I am always amazed at how often one driver can dominate a division in the All Iowa Points system and 2015 is one of those years where nearly every class can already pencil in a champion. However, in at least two of the nine divisions, the September and October special events will determine who will be this year's state champion.
Chalk it up for the third year in a row, Justin Kay will be the All Iowa Points Late Model champion as the Wheatland drivers holds a virtually insurmountable 48 point lead over Matt Ryan. This would mean that Ryan would need to win nine features and finish second in one more to surpass Kay, and that would assume that Justin just packs it in for the rest of the season. I'm not even sure if Ryan could find ten more races on the 2015 schedule that he can attend because remember, he can't be two places at once. Kay's trifecta follows up four straight AIP championships by Dirt Late Model Hall of Famer Ray Guss Jr.
Despite the fact that his Sunday night track has been shut down for the rest of the season due to an electrical fire, Chris Ableson will win his second straight All Iowa Points Modified championship. Abelson leads former road warrior Kelly Shryock by 95 points heading into September with three new names gracing the top five in J.D. Auringer, Nick Roberts and Jesse Dennis.
Damon Murty jumped out to a big early lead in the Spring before the western Iowa drivers reeled him back in, but Murty has again flexed his superiority by winning on the road in August and appears to be headed for his third straight AIP Stock Car title. Two-time champion Brian Blessington (2006 & 2007) is keeping him honest though only 36 points back and then you have three of the Smith brothers not far back with David in third, Donavon in fourth and Devin trailing Mike Nichols in sixth. Interesting that twelve Stock Car drivers have already surpassed the 100 point mark.
The Limited Modifed division is one of the two where the title is still up for grabs with at least three drivers still in the hunt for the championship. In late July Nick Meyer had charged to the top of this list, however with two straight weeks of rain at Britt and the early closing of Mason City Meyer has now dropped to fourth in the current standings. Tony Olson, who actually won the first race of the season at Donnellson in late March, has surged to the front and now holds an eight point edge over defending champion Clint Luellen. Doug Smith of Lake City is not far back in third, but may have to hit the road in October in order to add another AIP title to the Smith family name as the late season specials are not on tracks that he visits. Meyer who won in March at Beatrice (not an AIP track) still has a shot, but he too will have to hit the road if he wants to catch the drivers ahead of him.
It is not in the bag yet, but Shannon Anderson is a solid bet to earn his fourth All Iowa Points Hobby Stock championship as he holds a 47 point lead headed into September. Anderson previously won titles in 2008 and 2009 before sharing a championship with Devin Smith in 2013. Early leader Austin Luellen is tied for second with Nathan Ballard who has proven equally hard to beat on both dirt and asphalt while Cody Nielsen is only two points behind them in fourth.
Jay DeVries holds a 32 point lead over Cody Thompson in the Four Cylinder standings as both are looking for their first-ever All Iowa Points championship. It's a long shot, but you can't yet count out Kimberly Abbott even though she trails DeVries by 45 points. Many of the Fall specials are held on tracks that Abbott competes at on a regular basis, plus her home track in Quincy still has at least four more nights racing on tap so she could close the gap quickly over the month of September.
In the Sprint Car ranks, Danny Lasoski will set a new mark for the most amount of time between All Iowa Points championships as the 1992 & '93 champ has the 410 title wrapped up. The question now will be whether or not he can eclipse Terry McCarl's record point total of 120 in the 5-point system as Lasoski now sits with 102. The 360 Sprints are the second division where the champion is still in doubt and don't be surprised if Gregg Bakker repeats his title in the same fashion as last year. Bakker is currently four points behind Justin Henderson, but since Henderson really on competes at Knoxville where the sprint car season has ended, Bakker has at least three or four opportunities to overtake the leader. And in the 305's defending champion Clint Benson only has a nine point edge over Matt Moro, but unless Moro ventures out of Des Moines the only threat to Benson's repeat is Trevor Grossenbacher who is 16 back but with only a few events remaining.
2,257 drivers across the nine divisions have earned points this season, yet in at least six of those divisions and perhaps eight out of nine of them we will see a name at the top that has been there before. I find that to be amazing!
For a full rundown of the All Iowa Points visit the Points page at Positively Racing.
No comments:
Post a Comment