Thorson Takes Top Spot in 2016 Midget Power Rankings
The Wheatley Chronicles – Volume IV, No. 48
Lonnie Wheatley, TULSA, Okla. (December 20, 2016) – For the second year in a row, Minden, Nevada’s Tanner Thorson has emerged atop the www.midgetmadness.com Midget Power Rankings. And he did it in style, racking up 16 overall wins en route to capturing this year’s USAC Midget championship.
After scoring seven victories to take the top ranking in 2015 by just 26 points, Thorson landed this year’s number one ranking by a healthy 129 point margin over Keith Kunz Racing teammate Spencer Bayston with Midget rookie Carson Macedo giving Kunz a sweep of the top three positions.
Thorson’s run of victories in 2016 that was punctuated by a three-night sweep of Tri-City Speedway’s Gold Crown Nationals in Granite City, IL, came at a dozen tracks throughout seven different states including Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Texas, Arkansas, Pennsylvania and California.
Six of Thorson’s triumphs came in USAC National action with another seven scores in POWRi competition. He also reached victory lane in POWRi West, USAC Indiana and USAC Western States action.
Indiana’s Bayston climbed a notch from third in the 2015 Midget Power Rankings while California’s Macedo vaulted to third in his first year of Midget action. Both drivers picked off three wins as the Kunz stable combined for 30 triumphs in 2016.
POWRi champion Zach Daum was fourth with Brady Bacon rounding out this year’s top five. The balance of the 2016 top ten included Bryan Clauson, Chad Boat, Tyler Thomas, Ryan Robinson and Justin Peck.
Daum and Clauson rank as the only drivers to finish among the Midget Power Rankings top ten over each of the past four years while Macedo, Bacon, Boat, Robinson and Peck each cracked the top ten for the first time.
Title sponsor of the Midget Power Rankings, www.midgetmadness.com is the leading source of headline news, results and more for Midget racing throughout the world.
The www.midgetmadness.com Midget Power Rankings are a part of the Open Wheel Power Rankings at www.sprintcarmania.com that also includes STIDA Winged 410s, Infinity Shocks Non-Wing 410s, Rod End Supply Winged 360s, Beaver Stripes Non-Wing 360s and 305s presented by Dodge City Raceway Park.
A look at this year’s Top 50 in www.midgetmadness.com Midget Power Rankings is as follows:
| Rank | Name | Hometown | Wins | Points | 2015 Rank | 2014 Rank | 2013 Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tanner Thorson | Minden, NV | 16 | 795 | 1 | 6 | 25 |
| 2 | Spencer Bayston | Lafayette, IN | 3 | 666 | 3 | 21 | 200 |
| 3 | Carson Macedo | Lemoore, CA | 3 | 551 | NR | NR | NR |
| 4 | Zach Daum | Pocahontas, IL | 4 | 469 | 8 | 2 | 2 |
| 5 | Brady Bacon | Broken Arrow, OK | 1 | 356 | 42 | 36 | 22 |
| 6 | Bryan Clauson | Noblesville, IN | 5 | 317 | 6 | 3 | 6 |
| 7 | Chad Boat | Phoenix, AZ | 3 | 310 | 88 | 70 | 104 |
| 8 | Tyler Thomas | Collinsville, OK | 0 | 294 | 10 | 9 | 13 |
| 9 | Ryan Robinson | Forest Hill, CA | 0 | 282 | 33 | NR | NR |
| 10 | Justin Peck | Monrovia, IN | 1 | 273 | 20 | 14 | 66 |
| 11 | Rico Abreu | Rutherford, CA | 4 | 242 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
| 12 | Tucker Klaasmeyer | Paola, KS | 1 | 230 | 28 | NR | NR |
| 13 | Andrew Felker | Carl Junction, MO | 2 | 226 | 7 | 7 | 4 |
| 14 | Holly Shelton | Sacramento, CA | 0 | 225 | NR | NR | NR |
