Eastern Iowa Driver Rankings: June 24

Welcome to the Inside Track's Eastern Iowa Driver Rankings. Each week of the racing season, the Gazette's Jeremiah Davis will rank the area's top 10 drivers across all divisions.

Think the list should be different? Tweet him at @jeremiahdavis10, send him an email at jeremiah.davis@thegazette.com or leave a comment at The Inside Track by Jeremiah Davis Facebook page.

New this week: Matt Ryan

Dropped out:  Jenae Gustin

Just missed the cut:  Jenae Gustin, Nathan Wood, Brody Willett, Jarrett Franzen, Nick Marolf, Chris Luloff, Jeff Aikey, Richie Gustin, David Brandies, Mark Schulte

RANK

+/-

NAME

CLASS

THOUGHTS

1

--

Justin Kay

Late Model

He may have only won once this weekend (in Davenport), but in two of his other three races, he came about as close as you can without winning. His worst finish of the weekend came in the UMP Summernationals race at Farley Speedway - his first Open Late Model race of the season - and he came home 10th in a strong field. He was second that night in his IMCA car to Andy Nezworski. Kay also ran second at Dubuque on Sunday - just his second non-win there since 2013.

2

--

Tony Olson

Sport Mod

I'll be honest: I couldn't decide on No. 2 this week, so I have a 2 and 2a. Hey, they're my rankings, right? Olson stays at "2" because he now has 11 wins this season, getting No. 11 on Father's Day at Benton County Speedway in Vinton. He ran second at Davenport Speedway on Friday to a returning Austin Moyer. Dude just keeps rolling in that T23 SportMod.

2a

--

Nathan Ballard

Hobby Stock

Ballard gets "2a" because he "only" has 10 wins this season, compared to Olson's 11. Seriously, he's now 5 for 5 in feature wins at Hawkeye Downs Speedway in his Hobby Stock, and is getting the hang of his Sportsmen car. Ballard was second to Dave McCalla (now in the Just Missed section above) in that class Friday night. He also got another win in Vinton on Sunday.

4

--

Tyler Droste

Late Model/

Modified

Remember what I said about rain last week? Apply that here. He took the week off from his IMCA Modified in preparation for the Clash at the Creek in Wisconsin this week, and got rained out from running his Late Model. Both cars are working well for him right now, so it'll be interesting to see how he runs against some great competition at 141 Speedway this week.

5

+4

Damon Murty

Stock Car

I'm probably not the first one to suggest this, but they should probably rename Benton County Speedway for this guy. He got weekly points win No. 73 all-time at Vinton on Sunday - that's not counting special event wins. He also won at Lee County Speedway in Donnellson on Thursday night, and was third last Wednesday at Southern Iowa Speedway. He's got it rolling.

6

--

Troy Cordes

Modified

It seems like for every good run Cordes has this year, he has an equally frustrating one to follow it. He was third in the Hawkeye Dirt Tour main event at Lee County Speedway on Thursday night behind Richie Gustin and Kyle Brown. He didn't get to race Friday or Saturday, then ate the wall on Sunday in Vinton after a broken spindle. He's headed to 141 Speedway, too.

7

+1

Jeremiah Hurst

Modified

Whatever he found about a month ago for the No. 41 car seems to have stuck around. He only got to race once this weekend, with Maquoketa raining out for a second straight week, but he got the win in that lone start at Dubuque Speedway ahead of the next guy on this list. Those two go head to head most weeks and have traded off who finishes ahead of who. 

8

-1

J.D. Auringer

Modified

Auringer got rained out like everyone else on Saturday night, and made the trip to Dubuque Speeday instead of VInton on Sunday. He and Hurst put on a good show in IMCA Modified, but he had to settle for second. His consistency has improved greatly, and there's no doubt he, Hurst and Cordes - in some order, depending on who you're asking - are the top area Mods.

9

-4

Benji Irvine

Hobby Stock

This drop has much more to do with each of the guys directly in front of him than it does with something he did or didn't do this weekend. He got rained out for Saturday at Independence Motor Speedway, but did get up to West Union and Fayette County Speedway. He had issues there, ending up 14th in the main event. 

10

NR

Matt Ryan

Late Model

This guy was starting to reach Mark Martin levels of second-place finishes before this weekend. He'd come very close for several weeks straight, and probably didn't get the respect for that here he deserved. He got back in the winner's circle at Quad City Speedway on Sunday though, after running seventh at Davenport on Friday. He's also bouncing back and forth for the lead in IMCA national points. 

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l Comments: (319) 368-8884; jeremiah.davis@thegazette.com