Eastern Iowa Driver Rankings: July 15

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: Ryan Dolan, Jeff Aikey 

Dropped out:  Andy Nezworski, Brian Irvine

Just missed the cut:  Matt Ryan, Troy Cordes, Jenae Gustin, Andy Nezworski, Jarrett Franzen, Nick Marolf, Chris Luloff, Richie Gustin, David Brandies, Mark Schulte, Kyle Brown, Tyler Soppe, Brian Irvine

RANK

+/-

NAME

CLASS

THOUGHTS

1

+1

Justin Kay

Late Model

Every time I've take this guy off the top spot for another driver (the Mother Nature week excluded), he's gone out and won. A lot. He did that again last week, winning his fourth IMCA Deery Brothers Summer Series race at Independence Motor Speedway, then again at Davenport on Friday. He may have only finished third at the Deery Bros race at Dubuque Speedway on Sunday, but he did so after spinning early in the race. 

2

-1

Tony Olson

Sport Mod

He had a week worthy of staying at No. 1, but Kay doing what he did against Deery Bros competition got him the spot. Olson got three wins (hold that thought) this weekend and three top fives. He won at Independence a week ago, and again at Davenport on Friday. He then ran third at the Hogan Memorial on Sunday. He got his third win of the week Wednesday morning, when his engine - which was taken by IMCA Sunday night - came back totally legal after a complete teardown. It may have been a nuisance for his team, but the win is proving what he's done so far this season is legit.

3

+7

J.D. Auringer

Modified

A really big jump - it's rare for a driver to jump this many spots in one week - but a 3 for 3 weekend culminating on Sunday in Vinton deserves this move. He won at Independence last Wednesday, then again on Friday night at Farley Speedway. Then on Sunday, he became just the second driver to get back-to-back Hogan Memorial IMCA Modified victories.

4

--

Nathan Ballard

Hobby Stock/

Sportsmen

Ballard was back to form all across the board this week in his Hobby Stock, and continued to run well in his Sportsmen. He got another win at Hawkeye Downs in Hobby Stock, then finished second in the Sportsmen. On Sunday, he finished second at Benton County Speedway - but only by a bumper - in a great race to the line.

5

-2

Tyler Droste

Late Model/

Modified

It's important to remember this kid is still a teenager when considering his runs in the IMCA Deery Brothers Summer Series. He finished seventh at Independence Motor Speedway last Wednesday, then finished sixth in the Deery Bros race at Dubuque Speedway on Sunday. Those finishes are worse than what he's capable - which says a lot about his progress.

6

-1

Benji Irvine

Hobby Stock

Nathan Ballard wasn't the only Hobby Stock driver to lose a close race this week. Irvine had to start deep in the field last Wednesday at Independence Motor Speedway, but drove to the front. Unfortunately for him, he ran out of time. He lost by lest than a car length to Quinton Miller for second.

7

--

Jeremiah Hurst

Modified

Hurst may have only gotten to race once this week, but he got the win in his only start at Dubuque Speedway on Sunday. It would've been great to see what he could've done at the Hogan Memorial - his 1/4-mile stuff has been great this year - but couldn't miss the points night in Dubuque. He also got rained out at Jackson County Speedway on Saturday.

8

NR

Jeff Aikey

Late Model

Aikey returns to the rankings after a win at Iowa State Fairgrounds on Saturday night, as well as a pair of second-place finishes in the Deery Brothers Summer Series. He was runner-up both in Independence and Dubuque. For a guy who's won 64 races in that series all-time, second is almost worse than not finishing. 

9

NR

Ryan Dolan

Late Model

After running second on Wednesday night in the Deery Brothers Summer Series race at Independence Motor Speedway, Dolan said "we're real close." Well, he proved how close on Sunday. He walked away with the Summer Series win at Dubuque - his first win on tour in a long time. A resurgent Dolan is fun to see for a large number of fans in the area.

10

-4

Damon Murty

Stock Car

Murty too had a win in Des Moines at Iowa State Fairgrounds, but didn't have the same rest of the weekend as Aikey. He was back at his stomping grounds of Benton County Speedway in Vinton on Sunday, but it didn't go the way he wanted. He had issues in his heat race, then mechanical troubles ended his race essentially before it started in the main event.

Previous: April 29; May 6; May 13; May 20; May 27; June 3; June 10; June 17; June 24; July 1; July 8 

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