Last week’s races saw plenty of action and a pair of races that came down to the final laps before being decided. Now that the first half of the season is over, the action should pick up throughout the second half as drivers look to emerge and put themselves in contention in the standings. That’s if they’re not already in contention. Before week head into Week #7 of the season, let’s take a look back at last week’s Power Rankings:
10. Clay Snider – Last Week’s Rank: NR
Clay started off his week a 2nd and 4th place finishes in the Legends double header, which extended his streak of top ten finishes to 6 straight races over the past few weeks. And then in the Super Late Model race he was running solidly in the top ten with just a couple laps to go, but he would end up in a wreck dropping him to 13th. Consistency has always been the key for Clay, finishing in the top ten in 74% of his 274 career starts, and we expect much of the same throughout the remainder of the season.
9. Patrick Hahe – Last Week’s Rank: 10th (+1)
Patrick made an appearance in these rankings last week, by having a string of solid finishes on Monday nights. And he would continue that with a 6th place and 2nd place finishes in the Legends races. A smaller car count in those races would help with those finishes, but he also has 7 straight top ten finishes between the Legends and the SK Modifieds, so he’ll look to continue his run and use the momentum to keep finishing up front.
8. Cody Thompson – Last Week’s Rank: NR
Cody has only ran 4 races over the past three weeks, but some strong runs in those races helps him jump right up into the Power Rankings. This past week, he used some pit strategy to keep himself near the front of the Pro Late Model race and ended up with a 4th place finish, and then he ran up front all race long in the Super Late Model race at NHMS and finished 3rd. If Cody continues to run each week, and run up front when he does, he should have no problem staying in these rankings.
7. David Krikorian – Last Week’s Rank: 9th (+2)
David made it up into these rankings last week after picking up a couple of road course victories in the past couple of weeks, and we said he’d need to keep running each week and to keep running up front when he does. And he did just that by running inside the top five and finished 5th in the Pro Late Model race at Irwindale. Again, as long as David keeps running each week and finishing up front, he should stay in these rankings.
6. Matt Rolfe – Last Week’s Rank: 5th (-1)
Matt had a solid week last week, but drops down another spot in the rankings this week. He picked up a pair of top fives in the Legends double header, with 3rd and 5th place finishes. Then he earned a couple of top ten finishes with an 8th in the Street Stocks, and a 7th in the Super Late Model race. His one bad finish of the week came in the Pro Late Model race when he finished 15th after a wreck. Now that we’re half way through the season, we’ll look to see if Matt can keep running consistently.
5. Ty Spearman – Last Week’s Rank: 4th (-1)
Ty continues to be a front runner in the Super Late Model division each week, but the only problem is that one other driver keeps beating him. But as long as he keeps picking up strong finishes like his 4th place last week, he should stay in contention for that title all season. He also picked up a 5th in the Street Stock race, but a 20th place finish in the Pro Late Model race set him back a bit. But look for Ty to continue running up front, and to be a threat to win each time out.
4. Parker Traves – Last Week’s Rank: 8th (+4)
Parker probably had his best week to date last week, which launches him up to 4th in the rankings this week. He started his week off by winning the road course portion of the Legends events. Then he had another strong run and crossed the line 2nd in the Street Stock race, but a penalty would hand the victory over to Parker as he made it two in a row. Then he led the most laps in the Pro Late Model race, before coming up just short in 2nd. If Parker can keep this up over the second half of the season, he should have no problem staying up here in the rankings.
3. Ryan Borges – Last Week’s Rank: 3rd (+0)
Ryan hangs onto the 3rd spot in these rankings, mainly due to his Legends victory last Monday night. He also picked up a pair of 6th place finishes in the other Legends race and the Street Stock race. But in the Pro and Super Late Model races, he would run into some bad luck and ended up with 16th and 22nd place finishes. It’s been unusual for Ryan to have a couple of bad finishes in the same week, especially back to back, so we expect him to rebound and should be running up front with some better finishes this week.
2. Bill Martin – Last Week’s Rank: 2nd (+0)
Bill had some strong runs each time out last week, but ran into a bit of bad luck within the last 5 laps of two of those races. In the Street Stock race he was battling for the lead on the final lap before getting spun, but would still get a 4th place finish out of it. And in the Pro Late Model race, he was again fighting for the lead with just a couple laps to go when some netcode would end up spinning Bill around into the wall. But he rebounded nicely and was definitely the car to beat in the Super Late Model race when he picked up the victory. Bill could have had 3 wins last week, so there’s no doubt that he’ll be looking for a couple more this week.
1. Cody Kelley – Last Week’s Rank: 1st (+0)
Another very, very, very strong week for Cody last week. He finished 2nd in both the Street Stock and Super Late Model races, and then used just two new tires to hold off of a couple of late charges to get the win in the Pro Late Model race. Cody still leads the standings in three different divisions as we head into the second half of the season, so everyone will be gunning for him each time out. That’s if they can keep up with him. Look for at least one more win this week, and for him to continue his dominance in the standings.
New This Week: Cody Thompson, Clay Snider
Dropped Out: Justin Brooks, Casey Kelley