After battling through the wettest Spring on record we have
reached the mid-point of the 2013 racing season around Iowa and while a couple
of drivers appear headed for yet another All Iowa Points title, three or four divisions
may see first time champions. That is, of course, if the trends of the first
half of the season hold true to the end.
Ray Guss Jr. was the early leader in the Late Model division
as the Hall of Famer is looking for his fifth straight and eighth overall All
Iowa Points title, but has now dropped to the fourth position at mid-season.
Young Tyler Bruening sits atop the current rankings while perennial contender
Todd Cooney moved from fifth to second this past week. Veteran driver Darrel
DeFrance is now third as all of the top three are looking for their first AIP
championship. Current Deery Series point leader Brian Harris ranks fifth.
Jesse Sobbing has been the All Iowa Points Limited Modified
champion the past three years and early in the season he looked like a solid
top ten contender during his rookie year in the Modified division. That soon
changed though when the wins started to add up and on the strength of eight
victories so far Sobbing has vaulted to the top of the standings ahead of early
leader Richie Gustin. Bad early season weather in northwest Iowa hampered Sioux
City’s Chris Abelson, but he has come on strong as of late to move into the
third position ahead of Jimmy Gustin and J.D. Auringer. And the driver to watch in the second half
just might be Ronn Lauritzen who jumped all the way up to sixth from 17th
last week.
The Limited Modified division is guaranteed a new champion
as none of the past winners (Sobbing, Kevin Sather, Brett Moffitt, Ryan Gustin,
Wyatt Lantz, Mike Kleinhesselink, Ed Green and Larry Cook) are competing regularly
in the division this season. The young
man to beat at mid-season is Carter VanDenBerg of Oskaloosa who has opened up a
22-point advantage in the point system that rewards five points for a win and
one point for a fifth-place finish. Three straight rainouts at their home track
of Quincy has hindered Tony Dunker and Bobby Anders as Doug Smith has settled
between the two of them in third while Benton County Speedway regulars Danny
Dvorak and Joel Rust are tied for fifth.
Damon Murty has been one of the top Stock Car drivers in
Iowa for many years, but an All Iowa Points title has eluded him in the past as
he often misses several nights of the season while taking care of his farm,
something that is obviously much more important! Murty came out of the gate
faster than ever in 2013 and has already scored twelve feature wins, but can a
big lead early withstand a late run from his competition? John Emerson has
burst onto the scene and is currently in second on the strength of nine wins
and seven runner-up finishes while Jason Cook has returned to running three
nights a week in style as he ranks third. School is out for the summer and high
school administrator Nathan Wood is making his move joining the top five this
week in fourth while Norman Chesmore is almost quietly having a great year in
fifth.
The Hobby Stock points race has been back and forth lately
between two drivers and after winning two features on one night at Boone this
past Saturday two-time champion Shannon Anderson is back out front leading
Chris Luloff. Three-time defending champion Devin Smith lurks in third as the
top three are starting to distance themselves from the rest of the pack. Dustin
Griffiths and Benji Irvine make up the top five at mid-season.
Most four cylinder drivers won’t even start thirty-two races
this season. Current All Iowa Points leader Merv Chandler has already posted
that many top-five finishes though as he appears headed to his second straight
championship in the division to go along with his two AIP Modified titles in
1984 and 1985. As he usually does on the track as well Bill Whalen Jr. is
chasing Chandler in second while Megan Lappegard is again having a fine season
in third. With four feature wins in the past week that boosted his total up to
eleven on the season, Adam Gates moved from ninth to fourth at mid-season while
Quad Cities racer Aaron Hitt is in fifth.
Familiar faces are on top of the standings in all three
Sprint Car divisions at mid-season. Terry McCarl has more AIP titles than any
other driver in any division and this would be his twelfth championship if he
is able to hold off the rest of the winged warriors including Mark Dobmeier who
is now in second. It would be the sixth championship for Dobmeier if he should
win it as one of these two drivers have ranked at the top every year but one
since 1998. Wayne Johnson was the only driver to break that domination winning
the 410 title in 2005. It has been eleven years since his first AIP 360 Sprint
championship, but Clint Garner is again the man to beat each Saturday night in
this division at Knoxville. Jon Agan and
Russ Hall who also run the Sprint Invader shows may be able to score enough
points to catch him though in the second half. Two former AIP champs are tied
at the top of the 305 standings midway through 2013 as 2008 305 Sprint Champion
Donnie Steward and 2009 360 champion Mike Boston each have 19 points. This is a
race that is definitely too close to call as the top seven drivers are all
within five points, or one feature win from the top of the sheet.
Josh May and Andy Hennigar have set themselves apart from
the rest of the Mod Lite drivers in the first year of All Iowa Points tracking
for this division while the next three in line, Chase Flatt, Mike Morrill and
Evan Epperson are separated by one point each.
The All Iowa Points have crowned mythical state champions in
three or more divisions since 1967 and are exclusively found on the Points page
at www.PositivelyRacing.com where
an explanation of the points system as well as the tracks included can also be
found. The full rundown for each division is updated weekly during the season
and the June 24th Mid-Season update will be posted soon if it has
not been already. The 2013 All Iowa
Points season is currently scheduled to end on Saturday October 26th
with the annual running of “Shiverfest” at the Lee County Speedway in
Donnellson.
