Eastern Iowa Driver Rankings: August 26 (final)

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: Mark Schulte

Dropped out: Matt Ryan

Others considered:  Andy Nezworski, Nick Marolf, Richie Gustin, Matt Ryan, 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

+1

Nathan Ballard

Hobby Stock/

Hobby Stock/

Sportsmen

Here's the deal: Once again, I couldn't decide among the top three (also Driver of the Year finalists) so I went with wins this season, and Ballard is tops with 27. He's had by far the best year of his career with two (potentially) track titles in his Hobby Stock, and won five races in Sportsmen at Hawkeye Downs. He's been the best Hobby Stock in the area all season - and it's not close.

2

-1

Justin Kay

Late Model

Call this a 1a instead of a No. 2 in the rankings, because at 26 wins in his Late Model, he obviously deserves to be on top as well. He was third in Davenport and won again in Dubuque over the weekend, and heads into all the fall specials as good as he's ever been in an IMCA Late Model. We'll find out Sept. 19 if he repeats as Driver of the Year.

3

--

Tony Olson

Sport Mod

Ho-hum, just another weekend where he grabbed two wins in three days and padded his points leads. He's up to 24 wins with victories in Davenport and Independence, but can't shake whatever bad luck is caught up with him in Vinton. Still, he's closing in on the national points lead, and currently leads the fan voting for Driver of the Year on the Inside Track Facebook page.

4

--

Damon Murty

Stock Car

Death, taxes and Damon Murty being fast in an IMCA Stock Car. He milled around the middle of the rankings all year last year and finished in the top five. Same deal in 2015. He's now five wins from 200, and could reach that milestone before the year is out if the cards fall his way.

5

+1

Mitch Morris

Modified

I know I wrote it about him last week, but damn if he isn't peaking right now. Either I missed him under my radar all season, or they've found something magical, because he added two more wins at Davenport Speedway and Jackson County Speedway in Maquoketa this weekend. He went from unranked at the beginning of August to finishing the rankings year in the top five.

6

+1

JD Auringer

Modified

A nice bounce-back weekend from some sub-par results last week for Auringer. He won at Independence Motor Speedway on Saturday night and, I believe, sealed the season championship there. He also ran third at Dubuque Speedway on Sunday. Will be keeping an eye on how he does at specials this fall.

7

-2

Tyler Droste

Late Model

Late Model

He did some testing for the Yankee Dirt Track Classic at Farley on Friday night, and it didn't go great - he was credited with a 17th-place finish. But he bounced back for a fourth place finish at Indpendence on Saturday night, setting him up to secure a track championship there this Saturday. A great season for him in his first focusing on Late Model. He has a bright future in fenders.

8

+1

Bryce Garnhart

Sport Mod

He, too, continued his strong late-season push with a second place run on Friday night at Davenport Speedway, then got a win on Sunday at Dubuque Speedway. He's been very consistent over the last several weeks - plus has avoided trouble and bad luck. That, as much as anything, leads to success in Sport Mod.

9

NR

Mark Schulte

Modified

I've gotten some grief for leaving this guy out while he's run very consistently over the last month-plus, and after digging deeper I'd say that grief is founded. He's leading the points in Farley, and got a win there Friday. He's second in points in Dubuque and was fourth there Sunday. I comment often about consistency, and I don't think I've properly rewarded him for that this season.

10

-2

Jeremiah Hurst

Modified

The dominance he showed in June and July hasn't been there in August. He has played around in some stuff that hasn't seen the track a lot - presumably to save his top equipment for events on the horizon. He was sixth at Farley on Friday, fifth at Jackson County Speedway (where he leads the points) and fifth again Sunday at Dubuque (where he also leads the points).

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; Aug. 19

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