With four weeks in the books on the 2014 season, as I turned in the updated All Iowa Points to our webmistress Sue yesterday I couldn't help but notice who was sitting on top of the Late Model standings. Brian Birkhofer is no stranger to success on All Iowa Points paying racetracks and the fact that he ranks 25th in the cumulative points over the last fourteen years is impressive given that as a driver who runs more of a "national" schedule, his number of opportunities to score points here are much fewer than those ranked ahead of him. This week, for the first time that I can ever remember, "Birky" leads the All Iowa Points Late Model standings as the only driver in the division who has scored four top-five finishes so far. A fourth and a second at I-80 along with a runner-up finish in Davenport and a fourth-place run at Burlington tallies up to 12 points three ahead of Andy Eckrich and Jason Feger who both have a win and a second-place finish. The lead will be short-lived though as Birkhofer's next appearance on an AIP track will likely be in mid-July at I-80's Silver Dollar Nationals.
| All Iowa Points | ||||
| Late Model | Iowa | |||
| Pos. | Driver | Hometown | Points | |
| 1 | . | Brian Birkhofer | Muscatine | 12 |
| 2 | . | Andy Eckrich | Cosgrove | 9 |
| 3 | . | Jason Feger | Bloomington IL | 9 |
| 4 | . | Colby Springsteen | Morning Sun | 7 |
| 5 | . | Jeff Aikey | Cedar Falls | 7 |
| 6 | . | Terry Phillips | Springfield MO | 7 |
| 7 | . | Chad Simpson | Mount Vernon | 6 |
| 8 | . | Justin Kay | Wheatland | 6 |
| 9 | . | Bobby Pierce | Oakwood IL | 5 |
| 10 | . | Jake Bridges | Waverly NE | 5 |
| 11 | . | Jason O'Brien | Atlantic | 5 |
| 12 | . | Ray Guss Jr. | Milan IL | 5 |
| 13 | . | Rodney Sanders | Happy TX | 5 |
| 14 | . | Terry Neal | Ely | 5 |
| 15 | . | Ryan Unzicker | El Paso IL | 5 |
Defending champion Jesse Sobbing holds a one-point lead in the Modifieds over Jimmy Gustin who always seems to get off to a fast start. Scott Hogan, who already has three wins on the young season ranks third.
| All Iowa Points | ||||
| Modified | ||||
| Pos. | Driver | Hometown | Points | |
| 1 | . | Jesse Sobbing | Glenwood | 22 |
| 2 | . | Jimmy Gustin | Marshalltown | 21 |
| 3 | . | Scott Hogan | Vinton | 19 |
| 4 | . | Chris Abelson | Sioux City | 16 |
| 5 | . | Cayden Carter | Oskaloosa | 14 |
| 6 | . | Jordan Grabouski | Beatrice NE | 14 |
| 7 | . | Todd Shute | Des Moines | 14 |
| 8 | . | Richie Gustin | Marshalltown | 13 |
| 9 | . | Ronn Lauritzen | Jesup | 13 |
| 10 | . | Jeff Waterman | Quincy IL | 12 |
Brett Lowry looks to be a championship contender in 2014 as he leads the Limited Modified standings early over Tony Dunker. Three-time winners Austin Moyer, Dan Mohr and Joey Gower are also in the top six.
| All Iowa Points | ||||
| Limited Modified | Iowa | |||
| Pos. | Driver | Hometown | Points | |
| 1 | . | Brett Lowry | Montezuma | 20 |
| 2 | . | Tony Dunker | Quincy IL | 19 |
| 3 | . | Austin Moyer | Dubuque | 17 |
| 4 | . | Carter Vandenberg | Oskaloosa | 15 |
| 5 | . | Dan Mohr | Clarence | 15 |
| 6 | . | Joey Gower | Quincy IL | 15 |
| 7 | . | Brandon Dale | Gorin MO | 12 |
| 8 | . | Clint Luellen | Minburn | 12 |
| 9 | . | Jason McDaniel | Eldon | 12 |
| 10 | . | Ben Kates | Toganoxie KS | 10 |
| 11 | . | Cory VanZante | Sully | 10 |
| 12 | . | Justin Medler | Minot ND | 10 |
| 13 | . | Karl Brewer | Vermillion SD | 10 |
| 14 | . | Ryan Fullenkamp | Bloomfield | 10 |
| 15 | . | Tyler Soppe | Sherrill | 10 |
On the strength of three feature wins Abe Huls has a one-point edge over defending champion Damon Murty in the Stock Car points with Jim Lynch and Jason Cook tied for third.
