Eight weeks down, four to go, and with drop weeks being factored into the standings, the points battles are starting to heat up. And just as the points are getting tight, things are getting pretty tight and competitive atop the Power Rankings standings as well as everyone inside the top ten can make a case of being ranked higher than they are. Take a look back at the Week 8 Power Rankings:
10. Ty Majeski – Last Week: NR (+1)
Ty has been in and out of the Power Rankings all season long, due to his part time schedule, but he’s a threat to win each time he shows up. And that’s exactly what he did in the Week 8 SK Modified race. He took the fast time, the Qualifying Dash, and then went on to pick up the victory after leading 43 of the 75 laps. Despite missing a few races, drop weeks have helped him into 5th in the standings, so keep an eye on him as long as he makes every race from here on out.
9. Michael German – Last Week: NR (+2)
Michael has shown speed before in SARA but he’s been putting together some really solid runs in the SK Modified division this season. He’s got four top tens on the season, and in the last three weeks he’s got two top fives and an 8th. In the Week 8 race at NHMS, he picked up one of those 3rd place finishes, and with drop weeks coming into play, he’s launched himself up to 4th in the standings. Look for Michael’s strong runs in the SK division to keep on rolling.
8. Joe Schaffer Jr. – Last Week: 4th (-4)
This proves that things are extremely tight atop the Power Rankings standings, as just two weeks ago Joe was sitting in at #1. Now he’s back to 8th with a couple bad finishes mixed in, but he’s still been running very strong. In Week 8, he started the week off with a top ten in the Street Stock race. But in the Pro Late Model race at Martinsville, he was one of 7 cars that blew up which resulted in a 20th place finish. He did recover in the Super Late Model race to grab a 5th place finish. Although Joe has quickly dropped to 8th, we believe he can quickly rise back up top so look for him to run strong in the remaining weeks of the season.
7. Matt Rolfe – Last Week: 6th (-1)
Matt had another strong week in Week 8 as he picked up three more top ten finishes. He also ran the Pro Late Model race once again, found trouble early, but worked up to a 12th place finish. But in the other three races, he made some late moves to get 4th in the SK Modified race, picked up a 6th place finish in the Street Stocks, and had a strong run the Super Late Models to get 6th in that as well. Look for much of the same for Matt over the final four weeks of the season.
6. Ryan Borges – Last Week: 7th (+1)
Ryan ran just one race in Week 8, but he put up a strong performance in the SK Modified race at NHMS. He ran inside the top five all race long and when the checkers flew he had earned himself a 2nd place finish. Although these rankings only go back for the last 3 weeks, looking back at Ryan’s whole season, he’s picked up 11 top ten finishes in 13 races, with 7 of those being top fives. He’s yet to reach victory lane this season in his limited starts, but at the rate he’s been going at, we could see it by the end of the season.
5. David Krikorian – Last Week: 1st (-4)
One bad finish for David in Week 8 drops him out of the top spot in the rankings this week. He was one of those 7 drivers who faced a blown engine in the Pro Late Model race at Martinsville. But he recovered nicely in the Super Late Model race at Lanier, after starting outside of the top ten and he worked his way up into a 4th place finish. David has been running up front all season long so look for him to continue that throughout the rest of the season.
4. Ty Spearman – Last Week: 8th (+4)
Ty has been coming on strong over the past few weeks, and in Week 8 of the season he picked up a pair of podium finishes. In the Pro Late Model race he finished in the 2nd spot after leading late for a total of 30 laps. Then in the Super Late Model race he kept things going with a 3rd place finish after leading 35 laps in that race as well. With drop weeks being factored into the standings now, Ty quietly sits just 3 points behind Schaffer for the points lead. Look for Ty to finish out the season strong as he contends for that title.
3. James Linkiewicz – Last Week: 5th (+2)
James in another driver who has been coming on strong lately. In the lat three weeks, he has six top tens in seven starts, with the only finish outside of the top ten being an 11th. James had similar runs to Spearman in Week 8, as he earned himself two podium finishes by picking up a 3rd in the Pro Late Model race, and finishing runner up in 2nd at Lanier in the Super Late Models. James also finds himself sitting in 4th in both the PLM and SLM standings, so look for him to contend as the season winds down.
2. Casey Kelley – Last Week: 3rd (+1)
Casey picked up yet another win in the Street Stocks in Week 8, which makes it four total on the season for him. He started up front at Irwindale Inner and led all 100 laps on his way to victory. Over the past three weeks, Casey has finished 5th twice, and has two wins as well. Going all the way back to the start of the season, he has yet to finish outside the top five in 13 total starts. Casey currently leads the SS standings but has a couple drivers within striking distance, so look to see if he can continue to hang on.
1. Cody Kelley – Last Week: 2nd (+1)
Cody picked up another win in the Super Late Models in Week 8 to move back up into the top spot in the rankings. He also ran the SK Modified race at NHMS and was running 2nd before a last lap spin dropped him back to 13th, but he continues to lead those standings. Then he led 105 out of the 150 laps at Lanier in the SLM race to pick up that win, and now that drop weeks are factored into the points standings, Cody finds himself in the points lead in that division as well. It’s no surprise to us that Cody is leading the points in two divisions, as well as leading in the Power Rankings, so we’ll look to see if he can finish off another strong season.
New This Week: Michael German, Ty Majeski
Dropped Out: Kevin J Myers, Blake Brown
Just Outside, Looking In: Windell Stratton, Davey Riendeau, Todd Sipe, Russell Berry
*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.