May 4, 2026 | By Anthony Ainslie

Sobbing Strikes First in SLMR West Opener at Stuart

STUART, Ia.—The first Malvern Bank Super Late Model Racing Series event of 2026 saw the reigning west series champion back in victory lane in Sunday’s season opener at Stuart Speedway.

The opening round of the 2026 season for the SLMR late models saw the west series kick off the year on the smallest track on the tour, the high-banked, quarter-mile Stuart Speedway in Stuart, Iowa. Sunday marked the first time the track played host to the series’ season opener.

Things got off to a very rough start in Deathrage Opticial hot laps when Derek Daly, making his SLMR debut, caught the turn one wall and barrel-rolled two times before landing right-side up. Daly was able to walk away from the wreck, but he would be done for the evening.

The first Keyser Manufacturing Top Qualifier of the new season was 2024 West Series Champion, Bill Leighton Jr. The La Vista, Nebraska laid down a blistering 13.187 second lap time to lead the first of 3 qualifying groups. Group two was led by 4-time Series Champion Tad Pospisil as he stopped the clock at 13.447 seconds. The third and final group was topped by Daniel Hilsabeck with a 13.407 second lap set by the Earlham, Iowa driver.

The three heat races on the night were won by Andrew Kosiski, Jeff Tharp and Dylan Sillman. After points were tallied following the heats, Hilsabeck returned as the top point earner. This meant he would have the first chance to take the Skyline Materials Lucky 6th Place Starter challenge. A massive $2,000 bonus was rolled over from the previous season into the opener, but Hilsabeck declined the challenge and would start fourth in the main event. The Lucky 6th Place starting spot would ultimately go to Jason Hahne.

It was Jesse Sobbing and Bill Leighton Jr., The West Series Champions from the last two seasons, who shared the front row for the 30-lap main event. Leighton jumped out to the early lead, but his time up front only lasted for two laps as Sobbing got ahead of them as they led the pack off turn two on the third lap.

The only caution of the race came out on lap 8 when Darrel DeFrance and Paul Glendenning got tangled up near the end of the pack. Neither car sustained heavy damage, so both drivers continued on with the race.

When Action resumed, Sobbing led while Leighton ran second. A bit further behind them, Tad Pospisil, Daniel Hilsabeck and Jake Neal swapped positions 3rd-5th back and forth. The race for the lead began to get just as competitive as Sobbing and Leighton navigated lapped traffic. Leighton tried to mount a charge late in the distance, but Sobbing kept out of harm’s way and found enough speed to stay ahead to run out the laps and score the first feature win of the 2026 season.

Sobbing’s victory was his first SLMR win at Stuart and the 11th SLMR win of his career. It also makes him the sixth different winner in nine races at the track. In addition, the win served as a bit of redemption after coming up one spot short of the win at the same track the year before.

Bill Leighton Jr. would have to settle for second while Tad Pospisil came in third. Jake Neal charged late to take back fourth, while Daniel Hilsabeck rounded out the top five. Corey Zeitner would be the race’s Hoosier Tire Hard Charger Award winner as he went from 16th to finish 10th.

After an action-packed opener for the West Series, the SLMR East Series will get to open their part of the season with a Memorial Day Weekend tripleheader in eastern Iowa. Kicking off the weekend will be the tour’s first-ever visit to the Bloomfield Speedway in Bloomfield on Friday, May 22nd. The next night, the series heads north to the Maquoketa Speedway in Maquoketa  before finishing out the weekend on Sunday at the Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway in Dubuque.