| All Iowa Points | ||||
| Stock Car | Iowa | |||
| Pos. | Driver | Hometown | Points | |
| 1 | . | Abe Huls | Carthage IL | 18 |
| 2 | . | Damon Murty | Chelsea | 17 |
| 3 | . | Jason Cook | Mt. Pleasant | 15 |
| 4 | . | Jim Lynch | Donnellson | 15 |
| 5 | . | Donavon Smith | Lake City | 14 |
| 6 | . | Jarrett Franzen | Maquoketa | 13 |
| 7 | . | David Brandies | Wilton | 12 |
| 8 | . | John Oliver Jr. | Danville | 12 |
| 9 | . | Kevin Opheim | Mason City | 12 |
| 10 | . | Todd Reitzler | Grinnell | 11 |
Dustin Griffiths has already posted three wins and seven top five finishes to hold an early eight point advantage over Nick Ulin as southeast Iowa based drivers hold down the top four spots.
| All Iowa Points | ||||
| Hobby Stock | Iowa | |||
| Pos. | Driver | Hometown | Points | |
| 1 | . | Dustin Griffiths | Ottumwa | 26 |
| 2 | . | Nick Ulin | Agency | 18 |
| 3 | . | Dane Blozovich | Exline | 15 |
| 4 | . | Mike Kincaid | Cincinnati | 15 |
| 5 | . | Cody Nielsen | Fort Dodge | 14 |
| 6 | . | Michael Pruitt | Redfield | 13 |
| 7 | . | Shannon Anderson | Atlantic | 13 |
| 8 | . | Eric Stanton | Hartford | 12 |
| 9 | . | Jason See | Albia | 12 |
| 10 | . | John Watson | Des Moines | 12 |
No driver in any division has scored more points than Austen Becerra at this point as he already has five feature wins and nine top five finishes, all against fields of ten or more cars. That would be considered a great year for most, but it looks like Austen is just getting started as he looks for his first All Iowa Points championship. The new point structure for the division has already come into play as a couple of tracks have opened with less than ten cars.
| All Iowa Points | ||||
| Four Cylinder | Iowa | |||
| Pos. | Driver | Hometown | Points | |
| 1 | . | Austen Becerra | Carthage IL | 36 |
| 2 | . | William Michel | Muscatine | 15 |
| 3 | . | Adam Gates | Cedar Rapids | 14 |
| 4 | . | Ryan Bryant | Kensett | 14 |
| 5 | . | Kimberly Abbott | Camp Point IL | 13 |
| 6 | . | Aaron Hitt | Davenport | 11 |
| 7 | . | Bill Whalen Jr. | Riverside | 11 |
| 8 | . | Cody Thompson | Sioux City | 11 |
| 9 | . | Brannon Bechen | Bernard | 10 |
| 10 | . | Zachary Dahl | Blue Grass | 10 |
Not enough races in yet to get a feel for the three Sprint Car divisions or the Mod Lites, but you can find those and the full rundown on the others mentioned above on the Points page at Positively Racing. Sue usually has the weekly update loaded by Wednesday or Thursday each week.
There has been some forum board discussion regarding the qualifying method used for the Slocum 50 at 34 Raceway last Saturday night and while I was not thrilled that the standard UMP Group Qualifying format was used, I do understand why given the sanctioning body's involvement through the ALMS series. You can bet that the $10,555 top prize had something to do with it as well as drivers will push for this method at higher paying events. It was a pretty darn good night of racing overall, especially given the fact that the two support classes, 305 Sprints and IMCA Stock Cars, both put on some entertaining feature races. Would the Late Model portion of the event have been better under the passing point format used at the Open Late Model sow here in April of 2013? We will never know, but I sure would like to see it used again in 2015!
I have the opportunity to score a rare four-race weekend coming up, that is if Mother Nature cooperates. On Thursday night I look forward to meeting Rodney and Debbie Ohrt for the first-time to thank them for their support of our website and, of course, to catch a great two division lineup of USMTS Modifieds and IMCA-type Late Models at the Cedar County Raceway in Tipton. Yes, as of right now the forecast calls for rain on Thursday, but the WQAD FutureTrack forecast showed it being out of eastern Iowa well before noon with clearing skies to follow. I know that the area needs some rain right now, but let's hope that it is not too much in Tipton so that this show can go on. Race fans, keep it in your plans and watch the weather on Thursday before making your decision. (You can now make your decision......with impending weather this event has been postponed to Wednesday May 21st)
On Friday night I will follow Todd Staley and his talented USMTS crew down to the Bloomfield Speedway for what should be a great night of racing. Bloomfield is one of my favorite tracks as it is often wide, fast and very racy and I am sure that promoter Chris Eggers will have it ready for the hard charging, ground pounding USMTS Modifieds. My destinations for both Saturday and Sunday night are yet to be determined as I will watch to see how the forecast unfolds for the weekend, but the nice thing is that since we are now into the final weekend of April, the options are much more plentiful.
Hope to see you somewhere this weekend on the Back Stretch!
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