May 30, 2025 | By Anthony Ainslie

Marolf Breaks Through with Tony Stewart Tribute Victory

COLUMBUS JUNCTION, Iowa—Nick Marolf became the newest winner with the Malvern Bank Super Late Models East Series in Friday’s Tony Stewart Tribute race at C J Speedway.

The 4/10 mile oval at the Louisa County Fairgrounds in Columbus Junction, Iowa played host to the East Series for round five of the season. A field of 26 cars from Iowa, Nebraska and Illinois packed the pit area for a chance at the $3,000 top prize and a new steering wheel for the 4th annual Tony Stewart Tribute race.

Point Leader Chad Simpson kicked off the night being the Keyser Manufacturing top qualifier. The Mt. Vernon, Iowa driver laid out a blistering fast 18.829 second lap to be the fastest in group two. He would be the only driver to make it into the 18-second bracket. C J Horn would be the best in group one as he clocked in at 19.002 seconds. Nick Marolf finished off qualifying being on top of group three as he put down a 19.227 second lap.

The three heat races were won by Jeff Tharp, Bill Leighton Jr. and Brian Kosiski. Each driver ran the top to their advantage. Chad Simpson would later be the top point driver earning him a chance at the Skyline Materials Lucky 6th Place starting spot. Simpson took on the challenge and would start sixth for a chance to add $800 if he won.

After the Predator Custom Trailers B feature was dominated by Andy Eckrich, 23 cars took to the speedway for the 25-lap main event with Nick Marolf on pole position and Charlie McKenna on the outside.

Marolf was quick to use the middle to high lane to take the opening lead, and the Moscow, Iowa driver would proceed to scoot away to a decisive lead. Andrew Kosiski and Chad Simpson battled a few times for the third position as the race progressed.

At around the halfway point of the race, Marolf found himself having trouble getting around a slower car. He would try to get by on the low side but could not make a pass work. This would allow McKenna and Kosiski close in and challenge for the lead.

The first of 2 cautions came out when C J Horn spun out in turn four with seven laps remaining. The Cedar Rapids native would continue on but would finish 20th.
Marolf continued to lead when racing resumed with McKenna continuing to run second. However, heartbreak would strike McKenna when a mechanical issue would cause him to slow down on the back stretch bringing out the final caution. McKenna would surrender his second-place running position and would end up 18th in the final order.

When the checkered flag flew after 25 laps, Nick Marolf would lead every lap and secure his first career Malvern Bank Series feature win becoming the fourth different Tony Stewart Tribute winner. Marolf became the third first-time winner with the series in 2025, the 51st different winner all-time with the series, and he gave Sniper Chassis its first Malvern Bank Series win.

Andrew Kosiski took second, his career-best finish at C J Speedway, while Chad Simpson finished third, breaking his 4-race second-place streak. Jesse Sobbing took fourth, and Dallon Murty rounded out the top five.

With the Tony Stewart Tribute in the record books, the East Series finishes out the weekend with a visit to the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Iowa. Then, there will be a 2-week before the tour heads north to the Mason City Motor Speedway in Mason City, Iowa on June 15th.


RESULTS

Malvern Bank A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 33-Nick Marolf[1]; 2. 53-Andrew Kosiski[4]; 3. 25-Chad Simpson[6]; 4. 99-Jesse Sobbing[8]; 5. 99X-Dallon Murty[5]; 6. 24-Bill Leighton[11]; 7. 52-Brian Kosiski[7]; 8. 4TW-Tim Ward[9]; 9. 43-Derrick Stewart[13]; 10. 38T-Dylan Thornton[16]; 11. 10T-Jeff Tharp[12]; 12. 56-Andy Eckrich[17]; 13. 01-Jacob Hobscheidt[15]; 14. 4-JC Wyman[20]; 15. 58-Dave Eckrich[14]; 16. 42-Fred Remley[19]; 17. 76H-Jason Hahne[18]; 18. 22-Charlie McKenna[2]; 19. 15C-Curt Schroeder[23]; 20. 01X-CJ Horn[3]; 21. 72-Dave Hammond[22]; 22. 99D-Darrel DeFrance[21]; 23. 93-Jay Johnson[10]

Predator Custom Trailers B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 56-Andy Eckrich[2]; 2. 76H-Jason Hahne[1]; 3. 42-Fred Remley[4]; 4. 4-JC Wyman[6]; 5. 17-Tim Simpson[3]; 6. 74-Ron Boyse[5]; 7. 15C-Curt Schroeder[7]; 8. 72-Dave Hammond[9]; 9. 99D-Darrel DeFrance[8]; 10. C15-Brandon Hamburg[10]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 10T-Jeff Tharp[1]; 2. 93-Jay Johnson[2]; 3. 53-Andrew Kosiski[4]; 4. 01X-CJ Horn[6]; 5. 38T-Dylan Thornton[3]; 6. 43-Derrick Stewart[5]; 7. 17-Tim Simpson[8]; 8. 4-JC Wyman[7]; 9. 72-Dave Hammond[9]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 24-Bill Leighton[1]; 2. 4TW-Tim Ward[2]; 3. 99X-Dallon Murty[4]; 4. 25-Chad Simpson[6]; 5. 99-Jesse Sobbing[5]; 6. 56-Andy Eckrich[3]; 7. 42-Fred Remley[8]; 8. 15C-Curt Schroeder[7]; 9. 99D-Darrel DeFrance[9]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 52-Brian Kosiski[2]; 2. 01-Jacob Hobscheidt[1]; 3. 22-Charlie McKenna[4]; 4. 33-Nick Marolf[6]; 5. 76H-Jason Hahne[3]; 6. 58-Dave Eckrich[5]; 7. 74-Ron Boyse[7]; 8. C15-Brandon Hamburg[8]

Qualifying 1: 1. 01X-CJ Horn, 00:19.002[1]; 2. 43-Derrick Stewart, 00:19.181[5]; 3. 53-Andrew Kosiski, 00:19.328[6]; 4. 38T-Dylan Thornton, 00:19.367[7]; 5. 93-Jay Johnson, 00:19.424[8]; 6. 10T-Jeff Tharp, 00:19.464[3]; 7. 4-JC Wyman, 00:19.522[2]; 8. 17-Tim Simpson, 00:19.687[4]; 9. 72-Dave Hammond, 00:20.905[9]

Qualifying 2: 1. 25-Chad Simpson, 00:18.829[2]; 2. 99-Jesse Sobbing, 00:19.027[6]; 3. 99X-Dallon Murty, 00:19.096[7]; 4. 56-Andy Eckrich, 00:19.194[4]; 5. 4TW-Tim Ward, 00:19.341[9]; 6. 24-Bill Leighton, 00:19.449[1]; 7. 15C-Curt Schroeder, 00:19.550[8]; 8. 42-Fred Remley, 00:19.709[3]; 9. 99D-Darrel DeFrance, 00:19.997[5]

Qualifying 3: 1. 33-Nick Marolf, 00:19.227[4]; 2. 58-Dave Eckrich, 00:19.495[2]; 3. 22-Charlie McKenna, 00:19.636[7]; 4. 76H-Jason Hahne, 00:19.743[6]; 5. 52-Brian Kosiski, 00:19.835[5]; 6. 01-Jacob Hobscheidt, 00:19.961[1]; 7. 74-Ron Boyse, 00:20.103[8]; 8. C15-Brandon Hamburg, 00:20.116[3]