MALVERN BANK SLMR WEST SERIES LATE MODELS (23 entries)

Malvern Bank A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 99-Jesse Sobbing[1]; 2. 24-Bill Leighton[2]; 3. 04-Tad Pospisil[7]; 4. 6-Jake Neal[3]; 5. 22D-Daniel Hilsabeck[4]; 6. 53-Andrew Kosiski[5]; 7. 76X-Blair Nothdurft[10]; 8. 35D-Dylan Sillman[9]; 9. 76-Jason Hahne[6]; 10. 26JR-Corey Zeitner[16]; 11. 14-Kyle Berck[14]; 12. 4-JC Wyman[12]; 13. 01-Jacob Hobscheidt[13]; 14. 10T-Jeff Tharp[8]; 15. 22-Charlie McKenna[15]; 16. 35-Kale Kosiski[17]; 17. 58-Dave Eckrich[19]; 18. 99D-Darrel DeFrance[20]; 19. 15C-Curt Schroeder[11]; 20. 3-Mike Collins[18]; 21. 33-Paul Glendenning[22]; 22. 25C-Cody Thompson[21]; 23. 4D3-Derek Daly[23]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 53-Andrew Kosiski[3]; 2. 15C-Curt Schroeder[1]; 3. 99-Jesse Sobbing[5]; 4. 22-Charlie McKenna[2]; 5. 24-Bill Leighton[6]; 6. 14-Kyle Berck[4]; 7. 99D-Darrel DeFrance[7]; 8. 33-Paul Glendenning[8]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 10T-Jeff Tharp[2]; 2. 76-Jason Hahne[4]; 3. 26JR-Corey Zeitner[1]; 4. 01-Jacob Hobscheidt[3]; 5. 04-Tad Pospisil[6]; 6. 76X-Blair Nothdurft[5]; 7. 58-Dave Eckrich[8]; 8. 25C-Cody Thompson[7]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 35D-Dylan Sillman[2]; 2. 6-Jake Neal[4]; 3. 22D-Daniel Hilsabeck[6]; 4. 3-Mike Collins[1]; 5. 35-Kale Kosiski[3]; 6. 4-JC Wyman[5]; 7. 4D3-Derek Daly[7]

Qualifying 1: 1. 24-Bill Leighton, 13.187[2]; 2. 99-Jesse Sobbing, 13.203[1]; 3. 14-Kyle Berck, 13.284[3]; 4. 53-Andrew Kosiski, 13.356[6]; 5. 22-Charlie McKenna, 13.409[4]; 6. 15C-Curt Schroeder, 13.643[5]; 7. 99D-Darrel DeFrance, 13.902[7]; 8. 33-Paul Glendenning, 13.925[8]

Qualifying 2: 1. 04-Tad Pospisil, 13.447[5]; 2. 76X-Blair Nothdurft, 13.484[2]; 3. 76-Jason Hahne, 13.572[1]; 4. 01-Jacob Hobscheidt, 13.757[6]; 5. 10T-Jeff Tharp, 13.908[8]; 6. 26JR-Corey Zeitner, 13.929[7]; 7. 25C-Cody Thompson, 14.106[4]; 8. 58-Dave Eckrich, 14.429[3]

Qualifying 3: 1. 22D-Daniel Hilsabeck, 13.407[2]; 2. 4-JC Wyman, 13.719[6]; 3. 6-Jake Neal, 13.925[5]; 4. 35-Kale Kosiski, 13.964[7]; 5. 35D-Dylan Sillman, 14.138[1]; 6. 3-Mike Collins, 14.437[3]; 7. 4D3-Derek Daly, 16.000[4]


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IMCA Modified (12 entries)

Diversified Sales Service A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 93N-Colton Nelson[1]; 2. 19S-Chase Weimer[5]; 3. 5T-Tyler Inman[6]; 4. 5-Todd Shute[9]; 5. 14B-Scott Bash[2]; 6. 11F-Colton Garside[4]; 7. 95N-Garrett Nelson[3]; 8. B24-Owen Barnhill[7]; 9. 36T-Jeff Wiggins[12]; 10. 17-Cory Sauerman[10]; 11. (DNF) 28-Trevor Fitz[8]; 12. (DNS) 9B-Larry Baldwin Jr

