Eastern Iowa Driver Rankings: April 27

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, Tyler Soppe, Tyler Bruening, Kyle Olson, Benji Irvine

Dropped out: Tyler Droste, Bryce Garnhart, Mitch Morris, Mark Schulte, Jeremiah Hurst

Others considered (in no order):  Tyler Droste, Troy Cordes, Matt Ryan, Zach Less, Bryce Garnhart, Ronn Lauritzen, Jeff Aikey, Norman Chesmore, Jeremiah Hurst, Mark Schulte, Mitch Morris, Chris Zogg, Brunson Behning, Rob Toland, Ricky Thornton Jr., Tom Berry Jr., Mitch Hovden, Dan Hovden, Patrick Flannagan

RANK

+/-

NAME

CLASS

THOUGHTS

1

NR

Kyle Brown

Modified

Hey y'all. We're back with the 2016 rankings. No. 1 for the opening edition was a no-brainer. Kyle Brown has four wins in the opening month of the season, including twice in IMCA Frostbuster events at Southern Iowa Speedway and Marshalltown Speedway. He also got wins at Benton County Speedway and West Liberty Raceway - in his first trip to the 1/2-mile. Dude is rolling, and no one is off to a hotter start in Modifieds.

2

NR

Tyler Soppe

Sport Mod

The other highest win total so far in 2016 (in Iowa, that is): this guy. Soppe also has four wins so far this season, with a pair at Dubuque Speedway in the opening two weeks, as well as one each at Farley Speedway and West Liberty Raceway. His worst finish so far? A sixth at the Modified Extravaganza night at West Liberty. The new car is paying off so far.

3

-2

Nathan Ballard

Hobby Stock

If not for bad luck with flat tires twice, Ballard very well could have four wins already, too. He fell out at the Marshalltown Speedway Frostbuster while racing for the win, and lost one in Vinton (but still finished third) with a flat as well. He does have two wins, both at Benton County Speedway, and four other top fives already. New year, same story for him in Hobby Stock.

4

NR

Benji Irvine

Hobby Stock

The Oelwein driver also has a pair of wins already, and has raced at five different tracks to open 2016. He won at Independence Motor Speedway last weekend, and got the win in Vinton that Ballard lost due to a flat tire. His worst finish so far? Fifth, twice, in Frostbuster main events at Benton County Speedway and Southern Iowa Speedway.

5

-2

Tony Olson

Sport Mod

It seemed like 2015 was a season without bad luck for one of the three 2015 Driver of the Year finalists. But what he missed last year, he's already caught a ton of in the first month of 2016. He blew a tire in Donnellson that forced him to start last in the main, and drove to 10th with no cautions. He broke a tie-rod twice - in the main at Vinton and heat at Davenport. He jumped the cushion chasing his cousin Kyle (hold that thought). Through all that, he still already has two wins and three more top-fives.

6

NR

Kyle Olson

Sport Mod

Hat tip to IMCA Executive Secretary Ryan Clark for the following stat: Olson became just the seventh IMCA Sport Mod driver to sweep wins at Independence and Vinton on the same weekend - and no one in history did it this early in the season. Both times he held off his cousin Tony. His worst finish this year is a ninth at the Marshalltown Frostbuster. A very strong start for K3.

7

-3

Damon Murty

Stock Car

Spring farming has kept Murty on the sidelines for a few races he might normally have been to so far, but he's been the vintage Chelsea Charger when he's been around. He's got one win - the Benton County Speedway Frostbuster - and was top three at Marshalltown, Oskaloosa and the IMCA opener at Lee County Speedway. 

8

-2

JD Auringer

Modified

Aside from issues that kept him from even starting the main at Farley Speedway on the Deery Brothers combo night, Auringer has started 2016 where he left off in 2015. He got the season-opener win at Independence, two top-fives and two more sixth-place finishes to his credit. When he's been in the main in the past, he's in the hunt, and that remains true so far in 2016.

9

-7

Justin Kay

Late Model

He said at the end of last year he wasn't going to race as much in 2016, and he's stayed true to that early. Like Murty, farming has taken precedence in a couple situations, but he also was sidelined from one Open Late Model show with engine issues. Otherwise, he showed something impressive in his second-place finish in the MARS DIRTCar race at Davenport. He was also third at West Liberty in the Deery opener. 

10

NR

Tyler Bruening

Late Model

Bruening learned a lot in his trip to Florida to run his Open Late Model with the World of Outlaws crowd, making two main events (not the one I erroneously reported before) in the DIRTCar Nationals at Volusia. He came back to Iowa and has been very solid in his IMCA stuff. He got a win at Farley in their weekly opener, and has two fourths and a sixth-place finish in the three Deery Brothers races.

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