Eastern Iowa Driver Rankings: May 11

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: Matt Gansen, Rob Toland, Chris Simpson

Dropped out: Tyler Bruening, Justin Kay, Damon Murty

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, Tyler Bruening, Ricky Thornton Jr., Tom Berry Jr., Mitch Hovden, Dan Hovden, Tyler Bruening, Damon Murty, Justin Kay, Leah Wroten

RANK

+/-

NAME

CLASS

THOUGHTS

1

+1

Tyler Soppe

Sport Mod

The second first-time No. 1 driver so far this year, and it's just been three sets of rankings. Soppe tops the list this week because he's off to one of the best starts of his career this season, and added to it over the weekend. He had an average finish of 1.7 with two wins - at Farley Speedway on Friday and Maquoketa Speedway on Saturday - and a third place finish at Dubuque Speedway on Sunday. He's got the 3T rolling so far this season.

2

+3

Tony Olson

Sport Mod

As good a weekend as Soppe had, no one had a better weekend than Tony Olson. For the fourth time in his career and third time in less than two years, he won three races in three days - matching a feat he pulled off twice last season. He won at Davenport on Friday, Independence on Saturday and Vinton on Sunday. If he can shake the luck bug that bit him in the first few weeks, watch out.

3

-2

Kyle Brown

Modified

Brown has come to expect way more than what he produced this weekend, and that idea shows you just how strong he's been. Finishes of eighth at Southern Iowa Speedway, fourth at Lee County Speedway and second at Marshalltown Speedway made for a solid race week - just not enough for him. After leading most of the feature in Donnellson, he was visibly frustrated. Expectations will do that.

4

+1

Benji Irvine

Hobby Stock

He didn't race a ton this weekend, but went 1 for 1 anyway. He got the win at Independence Motor Speedway on Saturday night. As usual, there's a pair of drivers everyone seems to chase wherever they go in Eastern Iowa, and Irvine is absolutely one of them. The more he races, the more he'll finish up front, it seems.

5

-1

Nathan Ballard

Hobby Stock

The bad luck that caught up with him a few times the first few weeks got him big time this weekend. It was by far the worst weekend on aggregate that he's had in the last few seasons with a 17th at Marshalltown Speedway and a 12th at Benton County Speedway in Vinton. The good news for Nitro fans is he's shown a history of bouncing back quickly from these kind of results.

6

NR

Matt Gansen

Modified

I'm fairly certain this is Matt Gansen's first appearance in the rankings, which is most likely an oversight by the writer. Gansen got a pair of wins this weekend, taking the victory on Friday at Farley Speedway and on Sunday at his home track in Dubuque. He's got three wins in a row overall, and grabbed attention with this streak. He won't be looked over anymore, that's for certain.

7

+1

JD Auringer

Modified

Auringer has been so, so good at Independence Motor Speedway in this young season so far, grabbing another win there on Saturday. Every year it seems there's one or two up there that find what works and dominate the division, and it seems it's Auringer's turn on the sandy clay 3/8-mile oval. He added a seventh place finish on Sunday at Benton County Speedway to close out his weekend.

8

-1

Kyle Olson

Sport Mod

Even though he self-admitted to some bad adjustments that might've cost him something this weekend, Kyle Olson isn't going away anytime soon in the Sport Mod division, it seems. He third at Independence, then was second in an outstanding battle with his cousin Tony, Danny Dvorak and Curt Hilmer. 

9

NR

Chris Simpson

Late Model

It's not often Open Late Model guys crack the top 10 here - because they often don't race around here much - but the Oxford native was good enough in the pair of MLRA shows in Iowa last week that he had to make the list. His third at Lee County Speedway (from 14th) and his win at Davenport Speedway from the pole showed big-time strength against very stiff competition.

10

NR

Rob Toland

Late Model

The Late Model veteran makes his first appearance in the rankings thanks to a few factors: He took the early lead in national IMCA Late Model points, and moved to the doorstep of 400 wins with victory No. 399 on Friday at Farley Speedway. He nearly got the 400th on Sunday at Quad City Speedway in East Moline, Ill., but with how he's run so far in 2016, it probably won't be long.

Previous weeks: April 27; May 4

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