Last week saw some great racing with one race going green-to-checkered, another one that nearly did the same with a 94-lap green flag run to end the race, and the Super Late Model race put on a good show for the live broadcast on LSRTV. And the racing should get even better as the season winds down. Once again the points battles are tight, and so are the Power Rankings as the top ten continue to shuffle around and we see our 4th straight different driver at the top. Take a look back at last week’s Power Rankings:
10. Joe Schaffer Jr. – Last Week: 8th (-2)
Joe was on a tear to start the season, but has had his fair share of trouble the past few weeks. He’s had everything from a blown engine to a connection issue dropping him out of the lead which happened last Thursday at Milwaukee. In the past three weeks, he has four top ten finishes, but four other finishes of 19th or worse. But he’s just barely able to hang inside the Power Rankings this week after picking up a win in the Street Stock race. Look for Joe to try and turn things around over the final three weeks of the season.
9. Ryan Borges – Last Week: 6th (-3)
Ryan has been running strong all season, picking up 10 straight top tens, but in his last three races he’s posted two finishes of 14th or worse. Last week in the SK Modified race he ended up a few laps down in the 18th spot, which leads to him dropping in the Power Rankings this week. But we’ve seen how quick and consistent Ryan can be, so we don’t think this “slump” will last too long and he should get back to starting a new streak of good finishes.
8. Windell Stratton – Last Week: NR (+3)
Windell is another driver that has shown plenty of speed this season, and seems to finally be putting it all together to grab some good finishes. He picked up his first career win in the Week 8 Pro Late Model race at Martinsville, and then backed it up this past week with a 5th place finish, and has moved up into the top five of the PLM standings. Contending for the title might be a little bit of reach, but with some more good finishes to close out the season, Windell could find himself climbing the standings even more.
7. Ty Majeski – Last Week: 10th (+3)
Ty continues to pick up wins as he grabbed another victory in last week’s SK Modified race (and has won the Week 10 SK race as of this post, but isn’t factored into these Power Rankings), and has been creeping up the SK standings despite having one less race being scored than everyone else. It might be a tough hill to climb to win the SK title, but if Ty continues to whip the competition then he could be right there at the end of the season. Look for Ty’s winning ways to keep going through the end of the season.
6. Matt Rolfe – Last Week: 7th (+1)
Matt’s weekly story has been picking up a few top tens/top fives, but also having one finish outside the top ten as well and that happened again last week as he started the week off with a 17th in the SK Modified race. But the rest of the week, he recovered nicely and ended up finishing 4th in the Street Stocks, and a pair of 8th place finishes in the Pro and Super Late Model races. Look for much of the same from Matt moving forward throughout the end of the season.
5. Ty Spearman – Last Week: 4th (-1)
Ty started off on a high note last week, by picking up a pair of podium finishes with a 3rd in the SK Modified race, and a 2nd in the Pro Late Model race. But he didn’t have as much luck in the Super Late Model race though and ended up finishing 19th after being caught up in a pair of wrecks. The SLM finish drops him a spot this week in these rankings, but Ty is looking good in the Pro Late Model standings as he took over the points lead. Look for Ty to rebound as he contends for a championship.
4. David Krikorian – Last Week: 5th (+1)
David ran just one race in Week 9, but he made it count as he nearly pulled off the victory at the end of the Super Late Model race, as he charged to the back of the leader in the closing laps. And in his last five races in the past three weeks, he’s got 4 top four finishes which still includes a pair of wins from a couple weeks ago. David is still in contention for a pair of championships so look for him to keep running strong throughout the season.
3. Casey Kelley – Last Week: 2nd (-1)
Casey didn’t quite have the finish that he’s been used to this season in the Street Stocks when he had to start at the back of the field, got caught up in an incident, but could only recover for a 6th place finish. But he did rebound in the Super Late Model race at Milwaukee by hanging on to finish in the 4th spot while the other cars around him all had fresher tires. Casey is the the drivers seat as far as the Street Stock championship, so look for him to continue to run strong there as he goes for the championship.
2. Cody Kelley – Last Week: 1st (-1)
Cody has been one of the cars to beat all season long in any race, but didn’t quite make it onto the podium in Week 9 in the two races he ran. He started the week off with a 4th in the SK Modifieds, and continues to lead those points standings. Then in the Super Late Model race, he was one of the drivers that pitted under green flag, which didn’t quite work out but he was still able to finish 6th. A 4th and a 6th are definitely not bad finishes, but look for Cody to improve those finishes as he contends for a pair of championships as the season winds down.
1. James Linkiewicz – Last Week: 3rd (+2)
James added to his strong run as of late when he picked up the victory in last week’s Pro Late Model race, which launches him up to the top spot in the rankings this week. And he added to that on Thursday when he finished on the podium with a 3rd place finish in the Super Late Model race at Milwaukee. During the past three weeks, in seven races, he has just one finish outside the top ten, but in 5 of those finishes he’s ended up inside the top three which includes his last four races. Look for James to finish off the season strong as he sits just 10 points back of the PLM points lead, and should be a contender as the season rolls on.
New This Week: Windell Stratton
Dropped Out: Michael German
Just Outside, Looking In: Todd Sipe, Russell Berry, Blake Brown, Justin Brooks, Tim Bills, Cody Thompson
*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.