Mid-Season All Iowa Points

We have reached the midway point of the 2019 racing season and despite numerous cancellations due to weather there are several drivers that are putting up some impressive numbers. Let's take a look at the current All Iowa Point standings knowing that a lot can change before they all wrap up in November, especially if he have a higher percentage of events completed in the second half of the year.

The Late Model race is tight at the top with the first four all being former champions Jeremiah Hurst, Matt Ryan, Justin Kay and Jeff Aikey. The defending champ Hurst holds a slim one point lead right now, but keep an eye on Aikey who actually got off to a little later start than the rest after pairing with car owner Rick Dralle.

	All Iowa Points
	Late Model		Iowa
Pos.	Driver	Hometown	Points
1	Jeremiah Hurst	Dubuque	64
2	Matt Ryan	Davenport	63
3	Justin Kay	Wheatland	53
4	Jeff Aikey	Cedar Falls	51
5	Tommy Elston	Keokuk	47
6	Andy Nezworski	Buffalo	46
7	Tyler Bruening	Decorah	42
8	Todd Malmstrom	Moline IL	36
9	Billy Leighton	Omaha NE	35
10	Jake Bridge	Waverly NE	26
11	Josh Leonard	Gibbon NE	26

Another defending champion, Kelly Shryock leads the Modified points taking it back from Joel Rust who briefly climbed to the top for a week. Jeff Larson and Ricky Thornton Jr. were also early leaders while veteran driver Jeremy Mills is having one of his best seasons in several years. Shane Demey is a new name in the top ten.

	All Iowa Points
	Modified
Pos.	Driver	Hometown	Points
1	Kelly Shryock	Fertile	85
2	Joel Rust	Grundy Center	74
3	Jeff Larson	Freeport IL	72
4	Ricky Thornton Jr.	Chandler AZ	62
5	Jeremy Mills	Garner	56
6	Jesse Dennis	Corning	53
7	Brandon Davis	Hayfield MN	52
8	Shane Demey	Denison	50
9	Tim Ward	Gilbert AZ	49
10	Jimmy Gustin	Marshalltown	46

It might end up being a three driver sprint to the top of the Limited Modified standings as Brayton Carter and former champions Cody Thompson and Tyler Soppe are within five points, or just one feature win of each other. Jake McBirnie is trying to keep pace while Colby Fett is a new threat to the top ten. If Carter were to win I believe that it would be the first time that first cousins have both been champions in the same division, something he would share with Carter VandenBerg.

	All Iowa Points
	Limited Modified		Iowa
Pos.	Driver	Hometown	Points
1	Brayton Carter	Oskaloosa	92
2	Cody Thompson	Sioux City	88
3	Tyler Soppe	Sherrill	87
4	Jake McBirnie	Boone	71
5	Cody Olsen	Omaha NE	65
6	Doug Smith	Lake City	64
7	Austen Becerra	Carthage IL	63
8	Tony Olson	Cedar Rapids	60
9	Colby Fett	Algona	57
10	Dan Hovden	Decorah	57

He's been an IMCA National Champion several times and he has won the IMCA Super Nationals as well, but Mike Nichols has yet to capture an All Iowa Points Stock Car title. 2019 just might be his year to do that as he holds a twenty-two point lead right now over Derek Green. Brian Blessington is trying to get back to the top of the Cumulative best total for the division from the year 2000 to now as he ranks third in this year's standings and needs to beat Damon Murty by 26 points to tie, or 27 to go back ahead.

	All Iowa Points
	Stock Car		Iowa
Pos.	Driver	Hometown	Points
1	Mike Nichols	Harlan	87
2	Derek Green	Granada MN	65
3	Brian Blessington	Breda	63
4	Mitch Hovden	Decorah	59
5	Devin Smith	Lake City	56
6	Jay Schmidt	Laurel	55
7	Buck Schafroth	Orient	51
8	Damon Murty	Chelsea	51
9	Donavon Smith	Lake City	49
10	John Oliver Jr.	Danville	47

I have heard that Shannon Anderson intends to cut back on his weekly racing for the remainder of the season so that leaves the door wide open for somebody new to add their name to the list of All Iowa Points Hobby Stock Champions. The two drivers tied at the top right now, Corey Madden and Jason Fusselman would be first timers while Cody Nielsen would be looking for his second title. Kaden Reynolds did get a win late in 2018 after stepping up from a Micro Mod, but in this his first full season in a Hobby Stock he currently ranks ninth in the standings.

