Eastern Iowa Driver Rankings: July 1

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: Kyle Brown, Mother Nature

Dropped out: Jeremiah Hurst

Just missed the cut:  Jenae Gustin, Nathan Wood, Brody Willett, Jarrett Franzen, Nick Marolf, Chris Luloff, Jeff Aikey, Richie Gustin, David Brandies, Mark Schulte

RANK

+/-

NAME

CLASS

THOUGHTS

1

NR

Mother Nature

The Earth

Mother Nature remains undefeated, as she has for all of time. For real, though, can we all get a break? There hasn't been a weekend the last month-plus where one day of the weekend wasn't washed away by rain. This weekend, only Hawkeye Downs Speedway got to race Friday, otherwise everywhere rained out. Sunday was more of  the same. Uncle!

2

-1

Justin Kay

Late Model/

Modified

The rankings go to 11 this week because I didn't want to take a spot of recognition from a driver because Mother Nature isn't cooperating lately. Kay didn't get to race Friday or Sunday, but took his IMCA Modified to Jackson County Speedway in Maquoketa. He ended up fourth there. He'll be back in action in Algona for the Deery Brothers Summer Series on Thursday.

3

-1

Tony Olson

Sport Mod

They keep having Sport Mod races, and Tony Olson keeps winning them. The Cedar Rapids driver got his 12th win of 2015 at Independence Motor Speedway on Saturday night, bolstering his points lead there. He's also cracked the top 10 in national points as well. When racers hit their max and it evens out, he should be a factor.

4

-1

Nathan Ballard

Hobby Stock/

Sportsmen

An interesting Friday night for Ballard. He appeared to go perfect in Hobby Stock and Sportsmen, but the tech barn bit him. It was ruled his ball joints were not Hawkeye Downs Speedway legal, so he lost his sixth straight win in that class. There is an appeal of that ruling. He did, however, get his first Sportsmen win the same night. He's money on asphalt right now.

5

-1

Tyler Droste

Late Model/

Modified

Like many from around here, Droste went to 141 Speedway in Wisconsin over the weekend. Like many from around here, Droste left 141 Speedway unhappy. He didn't qualify for the A-main, and left frustrated. He did, though, come back strong in his Late Model at Independence, where he ran second. Learning experiences are valuable for young racers.

6

+3

Benji Irvine

Hobby Stock

When outside factors don't slip him up, there's almost no beating Benji Irvine at Independence Motor Speedway. Whatever it is he's found, he's not letting up any time soon. He wasn't the only Irvine in Victory Lane that night, either. Brian Irvine got his first win in IMCA Modified at Indee on Saturday night, too.

7

-2

Damon Murty

Stock Car

Murty made the trip to 141 Speedway as well to run his Stock Car. He finished 12th, and apparently said after the race that he couldn't remember the last time he actually ran 12th - i.e., without a problem or failure. That speaks to his consistency and dominance around here. He went up to Hancock Speedway in Britt for the support race during the Hawkeye Dirt Tour event and finished fourth.

8

--

J.D. Auringer

Modified

Auringer keeps clicking off top-five finishes, proving his consistency over the past two months. He wasn't spectacular at Independence Motor Speedway, but he ended up a solid fourth. Consistency is nothing to scoff at, either. There's another Indee regular who would love to finish top-five consistently. We'll get back to that in a bit.

9

NR

Kyle Brown

Modified

The State Center driver isn't technically an Eastern Iowa native, but he comes this way quite a bit to run in Vinton, and his collective results have added up enough that he couldn't be ignored anymore. The IMCA national points leader in Modifieds ran second to North Carolina driver Kyle Strickler - who won Super Nationals last year - in Britt on Tuesday night. 

10

--

Matt Ryan

Late Model

Ryan's is a case of not having the chance to race at all this weekend. He was rained out on Friday for Davenport Speedway and Sunday for Quad City Speedway in East Moline, Ill. And on Saturday night, Jackson County Speedway in Maquoketa didn't run Late Models. Not any fun or very fair when you want to race but can't, so he won't get a penalty here. 

11

-5

Troy Cordes

Modified

Cordes barely hangs on, if only because he's the defending Aftermarket Nationals winner, and that's his next stop this week at Farley Speedway. Like Droste, he left 141 Speedway with "our tail tucked between our legs," after failing to qualify for the A-main. He also only managed a 14-place finish at Independence. He's searching for answers right now.

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