Eastern Iowa Driver Rankings: June 22

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: Corey Dripps

Dropped out: J.D. Auringer

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, Joel Rust, Ronn Lauritzen, Daniel Wauters, Brian Irvine, J.D. Auringer

RANK

+/-

NAME

CLASS

THOUGHTS

1

--

Tony Olson

Sport Mod

So if you're keeping track (well, I am, anyway), the Cedar Rapids racer has five wins in the last two weeks, and now four in a row overall. He swept Davenport, Independence and Benton County Speedway again this weekend, marking the second time he's done that this year. I don't care what class you're in, that's absurd. He has 14 wins overall now, and is making a surge in the Northern SportMod national points. 

2

--

Tyler Soppe

Sport Mod

It's kind of funny, when I was putting together this week's results, initially, I said to myself, "Huh, Soppe had a down week." Then I looked again. He finished 10th at Farley (my initial reason for the thought), then won at Maquoketa Speedway and was third in Dubuque. Pretty high bar he's set when a 10th place finish is disappointing.

3

+1

Damon Murty

Stock Car

Ho-hum. Just another week where he had a worst finish of second (Marshalltown Speedway on Friday), and got the win at Benton County Speedway in Vinton. It's pretty incredible what he continues to do, and how routine he makes it look. He must be in a hurry to get to win No. 300. At this rate, he'll easily reach 225 by the end of this season.

4

-1

Nathan Ballard

Sport Mod/Hobby Stock

Ballard has gotten some setup help on the SportMod, which obviously is invaluable, but how quickly he's taken to driving it has been impressive. Apart from his mistake last week, he's improved every time out, and was second at Farley on Friday. He didn't get a win this week in either car, but was able to avoid tearing anything up or blowing out any tires, finishing sixth in Hobby Stock at Farley and second in Vinton.

5

--

Benji Irvine

Hobby Stock

A rare rough weekend for Irvine, who finished 13th at Independence Motor Speedway on Saturday night. Much like Soppe, when I saw that's where he finished, it was a shock - just because of how consistent he's been over the last several years. He stays put for that reason. We'll see if he returns to form this weekend.

6

+2

Tyler Droste

Late Model

Droste was one of several who got to run double features at Farley Speedway in Late Model on Friday. He was 10th in the first feature and third in the second one. Then he got a victory at Independence on Saturday night in a competitive race. He's focused a lot on his Late Model lately. I'll be curious to see how the No. 92 does when he gets it back out.

7

-1

Kyle Brown

Modified

Brown had the lightest week he's had all year this weekend - but only because his car was still in pieces after last Tuesday's wreck at West Liberty. He hopped in Johnathan Logue's No. 69 Modified at Boone on Saturday and finished sixth, though, so he still got to race. He and his dad are one of many area guys up in Wisconsin at the Cheesehead Triple Crown at 141 Speedway. 

8

+2

Jeremiah Hurst

Late Model/Modified

Hurst has slowly but surely worked towards rebuilding his Late Model resume as this year has gone along. His Facebook page shared he thinks he's figured out what's wrong and plagued him at West Liberty, but apart from the 1/2-mile, he's been solid at his other tracks. He was second in both features at Farley on Friday night, then got his Modified out for Sunday at Dubuque, where he finished fifth.

9

-2

Justin Kay

Late Model/Modified

Well I'd guess you could call this weekend a come-to-earth weekend for the No. 15k crew. His best finish in three races on Friday night at Farley Speedway (two Late Model features and a Modified feature) was ninth. I couldn't find stats on when the last time that was the case. He was 13th and ninth in the two Late Model races, then was caught in a wreck in Modified and was credited with 15th.

10

NR

Corey Dripps

Modified

The Reinbeck driver makes his first appearance in the Eastern Iowa Driver Rankings after a pair of weeks where he's run very strong. This week he ended up fourth at Independence Motor Speedway, then got a win at Benton County Speedway in Vinton on Sunday. He's been fast the last few weeks but had some run-ins that prevented better finishes. No Cheesehead for him, but he's back in action this weekend.

Previous weeks: April 27; May 4; May 11; May 18; May 25; June 1; June 8; June 15

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