Eastern Iowa Drive Rankings: June 8

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: Tyler Droste, Joel Rust

Dropped out: Ronn Lauritzen, Justin Kay

Others considered (in no order):  Troy Cordes, Matt Ryan, Zach Less, Bryce Garnhart, Rob Toland, Jeff Aikey, Norman Chesmore, Joel Callahan, Mark Schulte, Mitch Morris, Chris Zogg, Tyler Bruening, Mitch Hovden, Dan Hovden, Leah Wroten, Kyle Olson, Matt Gansen, Cayden Carter, Sam Wieben, Johnny Spaw,  Jim Hanson, Troy Hovey, Justin Kay, Ronn Lauritzen, Daniel Wauters, Brian Irvine

RANK

+/-

NAME

CLASS

THOUGHTS

1

--

Tyler Soppe

Sport Mod

Soppe just keeps rolling right through his schedule so far this season. The Sherrill driver got his 10th win this season by adding another at Farley Speedway on Friday night. He got rained out after getting heats in at West Liberty, then came up a spot short of another win on Sunday with a second at Dubuque. Whatever they've found, it's working. Would imagine he'll be a factor if he goes for the $2,000 at Davenport on Friday. 

2

+1

Nathan Ballard

Hobby Stock/Sport Mod

Ballard gets a bump not only for getting a win in his Hobby Stock at Farley on Friday, but also for running fifth in his first Sport Mod race. Ballard had been waiting to get that thing out for a while, and as he said on this week's Inside Track Podcast, he certainly isn't satisfied yet. History says he'll figure it out, though. We'll see if he can make the Sport Mod as competitive as his Hobby Stock has been.

3

-1

Tony Olson

Sport Mod

It's tough out there for a guy approaching 10 wins already this season. He drops a spot for the second straight week, and again more because what others did than he didn't. In fact, even though he didn't get a win, he had an interesting weekend. He blew up the engine in his old car - which he only brought out because the new car needed a weld - and finished fourth in someone else's. He was back in the new car Sunday, finishing p3 and p2 in two features in Vinton.

4

--

Kyle Brown

Modified

Brown got four races in over the last week, running 11th at Southern Iowa Speedway last Thursday, then was fourth a Marshalltown on Friday and fifth on Saturday in Boone. He also ran third on Tuesday at Marshalltown Speedway for the Hawkeye Dirt Tour race. Looked like he might've had something for the leaders if he'd gotten a caution, but we'll never know. He's still consistently a factor, even if the wins aren't as plentiful as early in the year.

5

--

Damon Murty

Stock Car

Ho-hum, just another win in which he rode the high line and outlasted his competition in vintage "Chelsea Charger" style. Murty won on Tuesday at Marshalltown Speedway. Win No. 201 came after running seventh in the makeup feature at Benton County Speedway, then third in the regular weekly show. 

6

+2

Benji Irvine

Stock Car

Irvine has raced more at Fayette County Speedway and Upper Iowa Speedway of late, and he's seen a ton of success up that way. He got a second straight win overall with his victory on Saturday at Fayette County Speedway in West Union. It's impressive that a guy can jump from track to track and not miss a beat.

7

-1

J.D. Auringer

Modified

Auringer didn't get to race a ton this weekend, given Independence Motor Speedway rained out for a third straight week. He did run third at Benton County Speedway in Vinton for that main event, though. Was a little surprised he wasn't in Marshalltown for the Hawkeye Dirt Tour race, but those midweek shows can be hard for guys with various work responsibilities.

8

-1

Jeremiah Hurst

Late Model/Modified

Ditto here on being surprised he wasn't in Marshalltown - either for the IMCA Deery Brothers Summer Series or for the Hawkeye Dirt Tour Modifieds. Still, Hurst got himself another Late Model win over the weekend, breaking through at Farley after his heartbreak there a couple times this season. He also ended up fifth in his Modified on Sunday at Dubuque Speedway.

9

NR

Tyler Droste

Late Model

Droste makes his return to the rankings after a strong pair of weekends - highlighted in Monday's notebook - capped off by a second place finish in the Deery Brothers Summer Series race at Marshalltown Speedway (the second year in a row he was runner-up there). His win at Dubuque on Sunday was the second in as many weeks, too.

10

NR

Joel Rust

Modified

As I wrote after his win Tuesday night, he wasn't sure what message his back-to-back Hawkeye Dirt Tour wins sends, and wanted someone else to make that judgment. Well, Joel: it's a pretty large statement, in my opinion. Two wins against Supernats-level competition is stout. Those back-to-back wins are more than enough to make this week's top 10.

Previous weeks: April 27; May 4; May 11; May 18; May 25; June 1 

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