Eastern Iowa Driver Rankings: May 7

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, or comment in the comments section.

New this week: Jenae Gustin, Tyler Bruening, Joel Callahan

Dropped out: Colby Springsteen, Chad Simpson, Terry Neal

RANK

+/-

NAME

CLASS

THOUGHTS

1

+2

Justin Kay

Late Model

Takes the top spot from Andy Eckrich this week. He won at Jackson County Speedway in Maquoketa on Saturday night, then tamed Quad City Speedway in East Moline, Ill. for the IMCA Deery Brothers Summer Series show. He leads the Deery Brothers points, and is absolutely one of the top guys to beat in a late model right now.

2

-1

Andy Eckrich

Late Model

If there were such a thing as 1 and 1A in these rankings, Eckrich would get a 1A. He got a win for the second straight weekend, backing up the Farley Speedway opener last week with a win on Saturday at West Liberty Raceway. He also ran ninth at Quad City Speedway in the Deery Brothers show, a track he admittedly hasn't ever been great on.

3

+1

Jeff Aikey

Late Model

This man has done everything but win so far this year. The seven-time Deery Brothers champ finished second at Quad City Speedway to Kay, making it his third straight top-three finish (second at West Liberty, third at Jackson Co. Speedway) in Deery Brothers action. The veteran is still a man to beat when the late models roll in.

4

+4

Benji Irvine

Hobby Stock

The Stanley native gets such a big bump for bouncing back so well from adversity. Irvine had issues on Saturday night at Independence Motor Speedway, finishing 19th (last) in the Hobby Stock feature. So what'd he do to rebound? Just went out and won the next day at Benton County Speedway in Vinton. Takes great focus to be able to do that.

5

+2

Tony Olson

Sport Mod

Olson may not have gotten a win this weekend, but the Cedar Rapids native has shown his consistency early in the season. He backed up his West Liberty Raceway win and second-place run at Cedar County Raceway in Tipton with a second place run at West Liberty on Saturday. He'll be the guy to beat at West Liberty all season long.

6

-4

Ronn Lauritzen

Modified

The Jesup racer started off the season like gangbusters, but came back down to Earth a bit last weekend. He had issues at Independence Motor Speedway on Saturday night, finishing 17th in the 21-car field. But he made a nice rebound on Sunday at Benton County Speedway in Vinton, finishing a solid fourth. 

7

+2

Bill Whalen

Sport Compact

It's rare for the Riverside native to not be in contention when the IMCA Sport Compact division hits the track, and that was the case again this weekend. Whalen ran second at Benton County Raceway in Vinton, but only by a nose. He was a good distance behind leader Nathan Chandler when Chandler's car died, barely getting back to the line for the win.

8

N/R

Jenae Gustin

Sport Mod

As the first woman to make the Eastern Iowa Driver Rankings, it's likely she will be heard from on this list quite a bit going forward. She got her first win at Independence Motor Speedway on Saturday night, a week after getting a victory at Marshalltown Speedway. She's had strong cars everywhere she's been to open the 2014 season.

9

N/R

Tyler Bruening

Late Model

The Decorah native was failed brakes away from winning the first two races at Independence Motor Speedway - where he won the points last year - this season. He ran second to Joel Callahan on opening night, then backed it up with a win there on Saturday night. He also ran a solid eighth at Quad City Speedway in the Deery Brothers show Sunday.

10

N/R

Joel Callahan

Late Model

Speaking of the Independence Motor Speedway season opener winner, the Dubuque native had another solid weekend this weekend. He finished third at Quad City Speedway in the Deery Brothers Summer Series race, and has steadily improved on tour through four races. He sits fourth in Summer Series points, 22 points back of Kay.

l Comments: (319) 368-8884; jeremiah.davis@sourcemedia.net