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This may have been the toughest rankings so far as three drivers had features wins including Brett Hearn, Rick Laubach and Jimmy Phelps. All three of those drivers were already inside the top ten and the win only helps there cause. And I will tell you that we have a new number one for the first time.
New to this week’s rankings is Ryan Godown who scored a pair of runner-up finishes at his two appearances at Hagerstown. Also making into this week’s rankings is Mike Colsten. Colsten had a couple of top tens himself and he’s joined by Jeff Rudalavage as a new comer to the list.
Several drivers inside the top ten did not compete the past few weekend including Dale Planck, Alan Johnson, Matt Sheppard and Mario Clair dropping them out of the top ten.
So here is week three’s top ten:
1. Rick Laubach (Best: 1, Worst: Out) – Laubach moved from the tenth to the number one position after having an extremely solid two weeks. Laubach, also knows as ‘Scooby,’ scored a huge win on Saturday at Selinsgrove Speedway earning him $6,900 in cash and prizes. Included in that is a spot in the 2008 version of the Victoria 200 at Utica-Rome Speedway. Laubach also finished third at Hagerstown Speedway for their season opening show behind Hearn and Godown, two drivers who are also in the top ten.
2. Billy Pauch (Best 2, Worst: Out) – Pauch stays second ahead of Hearn because he finished sixth at Hagerstown in their opener and he was by far the fastest car on Saturday night. Had he not broken an axle it would have been quite the battle between himself and Laubach. But in the end Laubach got the victory.
3. Brett Hearn (Best: 1, Worst: 3) – Hearn falls two spots in the rankings after he got a win and a disappointing 28th place finish at Selinsgrove. His win cannot make up for a finish that far outside the top ten. He did win his heat on Saturday night but with something breaking in the rear of his no.20 Madsen Motorsports ride, he was forced to the pits with less than five laps complete in the feature event.
4. Jimmy Phelps (Best: 3, Worst: 8) – Phelps moves from the eighth to the fourth spot after getting to victory lane in 2008 on Saturday night at Hagerstown. What made the win even better for the Baldwinsville, N.Y. driver is that he had to pass Danny Johnson for the victory. We all know what happened in Florida. This win should give his H&H Motorsports team some confidence as they head down for this week’s Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series event.
5. Pat Ward (Best: 5, Worst: 6) – Ward is the model of consistency. The 2007 RoC Champion could have mailed it in after getting a flat tire just three laps in to Saturday’s A-Main (that’s Sprint Car for feature). Ward went to the pit area, changed the tire, and passed each of his teammates and finished a solid second. It was a nice way to kick off his RoC title defense.
6. Ryan Godown (Best: 6, Worst: Out) – The ‘Ringoes Rocket’ scored a pair of seconds to some pretty good competition. He finished second to Hearn and Phelps, two series regulars, at a neutral track. Godown may be a good pick to win this Saturday night’s SDS race. It will be interesting to see what happens.
7. Mike Colsten (Best: 7, Worst: Out) – This is the first appearance for Colsten in the power rankings. This is a well deserved jump after a seventh place finish at Hagerstown and then a top five finish at Selinsgrove on Saturday. Colsten may not be a household name for those of you in Central New York but in the Southern Tier he’s won more than his fair share of races.
8. Jeff Rudalavage (Best 8, Worst: Out) – Rudalavage finished third at Selinsgove after starting just outside the top five. The driver out of Olyphant, Pa. has won many features in the Southern Tier and will be a threat to win the RoC crown. He is most famous as the car owner for Alan Johnson two years ago.
9. Steve Paine (Best: 8, Worst: Out) – I think Paine is deserving of a spot inside the top ten after going to Selinsgrove and having the race he did. He ran second much of the event only to have an axle break with two laps to go. Paine was the model of consistency, everyone else tried running the top but he patiently worked the inside to get to the front.
10. Bob Drayton (Best: 10, Worst: Out) – You might be asking who is ‘Bob Drayton?’ To be honest so am I. After looking over the results he scored a sixth and an eighth at Hagerstown in two events. Not bad and if he’s there this weekend I plan to get acquainted with him.
With a few big races coming up this weekend and next weekend it will be interesting to see who goes where and does what. As always be sure to let me know what you think on our message board and keep me up-to-date on drivers you feel need to be given attention.
Drivers falling out of the rankings this week: Dale Planck (Best: 3, Worst: Out), Jimmy Horton (Best: 4, Worst: Out), Alan Johnson (Best 6, Worst: Out), Matt Sheppard (Best: 6, Worst: 7), Mario Clair (Best: 9, Worst: Out)
Drivers that have been in and out of the rankings this season: Tim Fuller (Best: 2, Worst: Out), Billy Decker (Best: 4, Worst: Out), Kenny Tremont (Best: 7, Worst: Out), Gary Tomkins (Best: 9, Worst: Out), Stewart Friesen (Best: 10, Worst: Out).
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