Eastern Iowa Driver Rankings: May 18

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: Ronn Lauritzen, Cayden Carter

Dropped out: Rob Toland, Chris Simpson

Others considered (in no order):  Tyler Droste, Troy Cordes, Matt Ryan, Zach Less, Bryce Garnhart, Rob Toland, 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

Tony Olson

Sport Mod

Three straight weeks with a new No. 1 driver, and Olson returns to the top for the first time since late 2015 on the strength of a fourth straight win overall. He got rained out Friday for Davenport, and cold cancelled Saturday at Independence, but he got a second straight win at Benton County Speedway in Vinton on Sunday. As Olson said on The Inside Track Podcast on Monday, he's sitting now where he was at this point last year in wins. Good news for him, bad for the Sport Mod class.

2

-1

Tyler Soppe

Sport Mod

No wins this weekend for Soppe, who, like everyone else, got rained out on Friday night. But he did finish top five in his two races. He was fifth at West Liberty on Saturday and ran fourth on Sunday at Quad City Speedway in East Moline - while driving what appeared to be last year's car. Seeing Soppe and Olson race each other this season will be appointment viewing if/when it happens.

3

+2

Nathan Ballard

Hobby Stock

Ballard recovered from a pair of DNFs - a rarity for him - last weekend to get another victory and take over the points lead at Benton County Speedway in Vinton. He mentioned it when talking about all the boos he got: how a driver and team respond from a bad weekend says as much about them as a few good ones in a row. Ballard will remain one to beat in Hobby Stock.

4

-1

Kyle Brown

Modified

He didn't get to race in Eastern Iowa at all this weekend thanks to rain and cold, but he did find a few places to race regardless. He made the haul to Fort Dodge and finished second there, and then ran 11th at Boone Speedway on Saturday night. He doesn't seem as invincible as he did in the first month of the season, but inconsistent weather has had him all over the place for race nights.

5

-1

Benji Irvine

Hobby Stock

He and Nathan Ballard just traded bad-luck weekends. Irvine only got to race once, thanks to the cold on Saturday cancelling Independence, and was credited with a 15th place finish at Benton County Speedway in Vinton. Also like Ballard, Irvine is never one to stay down for long, so a bounce-back performance next weekend would be a solid bet, methinks.

6

NR

Ronn Lauritzen

Modified

Lauritzen returns to the rankings after nearly a year's absence. The 2015 season wasn't very kind to the Jesup driver, but he's been on it so far in 2016. He got a win in Vinton on Sunday, and thanks to the cold on Saturday, hauled to Hamilton County Speedway in Webster City and ran eighth. He broke a tie for this spot J.D. Auringer thanks to his leading the points at both Independence and Vinton.

7

--

JD Auringer

Modified

Speaking of, here's the man who trails Lauritzen in points at both Independence Motor Speedway and Benton County Speedway. Auringer only got one night of racing this weekend, and finished second to Lauritzen on Sunday in Vinton. This season at Indee and Vinton seem to be shaping up to be a battle between them each and every week. That much is a huge benefit to the race fans.

8

NR

Cayden Carter

Late Model

He's from Oskaloosa, so no, he's not technically an Eastern Iowa racer, but he's made enough noise at Eastern Iowa racetracks that he can't be ignored any longer. Carter very nearly got a pair of wins in an IMCA Late Model this weekend, coming up second at West Liberty on Saturday, then taking second to Joel Callahan in the IMCA Deery Brothers Summer Series race on Sunday at Quad City Speedway. Oh, and he also went at got a win in Stock Car at Webster City in their special on Monday. Kid is versatile and talented.

9

-1

Kyle Olson

Sport Mod

Drops another spot this week, but only because of what some other guys have done to move in and up the rankings. But he continues to be stout at his regular tracks, finishing third at Benton County Speedway on Sunday. The Sport Mod class there and at Independence has fierce, stout competition every week, so his running consistently well says something.

10

-4

Matt Gansen

Modified

Similar to Olson dropping, Gansen hangs on to the final spot in the rankings because he didn't get a chance to race at all this weekend. Neither of his weekly tracks of Farley and Dubuque Speedways  ran races - Farley was on an off week anyway and Dubuque got rained out while intending to run Friday night for the MLRA Late Model show. It'll be interesting to see if he picks up where he left off this weekend.

Previous weeks: April 27; May 4; May 11

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