Eastern Iowa Driver Rankings: August 19

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, Bryce Garnhart

Dropped out: Colt Mather, Kyle Brown

Others considered:  Andy Nezworski, Nick Marolf, Richie Gustin, Mark Schulte, Brian Irvine, Benji Irvine, Jeff Aikey, Troy Cordes, Jenae Gustin, Ryan Dolan, Kyle Brown, Mike Burbridge, Zach Less, Chris Zogg

RANK

+/-

NAME

CLASS

THOUGHTS

1

--

Justin Kay

Late Model

He got win No. 24 overall on Sunday at Dubuque Speedway, and moved one closer to maxing out his 20 wins for the IMCA Late Model national championship. Between that and finishing second at Davenport Speedway on Friday night, he stays on top. He's made winning once a weekend look casual - as have the next two on this list.

2

--

Nathan Ballard

Hobby Stock/

Hobby Stock/

Sportsmen

This week was as close as he's come to being No. 1, but Kay's national title bid kept him out. Ballard has been a sure thing - minus one night at the tech barn - in Hobby Stock and swept that and Sportsmen for the third time (would've been four) on Friday. He also was third Sunday in Vinton. What there is no denying is how impressive he's been on two surfaces this season.

3

--

Tony Olson

Sport Mod

Heartfelt condolences go out to the Olson family with the death of Russ over the weekend - Tony's uncle and Kyle's dad. Team Olson raced with heavy hearts Sunday and a tough night was made harder by a DNF in the main. He did get wins No. 21 and 22 on Friday and Saturday. The rest of his season will be dedicated to B3, without a doubt. 

4

+1

Damon Murty

Stock Car

Speaking of making winning look casual, here's another guy who's done it for much longer than this season. Murty has 194 IMCA weekly feature wins, and will likely get to 200 in the next year or so. He got two this weekend - first on Friday at Marshalltown Speedway, then Sunday (again) in Vinton.

5

+2

Tyler Droste

Late Model/

Modified

Usually landing in the top five means you got at least one win over the weekend. While that's not the case for Droste, what he did Saturday was impressive. He double-classed on a makeup night, meaning he ran four main events. He finished fifth in both Late Model main events (coming from the back in one) and was second and fourth in the two Modified races. Not something he'd have been able to do last year.

6

+2

Mitch Morris

Modified

A really solid last few weeks for Morris, who backed up his great weekend two weeks ago with a win at Jackson County Speedway in Maquoketa on Saturday and was second on Friday night at Davenport Speedway. Being good at this point of the season is as much about learning throughout the year as it is keeping equipment fresh, and he appears to have done both.

7

-1

JD Auringer

Modified

Modified

Good, but not great, weekend for the 00j this weekend. He was fourth and eighth in a pair of main events at Independence Motor Speedway on Saturday night, then was eighth again Sunday at Dubuque Speedway. Not the results he's been used to for most of the summer, but nothing to be worried about.

8

-4

Jeremiah Hurst

Modified

A very similar weekend to Auringer, especially in that he didn't have the results everyone as come to expect from the No. 41. He was 10th at Jackson County Speedway in Maquoketa and sixth on Sunday in Dubuque. Like Auringer, this was an outlier weekend.

9

NR

Bryce Garnhart

Sport Mod

Garnhart has been great at times this summer and other times no so great. But in recent weeks he's run very well, culminating in entering the rankings. He had a worst finish of second over the weekend - twice. He was second Friday night in Davenport to Olson, and also Sunday in Dubuque. He got a much-needed win in Maquoketa on Saturday night after coming close several times recently.

10

NR

Matt Ryan

Late Model

Ryan had some not-so-nice things to say about my alma mater when we were in Tipton, so that's why he missed last week. ...I kid, I kid. Some (only some, Matt. You know what I'm talking about) were true. He's back by virtue of a third on Friday night in Davenport, a fourth Saturday in Maquoketa and a win on Sunday at Quad City Speedway. He's still running hard to regain the national points lead.

Previous: April 29; May 6; May 13; May 20; May 27; June 3; June 10; June 17; June 24; July 1; July 8; July 15; July 22; July 29; Aug. 5; Aug. 12

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