8/9/2020
Park Jefferson International Speedway
Thornton takes Iron Cup at Park Jefferson
Ricky Thornton Jr. added his name to the list of J&J Fitting Iron Cup champions on Saturday night as the Adel, Iowa driver invaded Park Jefferson Speedway and left with the famed Iron Cup along with a $7,000 top prize. Joining him picking up Iron Cup titles was Jesse Sobbing in the Stock Cars, Cody Thompson in the Sport Modifieds, Malik Sampson in the Hobby Stocks and Monty Ferriera in the RACESaver Sprint Cars. In addition, Danny Vanderveen picked up a popular win in the Sport Compact feature.
The 35-lap feature went green with Cody Laney and Lance Mari making up the front row. The California based Laney found the top groove to his liking and controlled the race thru the mid-point. Meanwhile Ricky Thornton was the first driver to find the tacky bottom groove on turn four and passed slowly gained on Laney. A caution flag was all Thornton needed and he powered off the bottom of four to take the lead going into one. Meanwhile Sioux City Excitement Chris Abelson was mounting a serious challenge and rolled into the second spot. One last caution was enough for Thornton and he pulled away for the victory with Abelson second and Tripp Gaylord in third. A number of drivers had strong runs mid pack with Joel Rust, Chris Mills and Zach Dockter all passing 7 cars. Ethan Dotson and Tanner Black won the heats.
In the J&J Fitting Stock Cars it was Jesse Sobbing parking the black 99 in victory lane. Local shoe Bo Lundquist got the jump early and was strong at the beginning of the race while Justin Luinenberg, Travis Barker and Sobbing roared around the track. In the end Sobbing got the run he needed and picked up the win over Travis Barker and a very strong run from Greg Taylor. Heats went to Sobbing and Vermillion’s Karl Brewer.
In the IMCA RACESaver Monty Ferreria picked up the feature win. After a mid-race melee that sent former track champion Colin Smith pit side, Ferreria got the run on the field and raced around the Park Jefferson oval. Jared Jansen was second and Danny Nekolite third.
Cody Thompson did it again in the Sport Modifieds as the second row starting spot was all he needed to race away from the field to pick up another Iron Cup. Former track official Jackson Mulder and Michael Guthrie got the race underway but neither could handle Thompson who was once again the class of the field. Rusty Montagne was second and Guthrie third. Heats went to Zach Nitsch and Cody Thompson.
The Hobby Stock championship went to Malik Sampson as the Minnesota driver dropped in to pick up a first ever Iron Cup. Sampson came from the third row and got by tough running Gavin Gilbertson to get to the top spot. Zach Ankrum then went to work on Sampson and gave him everything he had but the 2019 track champion came up just short in the end. David Miller had a strong run for third.
In a special Sport Compact race, it was Danny Vanderveen to got a very popular victory in the 69V car. With Gilbert Aldape winning the heat, it was Vanderveen’s front row spot that helped him secure the run for first over Connor Brown and Gage Reisdorph. An illegal hub saw Brown disqualified and Aldape awarded third.
Park Jefferson will take the weekend off after the 2-day show and prepare for the final night of racing of 2020 as the Midwest Power Series bring the MSTS and Nebraska 360 Sprint Cars to Park Jefferson. Joining them will be the RACESaver Sprints, the IMCA Hobby Stocks and a yet to be named division on Saturday, August 22nd.
Submitted By: Adam Adamson