Eastern Iowa Driver Rankings: May 13

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: Benji Irvine, Tyler Soppe, Tyler Droste

Dropped out:  Justin Wacha, Jeff Aikey, Mark Schulte

Just missed the cut:  Hunter Marriott, Ronn Lauritzen, Justin Wacha, Damon Murty

RANK

+/-

NAME

CLASS

THOUGHTS

1

--

Justin Kay

Late Model

In what will become a theme of the weekend, Kay was limited in where he could race this weekend thanks to postponements. He missed out on Davenport on Friday and couldn't race anywhere Sunday. His one night on the track ended with a win, though, taking the checkers at Independence Motor Speedway - not one of his usual tracks.

2

+3

Jenae Gustin

Sport Mod

To this point in the season, Gustin's race weekends have usually been 2 of 3 in good finishes, with one night a race she'd want back. Not this weekend. She ran second at Marshalltown Speedway on Friday night, and took advantage of a scuffle in front of her on Saturday to take the win at Independence Motor Speedway.

3

-1

Tony Olson

Sport Mod

Speaking of the scuffle, this was the guy who had late-race issues in both races over the weekend. He made a late move on Friday at Farley that ended with him in the guardrail, and was spun in Turns 1 and 2 while leading on Saturday at Independence Motor Speedway, relegating him to 14th at the finish. The speed was there, the finishes weren't.

4

+2

Nathan Ballard

Hobby Stock

Ballard is one of the very few racers in Eastern Iowa to race both asphalt and dirt on a weekly basis. He's a regular at Hawkeye Downs and Benton County Speedway in Vinton. He took the season-opening win in Cedar Rapids Friday, but couldn't back that finish up with postponements on both Sunday and Tuesday in Vinton. 

5

-1

Troy Cordes

Modified

He didn't have the Saturday he wanted personally in his IMCA Modified, racing to seventh at Independence Motor Speedway. But he likely left Independence happier than if he'd won himself anyway. His son, Tristan, ended the night in Victory Lane for the first time in his young career, taking the checkers in MicroMod.

6

NR

Benji Irvine

Hobby Stock

Let me start this entry by acknowledging dropping Irvine all the way out of the rankings after a DNF last week at Independence was an overreaction. He returned to the front this weekend, taking the win on those high banks Saturday night in Hobby Stocks. He remains the man to beat in that division at Indee.

7

-4

Matt Ryan

Late Model

The "surreal" run he was on the previous two weeks didn't extend to a third, but he didn't get a chance to race at two of his regular tracks, either. He finished sixth in his only race of the weekend at Jackson County Speedway in Maquoketa. It remains to be seen if he can sustain that run he was on to start the season.

8

NR

Tyler Soppe

Sport Mod

The Sherrill driver makes his first appearance in the Eastern Iowa Driver Rankings by way of back-to-back wins this weekend. The checkers fell on him first at Farley Speedway on Friday, then backed that up with a win at Jackson County Speedway on Saturday night.

9

NR

Tyler Droste

Late Model

Droste returns after a week out of the rankings by way of notching his first career IMCA Late Model victory. Droste dominated the A-main at Farley Speedway on Friday. He then backed up that career-first with a third behind Kay and Travis Smock at Independence Motor Speedway on Saturday.

10

--

Brody Willett

Legends

Willett may be young, but he's growing into a versatile driver. He, like Ballard, runs both on asphalt and dirt as well. He didn't get a chance to race at Benton County Speedway on Sunday or Tuesday in his MicroMod, but he did on Friday night. The Alburnett youngster took second at Hawkeye Downs Speedway on Friday night.

Previous: April 29; May 6

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