Diversified Sales Service Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 11F-Colton Garside[3]; 2. B24-Owen Barnhill[5]; 3. 14B-Scott Bash[2]; 4. 5-Todd Shute[6]; 5. 5T-Tyler Inman[4]; 6. (DNF) 9B-Larry Baldwin Jr[1]

Diversified Sales Service Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 93N-Colton Nelson[1]; 2. 95N-Garrett Nelson[2]; 3. 19S-Chase Weimer[3]; 4. 28-Trevor Fitz[5]; 5. 17-Cory Sauerman[6]; 6. (DNF) 36T-Jeff Wiggins[4]


IMCA Stock Car  (15 entries)

Affordable Quality Exteriors A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 72H-Miciah Hidlebaugh[4]; 2. 3-Mike Albertsen[5]; 3. 8M-Austin Meiners[6]; 4. 34N-Thomas Nelson[1]; 5. 2X-Greg Peck[9]; 6. 92-Buck Schafroth[8]; 7. 3H-Ty Hill[3]; 8. V31-Todd VanEaton[2]; 9. 94-Dillon Solum[7]; 10. 37D-Brad Derry[14]; 11. 1C-Leremy Jackson[10]; 12. 101-Marvin Henriksen[13]; 13. 26-Tony Bass[12]; 14. (DNF) 57VG-Rowdee Van Genderen[11]; 15. (DNF) 14-Blake Lund[15]

Affordable Quality Exteriors Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 3-Mike Albertsen[4]; 2. 92-Buck Schafroth[6]; 3. V31-Todd VanEaton[2]; 4. 34N-Thomas Nelson[1]; 5. 1C-Leremy Jackson[7]; 6. 57VG-Rowdee Van Genderen[5]; 7. 101-Marvin Henriksen[8]; 8. 37D-Brad Derry[3]

Affordable Quality Exteriors Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 8M-Austin Meiners[4]; 2. 72H-Miciah Hidlebaugh[3]; 3. 2X-Greg Peck[6]; 4. 94-Dillon Solum[5]; 5. 3H-Ty Hill[2]; 6. 26-Tony Bass[7]; 7. (DNS) 14-Blake Lund



IMCA Northern SportMod  (20 entries)

Karl Chevrolet of Stuart A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 2X-Matt Avila[8]; 2. 14-Jake Sachau[10]; 3. 22D-Dayton Swatek[5]; 4. 01-Brayton Carter[9]; 5. 18-Mitchell Morris[6]; 6. CB25-Chris Burke[17]; 7. 4-Gage Hilgenberg[4]; 8. 13B-Preston Bright[1]; 9. 26-Mike Dullard[2]; 10. 9M-Matt Morrow[11]; 11. 81-BJ Charlson[3]; 12. 0LD-Bryan Morris[20]; 13. 10L-Logan Frederiksen[13]; 14. 69K-Kaden Rice[19]; 15. 20C-Chris Onstot[16]; 16. 18B-Jackson Elmquist[14]; 17. 12-Zachary Dunham[12]; 18. (DNF) 12J-Darrin Hardisty[7]; 19. (DNF) 18J-Josalyn Elmquist[15]; 20. (DNF) 110S-Spencer Leonard[18]

Karl Chevrolet of Stuart Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 01-Brayton Carter[8]; 2. 18-Mitchell Morris[4]; 3. 26-Mike Dullard[2]; 4. 4-Gage Hilgenberg[3]; 5. 13B-Preston Bright[1]; 6. 9M-Matt Morrow[9]; 7. 10L-Logan Frederiksen[5]; 8. 18J-Josalyn Elmquist[7]; 9. CB25-Chris Burke[6]; 10. 110S-Spencer Leonard[10]

