Three of the nine All Iowa Points divisions have tight battles as the racing season heads into the Fall "specials" season, while in the other six classes five drivers will likely again be champions.
At least six drivers are still in contention of the 2012 AIP Modified title including the defending champion and two former champs. Jimmy Gustin holds a slim four point advantage over two-time defending champ Ryan Dolan at this point while seven-time Modified champion Ron Barker (1997, 1998, 2000-2004) is just eight points behind Gustin. Barker was also the 1984 AIP Stock Car champion. Southeast Nebraska driver Dylan Smith is still in contention as is Chris Abelson and two-time champ Mark Schulte (2006, 2007). Abelson was the leader just a few weeks back but now sits in fifth showing how quickly things have changed at the top of this division.
The top three drivers in the current Stock Car standings likely have the best shot at this year's All Iowa Points title, but drivers currently ranked fourth through eighth could still make some noise with a successful Fall season. Minneosta driver Luke Sathoff has jumped to the top of the list having recently wrapping up the track championships at Fairmont, Jackson and Worthington. Close behind him though is two-time All Iowa Points Hobby Stock champion Donavon Smith (2004, 2006) who is looking to join his brother Dustin as a holder of an AIP title in two different divisions. Perennial contender Damon Murty sits in third, but he needs to make his move over the next few weeks as he traditionally puts the Stock Car in the garage before the end of September in order to take care of things on the farm. Matt Greiner, Kevin Opheim (2005), Abe Huls, Brian Blessington and Jerry Miles are still in contention mathematically, but will need to score multiple wins over the next eight weeks to overtake the top three.
Seven drivers are in contention for the 2012 AIP 360 Sprint title with a limited number of events for the division still on the schedule. 2009 champion Mike Boston is the new leader of the pack with Skylar Prochaska and 2002 winner Clint Garner within five points of the leader. Gregg Bakker, Ryan Bickett and 2010 co-champions Jack Dover and Eric Lutz are still in contention as well.
Dirt Late Model Hall of Famer Ray Guss Jr. (1989-1991, 2009-2011) will score his fourth straight All Iowa Points Late Model championship and his seventh overall as he has a 37-point advantage over Todd Cooney. Jesse Sobbing will score his third-straight Limited Modified title with Quincy's Tony Dunker a distant second. Scott Pippert still has a chance, but Devin Smith is looking like a good bet to win his third straight AIP Hobby Stock title and Merv Chandler has pretty much wrapped up his first Four Cylinder state championship to go along with two Modified championships way back in 1984 and 1985.
Bill Boles looks to be headed to his second straight AIP championship in the 305 Sprint division and Terry McCarl has been dominant once again in the 410 class as he will sit on top of the standings for the eleventh time in his solid career having also won in 1994, 1996, 1998 through 2004, and 2009.
The All Iowa Points season is currently scheduled to run through the final weekend of October and for a full listing of the 2,565 different drivers who have scored a point so far this season visit the Points page at Positively Racing.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment