Summer Season Power Rankings – Week Two

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PowerRankings_Week2

Two weeks are in the books, plus our first off-week is over as well, which means it’s time to head into the most important stretch of the season. During the next six weeks, drivers will be pushed to the limits and those who do well during this part of the season, will set themselves up for solid points finishes. Once again in Week Two, we saw some large car counts, and some good racing which leads us into seeing who did well enough to either stay in the Power Rankings, or who fell out allowing others to move in. Let’s take a look at the Week Two Power Rankings:

10. Darrell Hamlin, Evan Sorensen, & Patrick Hahe – Last Week: NR (+1)
For each of these three drivers, they have each competed in just two races to start of their seasons, and they’ve come up with top tens in each of those starts. For Darrell, he finished 10th in the opening Super Late Model race, and in Week Two he picked up a 6th in the Pro Late Model race. For Evan, he started off with a 9th in the opening PLM race, then followed it up with a 7th in last week’s Street Stock race. And for Patrick, he’s grabbed a 10th and an 8th in the SK division. Each of these drivers have started off their seasons with top tens, so we’ll see if they can keep up that pace as the season goes on.

9. Darren Daves – Last Week: NR (+2)
Darren has started off the season with three 7th place finishes in six starts so far, including last week’s 7th in the SLM race at New Smyrna. But perhaps the biggest number for Darren this season is the amount of cars he’s passed. In 6 races, he’s earned a net gain of 85 positions from where he’s started the race to where he’s finished. That’s quite impressive, and he’s had the car to finish near the front at the end of races, but he’s also been starting near the back. We’d like to see what he could do if he started closer to the front.

8. Camaron Hamilton – Last Week: 10th (+2)
Camaron started off his Super Late Model season with a 6th place finish in the opener. Then last week, a wreck in the Qualifying Dash actually benefitted him as he started at the front of the field, and he took advantage of it by leading the first 80 laps of the race. He ended up not getting the finish he wanted in that race after a late incident, but he’s already shown he has plenty of speed to battling up front and contending like we saw him doing a few seasons ago. Look for him to rebound from last week’s 15th place finish to have another strong run up front.

7. Dale Owen – Last Week: NR (+4)
Dale has had a pretty solid start to his season, running in all eight races so far in all four divisions. Last week he picked up three top ten finishes in the SK Modifieds, Street Stocks, and Super Late Model divisions. Out of those eight total races, he’s earned five top ten finishes, and another finish just outside that in 11th. Dale has been no stranger to top ten finishes in his few seasons in the league, so it’s no surprise that he’s been doing much of the same to start this season, but we’ll see if he can keep up the pace as the season goes along.

6. Matt Rolfe – Last Week: 9th (+3)
Matt jumps up a few spots in the rankings, partly with some help of some others dropping out of the rankings, but he’s also had a pretty good start to his SK Modified and Street Stock seasons. So far he’s earned a pair of 4th place finishes in the SK Mods, and then in the Street Stocks he’s earned a 5th and a 4th. He’s had bad luck in the Super Late Model division however, with a pair of finishes outside of the top 20. With a strong start to his season on Monday and Tuesday nights, we’ll look to see if he can carry that over to some good finishes in the SLM division as well.

5. Ty Majeski – Last Week: 1st (-4)
Ty didn’t race at all last week, which is why he drops down in the rankings. While some other drivers dropped out completely, Ty’s two wins in Week 1 was enough to keep him inside the rankings for now. We’ll look to see if Ty rejoins us in Week 3, otherwise he’ll surely drop out of these rankings.

4. Joe Schaffer Jr. – Last Week: 8th (+4)
Last week we mentioned that Joe was a new face at SARA, but we could be seeing a lot more of him up front, and that was true last week when he picked up two top fives and an additional top ten. His week started off with a 3rd in the Street Stock race, which has now moved him up into the points lead in that division. He followed that up with another top five and a 5th in the Pro Late Model race, and finished his week off with an 8th in the Super Late Models. Look for Joe’s strong run to continue on in the next stretch of the season.

3. David Krikorian – Last Week: 7th (+4)
David’s season started off with a pair of 2nd place finishes, but then had a pair of finishes outside the top 20 in Week 1. Week 2 was quite the rebound for David though as he would go on to lead all 100 laps of the Pro Late Model race to pick up the victory. And then he backed that up by running well enough in the Super Late Model race, to capitalize on a late race error to take over the lead with just 8 laps to go to pick up a 2nd victory in as many nights. Now with two wins, David is off to a hot start so we’ll look to see if he can continue to contend from here on out.

2. Casey Kelley – Last Week: 2nd (+0)
Casey is another driver who is off to a hot start, after picking up a win in Week 1. Last week he continued his good start with a runner up finish in the Pro Late Model race, and then he backed it up with a 4th in the Super Late Models. In five races so far in the Summer Season, Casey’s picked up five top five finishes, and there’s no sign that he’s looking to slow down at all. Just two weeks into the season, Casey leads the PLM standings, and sits 2nd in the SLM standings, and we’ll be looking for him to contend for a title in both as the season rolls on.

1. Cody Kelley – Last Week: 3rd (+2)
Well, it only took until Week 2 for Cody to find his way back to the top of the Power Rankings, a position he was quite familiar with for the majority of last season. While last season he dominated the SLM, PLM, and SS championships, he’s off to an impressive start so far in a different division, as he’s picked up two wins in the first two races of the SK Modified season. He’s also finished top three in both Super Late Model races, which puts him in the points lead early to defend that title. He has had a pair of unusual finishes outside the top 15 in the Pro Late Models, but by doing so well in the other divisions, we definitely know he’s capable of turning his PLM season around, while continuing to be the car to beat each time out.

New This Week: Darrell Hamlin, Evan Sorensen, Patrick Hahe, Darren Daves, Dale Owen
Dropped Out: Trey Jarrell, Derek Robinson, Bill Martin, Mike Testa
Just Outside, Looking In: Jacob Linkiewicz, Travis Warling, Parker Traves, James Linkiewicz, Ty Spearman