Karl Chevrolet of Stuart Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 2X-Matt Avila[7]; 2. 14-Jake Sachau[8]; 3. 22D-Dayton Swatek[3]; 4. 12J-Darrin Hardisty[6]; 5. 81-BJ Charlson[2]; 6. 12-Zachary Dunham[10]; 7. (DNF) 18B-Jackson Elmquist[1]; 8. (DNF) 20C-Chris Onstot[9]; 9. (DNS) 69K-Kaden Rice; 10. (DNS) 0LD-Bryan Morris



IMCA Hobby Stock  (22 entries)

Ricks Towing Transport A Feature 1 (18 Laps): 1. 17K-Briar Kriegel[10]; 2. 1K-Tom Killen Jr[11]; 3. 22B-Braden Gifford[8]; 4. 7B-Eric Stanton[9]; 5. 98-Derrick Rohe[6]; 6. 88H-Kale Hemsley[5]; 7. 11B-Solomon Bennett[7]; 8. 49-Kendal Madsen II[17]; 9. 00B-Braelynn Long[3]; 10. 56J-Jamie Coady[19]; 11. 11-Macon Robinson[18]; 12. 84B-Rusty Bates[14]; 13. 99B-Bentley Long[16]; 14. 45C-Dalton Coady[15]; 15. 5H-Ronnie Hill[13]; 16. 75KB-Russell Klisaris[22]; 17. 3T-Tony Strable[21]; 18. 79-Charles Belew[20]; 19. 5-Dylan Hill[2]; 20. (DNF) 6D-Zach Day[1]; 21. (DNF) 7-Michael Johnson Jr[12]; 22. (DQ) 22K-Kael Koch[4]

Ricks Towing Transport Heat 1 (7 Laps): 1. 17K-Briar Kriegel[7]; 2. 11B-Solomon Bennett[6]; 3. 00B-Braelynn Long[4]; 4. 7-Michael Johnson Jr[8]; 5. 5H-Ronnie Hill[1]; 6. 99B-Bentley Long[3]; 7. 56J-Jamie Coady[5]; 8. (DNF) 75KB-Russell Klisaris[2]

Ricks Towing Transport Heat 2 (7 Laps): 1. 22B-Braden Gifford[6]; 2. 1K-Tom Killen Jr[7]; 3. 6D-Zach Day[2]; 4. 88H-Kale Hemsley[5]; 5. 84B-Rusty Bates[4]; 6. 49-Kendal Madsen II[3]; 7. 79-Charles Belew[1]

Ricks Towing Transport Heat 3 (7 Laps): 1. 22K-Kael Koch[4]; 2. 98-Derrick Rohe[5]; 3. 5-Dylan Hill[2]; 4. 7B-Eric Stanton[6]; 5. 45C-Dalton Coady[7]; 6. 11-Macon Robinson[3]; 7. (DNF) 3T-Tony Strable[1]



IMCA Sport Compact    (12 entries)

Hawkeye Auto Salvage A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 712-Levi Volkert[2]; 2. 61F-Tyler Fiebelkorn[5]; 3. 72-Daniel Clayton[3]; 4. 13-Michael Gardner[1]; 5. 45-Johnny Thomas[6]; 6. 55-Zander Steiner[8]; 7. 3H-Rece Hayes[4]; 8. 8K-Kaytee DeVries[9]; 9. 41-Colbin Funke[7]; 10. 16X-Sam Schmitt[10]; 11. 3K-Carson Hayes[12]; 12. (DNS) 22AD-Joseph Carolus

Hawkeye Auto Salvage Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 712-Levi Volkert[2]; 2. 61F-Tyler Fiebelkorn[4]; 3. 72-Daniel Clayton[3]; 4. 41-Colbin Funke[5]; 5. 8K-Kaytee DeVries[6]; 6. (DNF) 22AD-Joseph Carolus[1]

Hawkeye Auto Salvage Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 45-Johnny Thomas[4]; 2. 13-Michael Gardner[1]; 3. 3H-Rece Hayes[3]; 4. 55-Zander Steiner[5]; 5. 16X-Sam Schmitt[6]; 6. 3K-Carson Hayes[2]