Eastern Iowa Driver Rankings: May 6

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: Justin Wacha, Jeff Aikey, Mark Schulte, Brody Willett

Dropped out:  Damon Murty, Benji Irvine, Tyler Droste, Don Erger

Just missed the cut:  Andy Nezworski, Ronn Lauritzen, Brian Irvine, J.D. Auringer, Bob Dominacki

RANK

+/-

NAME

CLASS

THOUGHTS

1

--

Justin Kay

Late Model

Kay may not have won a race this weekend - his only race was on Sunday, in which he finished second in the IMCA Deery Brothers Summer Series for Late Models main event at Quad City Speedway in East Moline, Ill. - but he got the biggest win yet with the birth of his daughter Kayleigh on Friday, which kept him from racing, and won't result in a penalty in the rankings. We didn't get results all weekend on a few other driver who dropped from the rankings, so if they have a similar reason, please let us know.

2

+4

Tony Olson

Sport Mod

Olson makes the second biggest jump of the week to second by virtue of his worst finish of the weekend being a second place at Independence Motor Speedway on Saturday. He got the win in Davenport on Friday and again on Sunday at Benton County Speedway in Vinton. The start to this year has been a hot one for the Cedar Rapids driver.

3

+5

Matt Ryan

Late Model

Speaking of big jumps, here's the biggest. The Davenport driver said Sunday he's on a "surreal-type" run right now, following up a win at Quad City Speedway on April 26 with wins on Friday at Davenport and Saturday at Jackson County Speedway in Maquoketa. Further, he ran third at QCS in the Deery Brothers A-main a week after his win. Certainly a banner weekend for Ryan.

4

+3

Troy Cordes

Modified

Cordes continued the consistent results he had all of last season and to start 2015 this weekend. He started the weekend with his 99th IMCA Modified win at Farley Speedway, then finished second and third in double features at Independence on Saturday, Sunday saw a fourth at BCS, a better finish done-in by bad alignment after hitting a tractor tire on the inside of a turn. 

5

--

Jenae Gustin

Sport Mod

Checkers or wreckers for Gustin this weekend. She started things out with a win at her hometown track of Marshalltown Speedway, but took a DNF at Independence, with an 18th place officially. Her performance isn't going south soon, though, and her fellow SportMod racers know that for certain.

6

-2

Nathan Ballard

Hobby Stock

Ballard's drop this week has much more to do with the success of a few others than it does with his lack of a win over the weekend. He was fourth at Marshalltown on Friday and second at BCS in Vinton. The Sunday result very well could've been a win if not for fuel pump issues on his Hobby Stock holding him back. Whatever he's found handling-wise continues to work.

7

NR

Justin Wacha

Hobby Stock

Speaking of finding the handle on a Hobby Stock. Wacha has run up front on a consistent basis this season, with a pair of thirds earlier in the season at BCS before a win there on Sunday. He also had a second at Independence on April 11 before a win there on Saturday. He, Ballard and Irvine provide a nearly unbeatable trio in the area.

8

NR

Jeff Aikey

Late Model

The local IMCA Late Model legend was up to his old tricks this weekend. He got started off with a win at Iowa State Fairgrounds Speedway, then got Deery Brothers Summer Series win No. 64 - extending his record - at Quad City Speedway in East Moline, Ill. by beating Justin Kay. Thiry-plus years in a racecar and he's still getting it done.

9

NR

Mark Schulte

Modified

Schulte is one of the very few racers competing in the area who doesn't run a crate motor weekly, which often puts him at a disadvantage. Despite that, he finished second at Farley (for a second time this season, after running second to Kelly Shryock on April 17) on Friday, then took home $1,000 for a win in the IMCA Modified Extravaganza at West Liberty Raceway on Saturday.

10

NR

Brody Willett

Micro Mod

There's a distinct feeling this won't be the last time the Alburnett youngster will grace the rankings. Willett - who also races a Legends car at Hawkeye Downs - took home two wins at Independence Motor Speedway on Saturday a day after running second at Farley Speedway. Sunday at Vinton wasn't so kind - a 12th, officially - but he's clearly getting comfortable in his MicroMod.

Previous: April 29

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