Top 25 National Sprint Car Poll - Week 16

Shane Stewart returned to form at Silver Dollar's Gold Cup

This past weekend was highlighted by the World of Outlaws visit to Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, CA for the Gold Cup, and the All Star Circuit of Champion's annual trek to Port Royal Speedway for the Tuscarora 50. The top thirteen drivers in this week's rankings were in action at either of those events.

Making a statement at Silver Dollar and getting back on track was Shane Stewart. The Larson Marks Racing driver piloted his machine to a win and fourth place finish. Add to that a Hard Charger award and it's pretty evident he stole the show. His successful weekend was enough for the Oklahoma native to move up five spots in the poll, where he now occupies the 4th spot.

Attrition was the name of the game at Port Royal Speedway. Lance Dewease, Greg Hodnett, and Stevie Smith were the class of the field on both nights, but it was Stevie Smith who was still running at the end of both main events. Lance Dewease and Greg Hodnett both broke while leading their respective features. Danny Dietrich also impressed with a pair of Top 5 runs.

Three drivers split the 8 first-place votes this week, with Donny Schatz claiming six while Daryn Pittman and David Gravel hold one apiece to their names.

Falling out of the Top 25 were Central PA drivers Brent Marks and Doug Esh. Moving up to replace them are Bill Balog and Byron Reed. Balog returns following a one week absence, meanwhile Reed appears back in the rankings for the first time since the end of June.

Our panel of voting members for Week 16 included the following:
Blake Anderson, Brian Liskai, Bobby Gerould, Kyle Symons, Mike Leone, Mike Mallett, Shawn Miller, and Tyler Beichner.

1. Donny Schatz, 197 points (6)
Recent Results: Another winless weekend, Donny Schatz records a 5th and DNF at Silver Dollar.
Previous Ranking: 1st (NC)

2. Daryn Pittman, 187 points (1)
Recent Results: Claims two Top 5's at Silver Dollar's Gold Cup, including a near win in the opener.
Previous Ranking: 3rd (+1)

3. David Gravel, 182 points (1)
Recent Results: Gathered a pair of Top 10 finishes at Silver Dollar Speedway.
Previous Ranking: 2nd (-1)

4. Shane Stewart, 174 points
Recent Results: Picked up a win and 4th place, including Hard Charger award, at Silver Dollar.
Previous Ranking: 9th (+5)

5. Dale Blaney, 156 points
Recent Results: Scored strong 3rd and 4th place runs at Port Royal's Tuscarora weekend.
Previous Ranking: 6th (+1)

6. Brad Sweet, 146 points
Recent Results: Couldn't crack the Top 5 in Chico with a best finish of 6th place.
Previous Ranking: 4th (-2)

7. Rico Abreu, 140 points
Recent Results: Following a tip-over on night one, comes back to win the Gold Cup finale at Silver Dollar.
Previous Ranking: 20th (+13)

8. Greg Hodnett, 139 points
Recent Results: Held on for a 2nd place finish at the Tuscarora prelim before breaking while leading the finale.
Previous Ranking: 7th (-1)

9. Lance Dewease, 129 points
Recent Results: Broke while leading the prelim, but came back to win the ASCoC-sanctioned Tuscarora 50.
Previous Ranking: 16th (+7)

10. Joey Saldana, 113 points
Recent Results: A runner-up finish at Silver Dollar was the highlight of his weekend.
Previous Ranking: 13th (+3)

10. Sheldon Haudenschild, 113 points
Recent Results: Solid 7th and 9th place finishes against stout field of competitors at Port Royal.
Previous Ranking: 8th (-2)

12. Jason Johnson, 111 points
Recent Results: Barely cracked the Top 10 on on night one at Silver Dollar before running 21st in the finale.
Previous Ranking: 5th (-7)

13. Chad Kemenah, 105 points
Recent Results: Scored 10th and 11th place finishes at Port Royal's Tuscarora 50 weekend.
Previous Ranking: 12th (-1)

14. Kerry Madsen, 93 points
Recent Results: Back-to-back 8th place finishes with the Outlaws at Silver Dollar.
Previous Ranking: 10th (-4)

15. Stevie Smith, 86 points
Recent Results: Had a great weekend at Port Royal with a win and runner-up finish.
Previous Ranking: 19th (+4)

16. Danny Lasoski, 78 points
Recent Results: Did not make a 410 start over the weekend, but did win a 360 race in Montana.
Previous Ranking: 14th (-2)

17. Logan Schuchart, 71 points
Recent Results: Struggled at Silver Dollar with finishes of 9th and 16th.
Previous Ranking: 11th (-6)

18. Ian Madsen, 65 points
Recent Results: Ran 2nd in the season finale at Badlands Motor Speedway.
Previous Ranking: 15th (-3)

19. Danny Dietrich, 60 points
Recent Results: Came home with back-to-back 5th place runs at Port Royal.
Previous Ranking: 18th (-1)

20. Mark Dobmeier, 54 points
Recent Results: Finished 2nd & 3rd at River Cities before taking 4th and the track championship at Badlands.
Previous Ranking: 21st (+1)

21. Brian Brown, 36 points
Recent Results:
Previous Ranking: 17th (-4)

22. Craig Dollansky, 27 points
Recent Results:
Previous Ranking: 19th (-3)

23. Sammy Swindell
Recent Results:
Previous Ranking: 22nd (-1)

24. Bill Balog, 18 points
Recent Results: Swept the IRA Sprints weekend at Amsoil and Cedar Lake.
Previous Ranking: Not Ranked

25. Byron Reed, 16 points
Recent Results: Finished 11th at Fremont Speedway.
Previous Ranking: Not Ranked

Dropped Out of Rankings
Brent Marks (23), Doug Esh (25)