We’re officially halfway through the 2015 Summer Season as Week 6 comes to a close. This past week we saw one of the closest finishes in league history, plus a points battle in the Super Late Models that is currently tied atop the standings. But in these Power Rankings, it’s about as tight as it can get throughout the entire top ten. We didn’t get last week’s Power Rankings posted, so take a look back at this week’s Power Rankings first, and then down below we list out where drivers stacked up in last week’s rankings.
Week Six Power Rankings
10. Kevin J Myers – Last Week: NR (+1)
Kevin had a rough start to his Summer Season, but has come on strong over the past three weeks. He did have an 18th place finish in the SK Modified race this week, but aside from that, in his six other starts over the last three weeks he has five top tens. Four of those top tens are top fives, including his runner up finish in the Street Stock race on Tuesday. We all know Kevin has what it takes, and now that he’s on a pretty good roll, we hope to see him contending for more wins throughout the season.
9. Ryan Borges – Last Week: 9th (+0)
Ryan ran just two races over the first three weeks of the season, but in the last three weeks, he’s picked up seven straight top ten finishes. Go back to one of those other starts earlier in the season and it’s eight straight. This past week Ryan picked up a pair of top five finishes including a 4th in the SK race and a 5th in the Pro Late Models. He doesn’t jump up any spots this week, however as long as he continues to run strong, which we’ve seen from him before, he should have no problem staying in these rankings and will most likely move up.
8. Ty Spearman – Last Week: NR (+3)
Ty has had some pretty good finishes over the past three weeks, mainly his five top fives in eight starts during that stretch. This past week, he had an impressive trio of finishes which started off with a late pass and a victory in the SK Modified race on Monday. He then followed that up with a 4th in the Pro Late Model race and then a 3rd in the Super Late Models. Look for Ty to keep up the momentum and continue to run strong throughout the rest of the season.
7. Matt Rolfe – Last Week: 6th (-1)
Matt continues to pick up top ten and top five finishes each week, but he’s also had one bad finish in most weeks as well which has kept him around 6th or 7th in these rankings all season. In the past three weeks, he has seven top tens in nine starts, with five of those being top fives. His week 6 included a 5th in the SK Mods and a 4th in the Street stocks, but then finished 17th after a wreck in the Super Late Models. Look for Matt to keep picking up solid finishes, and for him to hang onto his SK points lead.
6. James Linkiewicz – Last Week: 7th (+1)
James has always shown speed to run up front, but after picking up his first SARA win during Week 2, he’s been up front and leading more laps ever since. He picked up his first Championship Series win in the Pro Late Model race at Five Flags in Week 5, and then backed it up this past week with another win at Stafford, by just .006 seconds. He’s also led laps in three out of the last four races, for a total of 172 laps in those races. Look for James to continue to contend for wins as the season rolls on.
5. Ty Majeski – Last Week: 4th (-1)
Ty’s SK race this past week ended early, but he recovered nicely in the Super Late Model race to finish a close 2nd, after starting in the back, working his way up into the lead, and contending for a win in the closing laps. Ty does drop a spot in the rankings this week, but a strong SLM race allows him to hang onto 5th. His streak of five wins in five races came to an end, but look for Ty to start a new streak as we expect to see him back in victory lane in the very near future.
4. Casey Kelley – Last Week: 5th (+1)
Casey has just been running a part time schedule this season, but he continues to impress each time out as he hasn’t had a finish outside the top five in ten races so far this season. This past week, he had a strong run in the Street Stock race, by taking the pole and leading a majority of the race. He did fall off a little at the end to a 5th place finish, but he’s been strong every race out and continues to be a threat each race. We’re not sure which race Casey might show up for next, but we expect to be in contention for the win.
3. David Krikorian – Last Week: 3rd (+0)
David has had a strong season overall and has completely proven to us that he’s no longer a road course ringer (although we’ll see what happens in the single road course race next week). But in Week 5 at Five Flags, Krikorian took the spotlight on our broadcast and put his car in victory lane. This past week he picked up a pair of top ten finishes in the Pro Late Models and Super Late Models, and has had six top tens in seven races over the last three weeks. He currently sits tied for 1st in the SLM standings so look for more strong runs, and we’re predicting a Watkins Glen win next week for David the PLM race (no pressure).
2. Cody Kelley – Last Week: 2nd (+0)
Cody finally picked up his first Super Late Model win of the season this past week, but it wasn’t quite enough to regain the top spot as things are oh so close atop of these Power Rankings. Cody’s week started off with a 7th in the Pro Late Model race after coasting to the finish after running out of gas on the last lap. Then in the Super Late Model race, he led laps early, and was able to take the win after making the pass from the outside groove into the lead. Cody is not currently leading any of the points standings, but once drop weeks are factored in, last season’s three-time champ should be right in the thick of things.
1. Joe Schaffer Jr. – Last Week: 1st (+0)
Joe continued his impressive season this past week, with some more impressive finishes. He started off his week with a 3rd in the Street Stocks, and leads the points standings at the halfway mark of the season. In the Pro Late Model race he finished 2nd by just .006 seconds, and leads the points standings as well. Then to finish off the week he picked up a 4th place finish which was enough to bring him back into a tie for the lead in those standings. Halfway through his first SARA season and Joe is leading three divisions in the points, and he’s picked up 12 top fives, and 17 top tens in 18 starts. Look for Joe to be just as strong as he battles for multiple championships over the second half of the season.
Week Five Power Rankings
10. Dale Owen – Last Week: 7th (-3)
9. Ryan Borges – Last Week: NR (+2)
8. Tim Bills – Last Week: 8th (+0)
7. James Linkiewicz – Last Week: NR (+4)
6. Matt Rolfe – Last Week: 6th (+0)
5. Casey Kelley – Last Week: 4th (-1)
4. Ty Majeski – Last Week: 5th (+1)
3. David Krikorian – Last Week: 3rd (+0)
2. Cody Kelley – Last Week: 1st (-1)
1. Joe Schaffer Jr. – Last Week: 2nd (+1)
*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.