Before we completely move on from the 2015 Fall Season, let’s take a look back at the last three weeks of the season in the final 2015 Power Rankings:
10. Clay Snider
Clay finished off his season by just running the SK Modified division over the past three weeks, which resulted in three top tens including finishes of 10th, 9th, and 3rd. Clay has always been consistent, and that shows with eight straight top ten finishes in the SK division which led to a 3rd place finish in the overall SK standings, just missing out on 2nd.
9. Landon Sciacca
Landon started running with us during the second half of the season, and quickly started adding some solid finishes. Over the past three weeks, he picked up five top five finishes in six races. In one of those races, Landon led 103 out of 125 laps in the SK Modified race at Oxford, but came up just short after a late race incident. We’re interested to see what Landon can do during a full season.
8. Jason Williams
Jason’s impressive rookie campaign resulted in finishing 5th in the Pro Late Model points, and a runner up finish in the Super Late Model points. In five races over the past few weeks, Jason picked up four top tens including a 3rd a couple weeks ago at Five Flags. Jason’s fall season got off to a slow start compared to how he was running later in the season, and hopefully that momentum can carry into 2016 for him.
7. Tom Wetmore
Tom only ran the last two weeks of the season, after taking a few weeks off, but he finished off the season on a high note by adding a couple wins. During SoBo Championship Week, he picked up a win in the wild Street Stock race, and then followed it up by dominating the Super Late Model race for the win as well. Tom also had a strong rookie campaign, and will be someone to watch in 2016.
6. Matt Rolfe
Matt’s 2015 Fall Season resulted in picking up his 5th SARA championship when he added a Super Late Model title on Thursday night. A few weeks back, Matt had some computer issues that dropped him from some races, but after fixing that issue, he added seven straight top ten finishes which included three top fives. Matt was consistent all season once again, which is what led to his SLM title.
5. Windell Stratton
Windell came up just short in picking up his first SARA title in the Pro Late Model division this season. He entered the final race of the season tied for the lead in the points and finished 3rd in the race but it wasn’t quite enough. Over the past three races in the PLM season, Windell posted finishes of 6th, 9th, and 3rd, and should look to continue to put up good finishes in 2016.
4. Darrell Hamlin
Darrell ended his 2015 Fall Season on a strong note by picking up five straight top five finishes to close out the season. In nine total starts over the final three weeks, he picked up seven top tens, and he finally added his name as a SARA winner by picking up his first win in the Street Stock race at Langley. If Darrell can roll some of that late consistency into the 2016 season, he should be a contender.
3. Hunter Combs
Hunter is another driver that had a good rookie campaign, and he ended up with a 2nd place finish in the SK Modified standings. He ran well in all divisions though, and added six top ten finishes in eight starts over the past three weeks, which included a pair of victories in the double header at Oxford in the Street Stocks. Hunter proved he can run up front and should continue to do so in 2016.
2. Dale Owen
Dale finished off his 2015 Fall Season with a bang, and actually averaged the best finish over the past three weeks out of any driver in the league with an average finish of 4. In eleven starts, Dale finished top ten in all of them, which included eight top five finishes, and a win in the SK Modified race at Oxford. This past week at South Boston, Dale just missed out on three wins when he finished runner up in three out of the four races. He clearly found some speed late in the season, and if that speed continues, the 2016 Spring Season could be big for Dale.
1. Bill Martin
Bill nearly matched Dale’s average finish with an average of 4.2, but aside from an 18th place finish in one race, Bill didn’t finish any worse than 5th in his other six starts over the past three weeks. In Bill’s six top five finishes, one was a 5th, and the others were all 1st or 2nd place finishes as he added three wins to his total. He picked up the win in the SK Modified race at South Boston to put a cap on his championship season, and then added a 2nd in the Pro Late Model race at SoBo which was enough to clinch his 2nd championship of the season. With another impressive season, Bill now has six SARA titles, which puts him at the top of the all-time SARA champions list.
Just Outside, Looking In: Michael German, Tim Bills, Russell Berry, Matt Eddy, Ian Layne
*Power Rankings are based off a driver’s performance over the past three weeks of the season. Wins, poles, laps led, top fives, and top tens all effect a drivers position in the power rankings in a positive way, while finishes outside of the top fifteen or worse, and failing to qualify for races will effect it in a negative way.