward[5]; 6. 01-Jacob Hobscheidt[7]; 7. 44W-David Webster[1]; 8. 15C-Curt Schroeder[8]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 53-Andrew Kosiski[3]; 2. 58-Dave Eckrich[2]; 3. 50-Kayden Clatt[4]; 4. 01X-CJ Horn[6]; 5. 22-Charlie McKenna[5]; 6. 33-Paul Glendenning[7]; 7. 1T-Tucker Cox[1]; 8. 42-Fred Remley[8]

Qualifying 1: 1. 38T-Dylan Thornton, 00:17.628[5]; 2. 43-Derrick Stewart, 00:17.693[1]; 3. 25-Chad Simpson, 00:17.742[3]; 4. 56-Andy Eckrich, 00:17.768[4]; 5. 6-Jake Neal, 00:17.775[7]; 6. 99X-Dallon Murty, 00:17.808[8]; 7. 10T-Jeff Tharp, 00:17.885[6]; 8. 22B-Austen Becerra, 00:17.903[2]; 9. 99D-Darrel DeFrance, 00:18.435[9]

Qualifying 2: 1. 99-Jesse Sobbing, 00:17.685[1]; 2. 4TW-Tim Ward, 00:17.802[3]; 3. 76H-Jason Hahne, 00:17.878[5]; 4. 11X-Tom Berry Jr, 00:17.957[2]; 5. 15M-Shane DeMey, 00:17.979[8]; 6. 44W-David Webster, 00:18.161[4]; 7. 01-Jacob Hobscheidt, 00:18.162[6]; 8. 15C-Curt Schroeder, 00:18.402[7]

Qualifying 3: 1. 01X-CJ Horn, 00:17.771[4]; 2. 22-Charlie McKenna, 00:17.902[2]; 3. 50-Kayden Clatt, 00:17.906[1]; 4. 53-Andrew Kosiski, 00:18.106[7]; 5. 58-Dave Eckrich, 00:18.282[3]; 6. 1T-Tucker Cox, 00:18.329[6]; 7. 33-Paul Glendenning, 00:18.374[5]; 8. 42-Fred Remley, 00:20.000[8]