We take a look back at week number 5 in this week’s edition of the Power Rankings. We had 5 different winners in the 5 races we had, which included 117 total cars hitting the track for possibly one of toughest weeks on the schedule. With 5 weeks of the season complete, the points battles are starting to shape up as we head into the most important stretch of the season over the next couple of weeks. Let’s take a look at the top 10 of the Week 5 Power Rankings.
10. Matt Rolfe – Last Week: NR
After missing the first couple of weeks of the season, Matt has put in some decent runs. But this past week he ran very well, picking up 3 top 5’s and 4 top 10’s in the 5 races he ran. He would score a 5th and a 19th in the Legends races, but finished off the week strong with a 4th, 7th, and another 4th in the other 3 races. Matt will look to continue his strong performances as he plays catch up during the rest of the season.
9. Stan Bragg – Last Week: 6th (-3)
Stan drops a couple spots in the rankings this week, after he had some fast cars, but not the finishes to show for it. It the 4 races he ran, he only scored 1 top 10 which was a 7th in the Street Stock race at Concord. Unfortunately he also faces suspension through week 6 which means he’ll drop out of these rankings in the next edition, but he’s fast enough and good enough to work his way back up into these when he returns.
8. Mike Rhyno – Last Week: 8th (+0)
Mike remains at number 8 this week, but he put in two strong performances in the Legends race when he put up two 2nd place finishes in the double header. And with that he remains in the points lead in the division by 9 points over 2nd place. He did also join up in the Super Late Model race but ended up with just a 25th place finish. But if he can keep up the pace in the Legends division, he’ll be battling for the title all season long.
7. Ryan Borges – Last Week: 10th (+3)
In just his 2nd week of SARA competition, Ryan continues to quietly pick up some really solid finishes. He ran in all 5 races this week and only had 1 finish outside of the top 10 in the Pro Late Models. But in the other 4 races he ran in, he picked up a 5th and a 6th in the Legends races, and two 2nd place finishes in the Street Stocks and Super Late Models. He’s quietly and cleanly picked up seven top 6 finishes in the 8 race he’s been in, and if he keeps it up a win could be right around the corner.
6. Parker Traves – Last Week: 2nd (-4)
After a couple of solid weeks, Parker drops a few spots this week in the rankings. He did pick up a couple of top 10’s with a 7th and an 8th in the Legends races, but in the other two races he ran, he didn’t finish inside the top 15 with finishes of 17th in the Street Stocks and 18th in the Pro Late Models. Parker has shown speed so far this season but has gotten caught up in some things recently, but we look for him to rebound and continue to run well.
5. Travis Warling – Last Week: 7th (+2)
Travis gains a couple spots in this week’s rankings, and ranks ahead of Mike Rhyno despite trailing him in the official points standings. But the main reason for that is another win for Travis on a road course last week as he picked up the victory at Lime Rock. He also picked up a 3rd place finish in the other half of the Legends double header, and stays within 9 points of the points lead and he should also continue to battle for the title all season long.
4. Dale Owen – Last Week: 5th (+1)
Dale had a pretty decent week overall which moves him up 1 spot in the rankings. He didn’t place quite as well as he ran in the Legends division with both finishes of 15th. But he ran better the rest of the week and picked up a pair of 5th place finishes in the Street Stocks and Pro Late Model races, and then ended the week with a 12th in the Super Late Models. He got back into running in the top 5 this week, and we’ll look for him to do more of that from here on out.
3. Cody Kelley – Last Week: 4th (+1)
Cody has been doing pretty well in both the Pro Late Models and the Super Late Models when he’s run in them, and again he picked up a win in the PLM race at Thompson. This marks his 2nd consecutive win in the division after he got inverted to the first spot in the feature and took full advantage by dominating the race and leading all 100 laps. He also finished 6th in the Street Stock race. Cody continues to run up front and pick up some strong finishes, and we look for him to continue the trend.
2. Bill Martin – Last Week: 3rd (+1)
Bill is another driver that picked up 3 top 5’s and 4 top 10’s in the 5 races he ran last week. And that included a dominating performance when he picked up the win at Stafford in the Legends. His other finishes included a 3rd on the road course in the Legends, a 9th in the Street Stock race, and a 5th in the Super Late Model race. His only bad finish of the week was in the Pro Late Model race with a 21st, but with 4 other solid runs, he moves up a spot in the rankings. Bill continues to show speed and run up front, and we also look for him to continue that.
1. Justin Brooks – Last Week: 1st (+0)
Same story, different week. Justin once again remains at the top of the power rankings after picking up another win the Super Late Model race at Iowa. He led a majority of the race and was up front when it counted to pick up the win, and also increase his points lead to over 100 points in the standings, which is by far the largest points lead in any of the divisions. He also led much of the Street Stock race before recovering to a 3rd place finish. As we’ve said before, as long as Justin keeps winning, he should have no problem staying at the top of these rankings.
Dropped Out: Kenny Lindsley
New This Week: Matt Rolfe