Thorson Holds Midget Power Rankings Lead; Boat on the Move

The Wheatley Chronicles – Volume IV, No. 40

Lonnie Wheatley, TULSA, Okla. (August 30, 2016) – With a big month of August in the books, Tanner Thorson continues to maintain his lead in the latest www.midgetmadness.com Midget Power Rankings.

Taking a 33-point lead into August ahead of Keith Kunz stablemate Spencer Bayston, Thorson essentially held serve by escaping the month with a 30-point edge over Bayston.

While Bayston posted a better Belleville Midget Nationals finish, Thorson ran his season win total to twelve a last-lap USAC score at Lanco and then a POWRi score in the Camfield Memorial at Macon.

The battle for the top spot has narrowed down to Thorson and Bayston with third-ranked Zach Daum another 140 points back in third although he did add his fourth overall win of the year in recent POWRi action at Lincoln, IL.

The balance of the top six remains the same with Carson Macedo, the late Bryan Clauson and Tyler Thomas, while Belleville Nationals champ Chad Boat is the big mover with a climb from 19^th to seventh.

Boat is one of three drivers to break into the top ten along with Ryan Robinson (14^th to ninth) and Brady Bacon (16^th to tenth).

After a few weeks off, the USAC Western States Midgets hit the half-mile at Calistoga for two nights this weekend while the POWRi West ranks take on the RMMRA forces at Garden City, KS, for a pair of events this weekend.

www.midgetmadnees.com Midgets (Top 40 – Through August 27):

Rank – Name, Hometown (Wins) – Points (+/- previous ranking)

1. Tanner Thorson, Minden NV (12) 573
2. Spencer Bayston, Lafayette IN (3) 543
3. Zach Daum, Pocahontas IL (4) 403
4. Carson Macedo, Lemoore CA (3) 365
5. Bryan Clauson, Noblesville IN (5) 317
6. Tyler Thomas, Collinsville OK 246
7. Chad Boat, Phoenix AZ (3) 221 (+12)
8. Justin Peck, Monrovia IN 210 (-1)
9. Ryan Robinson, Forest Hill CA 200 (+5)
10. Brady Bacon, Broken Arrow OK 198 (+6)
11. Andrew Felker, Carl Junction MO (2) 176 (-2)
12. Rico Abreu, Rutherford CA (3) 174 (-4)
13. Alex Bright, Collegeville PA (5) 171 (-3)
14. Austin Brown, Millstadt IL (2) 155 (-3)
15. Tucker Klaasmeyer, Paola KS 153
16. Jerry Coons, Jr., Tucson AZ 153 (+4)
17. Holly Shelton, Sacramento CA (+8)
18. Shane Golobic, Fremont CA (1) 141 (-6)
19. Christopher Bell, Norman OK (2) 137 (-6)
20. Jake Neuman, New Berlin IL 135 (-3)
21. Brenden Bright, Collegeville PA (5) 122 (+1)
22. Matt Sherrell, Owasso OK (3) 122 (+6)
23. Ronnie Gardner, Norco CA (4) 112 (-5)
24. Jason McDougal, Broken Arrow OK (2) 111
25. Trevor Kobylarz, Birdsboro PA (1) 99 (-2)
26. Keith Rauch, Denver CO (5) 98 (+6)
27. Steven Shebester, Pauls Valley OK (3) 96 (+4)
28. Kyle Larson, Elk Grove CA (1) 96 (-7)
29. Ryan Greth, Shartlesville PA (1) 94 (+6)
30. Garrett Aitken, Paris IL 90 (+6)
31. Wesley Smith, Nixa MO (6) 88 (+9)
32. Michael Faccinto, Hanford CA (1) 87 (-6)
33. Cory Elliott, Bakersfield CA 85 (-4)
34. Terry Babb, Decatur IL 84 (-7)
35. Dave Darland, Lincoln IN 83 (+4)
36. Riley Kreisel, Warsaw MO (5) 81 (+1)
37. Brett Arndt, Topton PA (2) 80 (-3)
38. Jonathan Beason, Broken Arrow OK (1) 76 (+12)
39. Thomas Meseraull, San Jose CA 73 (-9)
40. Alex Schutte, Redding CA (4) 69 (-7)

Features Completed: 120

Number of Different Winners: 50

Number of Drivers to Earn Points: 254

A part of the recurring “The Wheatley Chronicles” series of articles on www.sprintcarmania.com, the Open Wheel Power Rankings are determined by cumulative points based on a sliding scale dependent upon car count at Sprint Car and Midget events across all sanctions and non-sanctions throughout North America.

The Wheatley Chronicles brings insight and highlights from all variety of racing series throughout the nation in 2016 and beyond along with the Open Wheel Power Rankings on a regular basis. Please send any comments, questions or advertising inquiries regarding The Wheatley Chronicles at www.sprintcarmania.com to Lonnie Wheatley at lonniewheatley@gmail.com.