	All Iowa Points
	Hobby Stock		Iowa
Pos.	Driver	Hometown	Points
1	Corey Madden	Avoca	70
2	Jason Fusselman	Shelby	70
3	Cody Nielsen	Spencer	65
4	Luke Ramsey	Bedford	61
5	Shannon Anderson	Atlantic	59
6	Eric Stanton	Carlisle	58
7	Leah Wroten	Independence	58
8	Daniel Wauters	Iowa City	52
9	Kaden Reynolds	Cedar Rapids	49
10	Drew Barglof	Sioux Rapids	44

The battle in the Four Cylinders will be interesting to watch and keep in mind that this is the only division where the car count sets the point scale for each event. With ten or more cars the full five-point scale is used, with six to nine cars a three-point scale is applied and with three to five cars only the winner gets one point. Moving to the top this week for the first time ever is Wisconsin based driver Seth Scholl who now leads Denny Berghahn Jr. by just one marker. Two-time defending champion Barry Taft is third while Oliver Monson would be higher than fourth if he was racing against more cars. Dustin Grout is a new name in the top ten.

	All Iowa Points
	Four Cylinder		Iowa
Pos.	Driver	Hometown	Points
1	Seth Scholl	Holmen WI	57
2	Denny Berghahn Jr.	Plattsmouth NE	56
3	Barry Taft	Argyle	53
4	Oliver Monson	Clear Lake	51
5	Jacob Houston	Burlington	42
6	Luke Benischek	Durant	42
7	Trent Orwig	Ottumwa	40
8	Brandon Reu	Donnellson	37
9	Dustin Grout	Prescott	37
10	Jake Benischek	Durant	36

In the Sprint Cars, the point races in the 410's and 360's are still taking shape due to the number of rain outs while the balance of power in the 305's have ebbed and flowed based upon what region has been able to race. On the strength of four feature wins at Knoxville Brian Brown is the likely favorite to take his second straight 410 championship, but don't count out Terry McCarl who would add to his record of twelve All Iowa Points championships if he could overcome the defending champion. Jack Dover would add another 360 title to his current list of four if he stays at the top, while the three drivers currently tied for second, Carson McCarl, Matt Juhl and Ryan Giles would earn their first. And in the 305's Mike Houseman Jr. is on track for his second straight championship.

	All Iowa Points
	410 Sprint		Iowa
Pos.	Driver	Hometown	Points
1	Brian Brown	Grain Valley MO	21
2	Brad Sweet	Grass Valley CA	13
3	Daryn Pittman	Owasso OK	13
4	Kerry Madsen	St. Marys NSW	11
5	Terry McCarl	Altoona	11
6	Austin McCarl	Altoona	8
7	Brooke Tatnell	Sans Souci AUS	8
8	Logan Shuchart	Hanover PA	7
9	Lynton Jeffrey	Sydney AUS	6
10	Carson Macedo	Lemoore CA	5
11	Carson Short	Marion IL	5
12	David Gravel	Waterford CT	5
13	Donny Schatz	Fargo ND	5
14	Paul Nienheiser	Chapin IL	5

	All Iowa Points
	360 Sprint		Iowa
Pos.	Driver	Hometown	Points
1	Jack Dover	Springfield NE	20
2	Carson McCarl	Altoona	15
3	Matt Juhl	Tea SD	15
4	Ryan Giles	West Des Moines	15
5	Clint Garner	Sioux Falls SD	14
6	Thomas Kennedy	Winnipeg MAN	14
7	Jason Martin	Lincoln NE	12
8	Lee Grosz	Harwood ND	10
9	Joe Beaver	Knoxville	9
10	Justin Henderson	Sioux Falls SD	8

	All Iowa Points
	305 Sprint		Iowa
Pos.	Driver	Hometown	Points
1	Mike Houseman Jr.	Des Moines	36
2	Tyler Thompson	Des Moines	33
3	Brant O'Banion	Sioux Falls SD	24
4	Matthew Stelzer	Omaha NE	24
5	Tyler Drueke	Eagle NE	23
6	Tanner Gebhardt	Burlington	19
7	Colin Smith	Sheldon	18
8	Trevor Grossenbacher	Hickman NE	17
9	Ryan Voss	Okoboji	14
10	Adam Gullion	Lincoln NE	13
11	Dusty Ballenger	Harrisburg SD	13
12	Harold Pohren	New London	13

For a full rundown in all nine divisions visit the Points page at Positively Racing where the June 30th update should be uploaded soon.

Hoping that the scattered showers stay north of I-80 tonight as we make the road trip to Stuart for the 20th Annual Ron Little Memorial. Hope to see you there!