On an incredibly hot and sultry August night in the Siouxland, Justin Luinenberg would top the Stock Cars on the opening night of the eighth annual Iron Cup at the Park Jefferson International Speedway near Jefferson South Dakota and across the street from Raceway Park South Dakota.
The Iron Cup, sponsored by J&J Fitting LLC, would feature two full programs for the IMCA Stock Cars, Sport Mods, Hobby Stocks and Sport Compacts while the IMCA Modifieds would run double heat races on Monday, August 9th in advance of the their $5,000 to win, $400 to start main event on Tuesday night.
A solid field of cars was on hand for all five classes with eighty three cars signing in to race on Monday. Of somewhat surprise, the Modified field is not yet full as I would assume that at least twenty four cars will start the feature on Tuesday night, yet only twenty one signed in to race on Monday. That means that at least three feature spots in a five thousand to win, four hundred to start main are yet to be filled. I was told that cars could still show up on Tuesday but would have to start at the back of the two last chance heats so it will be interesting to see if any additional drivers do pull in.
One surprise to me was the entry of Jay Noteboom driving a #27 car. I had not seen Noteboom's name in any results yet this year and believe that perhaps this might be his first racing of the 2021 season. The rest of the field would be mostly Siouxland drivers with the exception of Jimmy Reeves. In the other classes, it would also be mostly local and area competitors with a few drivers from southwestern Minnesota also joining the field.
One thing I like about Park Jefferson is that the race track is consistent and always seems to race pretty much the same way. Drivers like it when they know what kind of surface they will be racing on and would prefer a predictable track and that seems to be the way Park Jeff has been in both times I have been here this year. It usually takes a few races for it to dry off but then it slicks up and really becomes an "icy" track with handling in the corners and not raw horsepower the most important thing. And depending on how the race cars are handling, there was both high and low grooves to pass on and without the outside wall, the track is very forgiving. However, the down side to that is some yellow flags for drivers that push too hard and go over the edge. One great thing they did on this night was to use the one spin rule which really made a difference in the heat races and the number of yellow flags we saw.
Unfortunately, the one spin rule couldn't be used in the feature races and we saw a couple of the mains that really dragged out with multiple yellows and one that even got cut short by the time limit established for each class. Apparently they have had to implement this due to problems in the past. While the heats wen off very smooth, the features had some problems to them.
The Stock Cars had a grand on the line to the winner and an invite for the B & B All Star Invite at Boone on the line and twenty drivers would take the green for this main event. Kipp DeGroot would take the lead in a car that looks like one that Johnny Cash smuggled out of the auto assembly line one piece at the time as no two body panels match in color but what it lacks in esthetics it made up for in speed as he would lead the opening five laps with several in hot pursuit.
Unfortunately, his great run would come to an end when he looped it in front of the whole field in turn four and only great driving would keep the rest of the pack from smashing into him. Mike Albertsen would inherit the lead on the restart with Luinenberg up to second after starting way back in eleventh and Travis Barker third. Luinenberg would make a dandy move and pass Albertsen for the lead but Mike would come right back to battle along with Barker in a good three car race.
Two yellows would slow the action before the last five laps would go green to checkered. Albertsen was trying very hard to slide under Luinenberg in the corners and there were several near misses. Finally, Albertsen would slide high and Barker would take over second. He made several attempts in the last few laps to get past but would choose to race Luinenberg clean when the opportunity to dislodge him from the top spot was available and he would race home second as Luinenberg would take the win with Albertsen settling for third. More feisty driving would take place in this event with a couple of drivers running each other off the third turn at high speed and one eventually getting the black flag for his hijinks.
The Sport Mod feature would see Keith Sanders use the high side to take the early lead over Jeff Brunssen and Dudley Schroeder Jr. Justin Klynsma was on the move after starting fifth and he would drive under the competition as he moved up the the third spot. He would continue to advance and after a lap four yellow for a spinner, he would drive under Sanders and take over the lead.
Three more yellows would keep the field bunched but on each one, Klynsma would pull away from the pack. Keegan Nordquist was able to stay close and would attempt to drive under Justin but was not able to pull off that maneuver and would have to settle for second as Klynsma drove across the line for the win. Brunssen would come back up to take third.
The Hobby Stock feature was marked by a fierce battle for the lead, a whole series of yellows for spins and collisions and eventually, a fork stuck in the event two laps early due to the repeated yellow flags.
The story of the race was the battle between Dylan Fitzpatrick and Cory Probst. Fitzpatrick would use the outside line(you wanted to be on the outside for the green for sure) to take the early lead over Blake Luinenberg and Probst. Cory wasted no time getting up to second and then put the heat on Fitzpatrick for the lead. Following a wild collision between Jay DeVries and Joel Magee that eliminated both, Probst was able to edge his way past Fitzpatrick and take over the lead.
That wasn't the end of it however, as every time there was a yellow, the Delaware restart would allow Fitzpatrick a clean run at the leader and several times they raced down the back chute, side by side and banging doors all the way. But each time, by the narrowest of margins, Probst would be his rival to the corner and hold on to the lead.
Following a sixth yellow on lap ten, management would pull the pin and go green, white and checkered and again it was Probst who would hold off Fitzpatrick and Luinenberg for a stirring win.
A small field of Sport Compacts would see Kaytee DeVries lead from start to finish for the win. She would have a stiff challenge from Trent Reed and Caine Mahlberg but would cover the groove well and not give either a chance to get past her.
Each Modified ran two heats and as of post time, I have not seen a point rundown from the heats but with double wins, Bobby Moore and Jacob Hobscheidt would have to be at the top of the list. I believe that a couple of Last Chance heats will set the complete running order for the main event.
The other classes will be back for another complete program and the Hobby Stock and Stock Cars should again provide entertaining shows and with it being a full complete show once again, it will be interesting to see just who else might show up. Race time is 7:30 pm Tuesday.
On a side note, you can certainly tell that Sturgis is fully underway as the route across southern Minnesota on I-90 was littered with broken trailers, motor cycles and pieces of bikes as folks' dreams of getting away for a peaceful time in South Dakota were shattered.
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