| 15 | Alex Bright | Collegeville, PA | 5 | 218 | 52 | 10 | 10 |
| 16 | Ronnie Gardner | Norco, CA | 6 | 217 | 14 | 19 | 9 |
| 17 | Shane Golobic | Fremont, CA | 1 | 217 | 54 | 51 | 29 |
| 18 | Austin Brown | Millstadt, IL | 3 | 206 | 13 | 16 | 18 |
| 19 | Jerry Coons, Jr. | Tucson, AZ | 0 | 193 | 12 | 45 | 11 |
| 20 | Matt Sherrell | Owasso, OK | 3 | 182 | 22 | 48 | 158 |
| 21 | Cory Elliott | Bakersfield, CA | 1 | 181 | 78 | NR | NR |
| 22 | Jake Neuman | New Berlin, IL | 1 | 173 | 41 | 193 | 132 |
| 23 | Keith Rauch | Denver, CO | 7 | 153 | 23 | 61 | 70 |
| 24 | Jason McDougal | Broken Arrow, OK | 3 | 148 | 136 | 95 | NR |
| 25 | Kyle Larson | Elk Grove, CA | 2 | 146 | 24 | 55 | 14 |
| 26 | Michael Faccinto | Hanford, CA | 2 | 145 | 30 | NR | 156 |
| 27 | Steven Shebester | Pauls Valley, OK | 4 | 139 | 86 | 99 | NR |
| 28 | Dave Darland | Lincoln, IN | 0 | 139 | 16 | 11 | 12 |
| 29 | Christopher Bell | Norman, OK | 2 | 137 | 5 | 1 | 1 |
| 30 | Brenden Bright | Collegeville, PA | 5 | 131 | 68 | 24 | 40 |
| 31 | Riley Kreisel | Warsaw, MO | 7 | 128 | 79 | NR | NR |
| 32 | Grady Chandler | Edmond, OK | 0 | 125 | 70 | 148 | NR |
| 33 | Wesley Smith | Nixa, MO | 6 | 112 | 61 | NR | NR |
| 34 | Frankie Guerrini | San Rafael, CA | 0 | 109 | 17 | 104 | 115 |
| 35 | Jonathan Beason | Broken Arrow, OK | 1 | 108 | 60 | 49 | 81 |
| 36 | Chett Gehrke | Broken Arrow, OK | 0 | 101 | 39 | 22 | 39 |
| 37 | Terry Babb | Decatur, IL | 0 | 100 | 110 | 50 | 68 |
| 38 | Trevor Kobylarz | Birdsboro, PA | 1 | 99 | 48 | 29 | 15 |
| 39 | Ryan Greth | Shartlesville, PA | 1 | 94 | 34 | 58 | 27 |
| 40 | Brett Arndt | Topton, PA | 3 | 92 | 112 | 34 | 37 |
| 41 | Garrett Aitken | Paris, IL | 0 | 90 | 102 | 59 | 67 |
| 42 | Davey Ray | Loves Park, IL | 4 | 87 | 59 | 121 | 62 |
| 43 | Alex Schutte | Redding, CA | 5 | 84 | 99 | 28 | 99 |
| 44 | Thomas Meseraull | San Jose, CA | 0 | 83 | 51 | 93 | 65 |
| 45 | Shane Cottle | Kokomo, IN | 0 | 78 | 100 | 44 | 54 |
| 46 | Kory Schudy | Springfield, MO | 5 | 77 | 135 | NR | NR |
| 47 | Courtney Crone | Corona, CA | 0 | 71 | NR | NR | NR |
| 48 | Andy Malpocker | St. Charles, MO | 0 | 69 | 77 | 63 | NR |
| 49 | Chris Windom | Canton, IL | 1 | 68 | 63 | 15 | 119 |
| 50 | Greg Schaefer | Ft. Lupton, CO | 0 | 67 | 81 | 88 | 213 |
Features Completed: 158 (141 in 2015, 126 in 2014, 154 in 2013)
Number of Different Winners: 62 (65 in 2015, 57 in 2014, 66 in 2013)
Number of Drivers to Earn Points: 278 (274 in 2015, 241 in 2014, 248 in 2013)
Past Top Tens in www.midgetmadness.com Midget Power Rankings:
2015 – 1. Tanner Thorson (7) 548, 2. Darren Hagen (5) 522, 3. Spencer Bayston (5) 500, 4. Rico Abreu (9) 488, 5. Christopher Bell (8) 438, 6. Bryan Clauson (6) 422, 7. Andrew Felker (3) 383, 8. Zach Daum (3) 379, 9. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (3) 373, 10. Tyler Thomas (2) 276.
2014 – 1. Christopher Bell (16) 659, 2. Zach Daum (4) 589, 3. Bryan Clauson (10) 555, 4. Rico Abreu (5) 449, 5. Darren Hagen (6) 421, 6. Tanner Thorson (2) 411, 7. Andrew Felker (3) 313, 8. Tracy Hines (2) 304, 9. Tyler Thomas (1) 283, 10. Alex Bright (5) 244.
2013 – 1. Christopher Bell (10) 543, 2. Zach Daum (8) 504, 3. Darren Hagen (8) 415, 4. Andrew Felker (2) 406, 5. Rico Abreu (7) 402, 6. Bryan Clauson (8) 397, 7. Brad Kuhn (1) 325, 8. Tracy Hines (2) 322, 9. Ronnie Gardner (13) 280, 10. Alex Bright (3) 231.
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.
