Eastern Iowa Driver Rankings: May 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, or comment in the comments section.

New this week: None

Dropped out: None

RANK

+/-

NAME

CLASS

THOUGHTS

1

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Andy Eckrich

Late Model

The Oxford native owns multiple wins in the young season, including the IMCA Deery Brothers Summer Series opener at Davenport Speedway. Also got a win at the Farley Speedway season opener last Saturday, and had second-place finishes at the Deery Bros show at Jackson County Speedway and the West Liberty Raceway opener. 

2

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Ronn Lauritzen

Modified

He's been the man to beat in the IMCA Modified division wherever he's been so far this season. The Jesup native has back-to-back wins to open the season at Marshalltown Raceway, and won the season opener at Independence Motor Speedway last Saturday. 

3

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Justin Kay

Late Model

Here's another guy with multiple wins already this season. The Wheatland native has back-to-back wins at Jackson County Speedway in Maquoketa, and won the Davenport Speedway weekly opener last Saturday. Despite not having a Deery Bros win, he leads the points by one ahead of Eckrich, and has two top-fives in three races.

4

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Jeff Aikey

Late Model

The seven-time Deery Brothers Summer Series champion didn't get off to the best start this season, but has been a factor since. The Cedar Falls native finished second at the Deery Bros show at West Liberty, as well as the Farley opener, and ran a strong third at the Deery show at Jackson County Speedway on April 19.

5

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Colby Springsteen

Late Model

The Wapello native started off the season strong in his brand new ride, with a fourth-place finish at the Deery Bros opener at Davenport Speedway, and got his second career Deery win the next night at West Liberty Raceway. With the strong start, he sits fourth in series points. Also finished third behind Eckrich and Aikey at Farley last Saturday.

6

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Chad Simpson

Late Model

The Mount Vernon racer entered the season as defending Cornbelt Clash Late Model Series champion, and got this year off to a solid start. Simpson finished third the the open late model series' opener at Davenport behind Jason Ferger and Brian Berkhofer. He then switched over to his IMCA late model and got a win at the West Liberty opener.

7

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Tony Olson

Sport Mod

Add Tony Olson to the list of drivers who love the way 2014 has started through just a few races. The Cedar Rapids driver got a win in the IMCA Sport Mod division at the West Liberty Raceway season opener last Saturday, one night after running a strong second at Cedar County Raceway in Tipton.

8

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Benji Irvine

Hobby Stock

The defending track champion at Independence Motor Speedway showed why he's so strong at its high banks by winning the season opener there last Saturday - the second straight season he's done so, fighting off Marengo's Jacob Kaiser and Hazelton's Shawn Kuennen. The Stanley native also ran third at Marshalltown on April 18.

9

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Bill Whalen

Sport Compact

The Riverside driver opened his season in the ever-popular IMCA Sport Compact division with a victory at the Marshalltown Speedway season opener on April 18. He backed that up with a strong run at the West Liberty Raceway season opener last Saturday, finishing second to Lone Tree's Bobby Lake.

10

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Terry Neal

Late Model

He may have had bad luck in the first two Deery Brothers Summer Series races, but the "King of Maquoketa" - as named by Andy Eckrich - gets the last spot on this list by virtue of his win at Jackson County Speedway in Maquoketa on April 19. He got the win after battling Eckrich, Aikey and Nate Bueseling in a four-wide battle.

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