9/22/2015
Park Jefferson International Speedway
Thompson, Miller, Boulware, Larson, & Thies Win Iron Cups
JEFFERSON, SD 106 race cars checked into the pits for Sunday’s J&J Fitting Iron Cup Finale. The Pole Sitter’s for Sunday’s A main were determined by Saturday’s pole dash results. Saturday’s dash winners included Andrew Harris in the Sport Compacts, Dave Riley in the Hobby Stocks, Todd Boulware in the Pederson Machine Sport Mods, Chris Mills in the J&J Fitting Stock Cars, and Mike Hansen in the Sign Masters Modified.
The Sport Compact Iron Cup A main saw Ramsey Meyer jump to an early lead, but Drew Johnson would quickly overtake him. Cody Thompson, Tyler Thompson, and Caine Malberg followed Johnson to the front as they jockeyed for the lead on restart after restart. A rough driving penalty would send Tyler Thompson to the rear as he battled for the lead. Johnson held off all of his competitors but would be disqualified in tech inspections. With Johnson’s DQ, Cody Thompson was the winner, followed by Malberg, Andrew Vogt, Kaytee Devries, and Andrew Harris.
Pole sitter Dave Riley took early command of the Iron Cup Hobby Stock A Main with his race car spewing smoke. Kevin Bruck would overtake Riley for the race lead on lap 3 as Bruck used the bottom of the speedway to navigate through traffic from his 10th place starting position. Tony Fetterman battled back and forth with Riley for 2nd with Bruck right ahead. With a yellow to bunch the field up, a chaotic restart wadded up the leaders as Riley, Fetterman, and Bruck all spun out while racing for the lead. Riley and Bruck were sent to the rear giving Fetterman the lead on the next restart. Jake McClure would overtake Fetterman on the restart as the whole 24 car field ran side-by-side, bumper-to-bumper for 3 consecutive laps. David Miller would take the lead with Matt Hanson now in 2nd. Miller would pull away from the field to take the Iron Cup victory, while the whole field battled for every position. Rounding out the top 5 included Dustin Gulbrandson, Bruck, McClure, and Mike Hanson.
Iron Cup Sport Mod Pole Sitter Todd Boulware rocketed to an early lead in Pederson Machine Sport Mod feature action. Karl Brewer challenged under Boulware early, but Boulware fended him off and inched away from his competitors. Alec VandenBrink and Trent Roth raced side-by-side for many laps for 4th place, but a spin by VandenBrink would end his good run on the wrecker. Kole Nordquist was finessing his car on the bottom as he moved by Brewer for 2nd. As the laps winded down, Nordquist had just gotten to the rear bumper of Boulware as the 20 lap race had ended. Todd Boulware went on to win his 2nd consecutive Iron Cup, with Nordquist, Kaleb Kennedy, Brewer, and Roth rounding out the top 5.
J&J Fitting Stock Car action saw Chris Mills, Dustin Larson, and Jim Larson continue a hard battle that started a night earlier in Pole Dash action. Dustin Larson and Jim Larson raced door-to-door in the early stages with Jim Larson eventually clearing Dustin Larson. On a restart, Dustin Larson dived under Jim Larson to take the lead. Mills stalked the Larsons as they raced hard in front of him. Mills went to the bottom of the speedway to pass Jim Larson. Mills would move back to the top as he chased race leader Dustin Larson. Mills would try every line combination possible to get around Dustin Larson, but Dustin Larson didn’t let that happen as he maneuvered around lap traffic flawlessly on the last lap to take the win. Dustin Larson won from his from his 3rd starting spot, followed by Mills, Jim Larson, Jay Goosman, and Joe Smith.
Sign Masters Modifieds would end Iron Cup weekend with their 25 lap race. Justin Zeitner took early command from the outside pole and was never challenged for much of the race. Mike Hansen was do or die on the berm in turns one and two as he tried to reel in Zeitner. Hansen would fly over the berm in turn 2 spinning out of control which brought out the caution. With the help of some yellows, Hansen would work his way back to the front as Zeitner still led while Jim Thies and Chris Abelson went back and forth for 2nd. With Zeitner disqualified for being light at the scales, the tight race for 2nd ended up being the race for the win. The final lap saw Thies, Abelson, and Hansen racing 3 wide on the backstretch, with Thies holding steady on the bottom to fend off Abelson and Hansen at the line on the front stretch. With Zeitner’s DQ, Thies won, followed by Abelson, Hansen, Anthony Roth, and RJ Merchant.
Submitted By: Michael Lund
