Grant & RJ Johnson Lead Non-Wing Power Rankings
The Wheatley Chronicles – Volume V, No. 15
Lonnie Wheatley, TULSA, Okla. (April 20, 2017) – With the 2017 season picking up momentum, Justin Grant and R.J. Johnson are out to the early leads in the Non-Wing Sprint Car Power Rankings.
Grant holds the early edge over Chris Windom and Chad Boespflug in Non-Wing 410 Power Rankings while Johnson holds the top spot in Beaver Stripes Non-Wing 360 Sprint Car Power Rankings over Ryan Bernal and Charles Davis, Jr.
Just as the likes of Schatz, Gravel and Sweet have stepped away from the pack in winged 410 ranks, the trio of Grant, Windom and Boespflug have been the dominant forces in early “traditional” Sprint Car action.
Leading the way with seven top-fives, Grant has the early lead after winning the season-opening USAC event in Florida and then sweeping both nights of Kokomo Sprint Car action during the track’s Midget Grand Prix.
Grant has a 17 point edge over Windom, who has posted three early victories as well. Boespflug is just one point behind Windom in third after swapping one-two positions with “Big Daddy” during last weekend’s USAC double.
A winner of two out of three USAC/CRA events thus far, Damion Gardner currently sits fourth with Brady Bacon rounding out the early top five.
The Non-Wing 410 Sprint Car Power Rankings are a part of the Open Wheel Power Rankings that also includes STIDA Winged 410s, Rod End Supply Winged 360s, Beaver Stripes Non-Wing 360s, www.midgetmadness.com Midgets and 305s presented by Dodge City Raceway Park.
Title sponsorship for the Non-Wing 410 Sprint Car Power Rankings is available. If interested in sponsoring the Non-Wing 410 Sprint Car Power Rankings, simply contact lonniewheatley@gmail.com.
The current top 25 in Non-Wing 410 Sprint Car Power Rankings….
| Rank | Name | Hometown | Wins | Points | 2016 Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Justin Grant | Ione, CA | 3 | 132 | 16 |
| 2 | Chris Windom | Canton, IL | 3 | 115 | 3 |
| 3 | Chad Boespflug | Hanford, CA | 1 | 114 | 6 |
| 4 | Damion Gardner | Concord, CA | 2 | 57 | 14 |
| 5 | Brady Bacon | Broken Arrow, OK | 0 | 57 | 2 |
| 6 | Jarett Andretti | Mooresville, IN | 0 | 54 | 15 |
| 7 | Shane Cottle | Kokomo, IN | 0 | 51 | 9 |
| 8 | Chase Stockon | Sullivan, IN | 0 | 51 | 8 |
| 9 | Thomas Meseraull | San Jose, CA | 1 | 48 | 4 |
| 10 | Kevin Thomas, Jr. | Cullman, AL | 0 | 45 | 1 |
| 11 | Brody Roa | Buena Park, CA | 0 | 43 | 25 |
| 12 | Brady Short | Bedford, IN | 0 | 41 | 12 |
| 13 | Landon Simon | Tipp City, OH | 1 | 40 | 58 |
| 14 | Richard Vander Weerd | Visalia, CA | 1 | 37 | 18 |
| 15 | Jon Stanbrough | Avon, IN | 0 | 37 | 22 |
| 16 | Hunter Schuerenberg | Sikeston, MO | 1 | 36 | 88 |
| 17 | Jake Swanson | Anaheim, CA | 0 | 35 | 29 |
| 18 | Michael Fischesser | Cincinnati, OH | 0 | 31 | 46 |
| 19 | C.J. Leary | Greenfield, IN | 0 | 27 | 10 |
| 20 | Brent Beauchamp | Fairland, IN | 0 | 27 | 28 |
| 21 | Nick Bilbee | Indianapolis, IN | 1 | 25 | 42 |
| 22 | Justin Owen | Harrison, OH | 0 | 25 | 63 |
| 23 | Shawn Westerfeld | Guilford, IN | 0 | 25 | 23 |
| 24 | Carson Short | Marion, IL | 0 | 24 | 37 |
| 25 | Kody Swanson | Kingsburg, CA | 1 | 23 | 34 |
Features Completed: 18
Number of Different Winners: 13
Number of Drivers to Earn Points: 73
Past Top Tens in Non-Wing 410 Sprint Car Power Rankings:
2016 – 1. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (13) 782, 2. Brady Bacon (3) 742, 3. Chris Windom (5) 661, 4. Thomas Meseraull (8) 658, 5. Dave Darland (2) 632, 6. Chad Boespflug (6) 555, 7. Robert Ballou (4) 503, 8. Chase Stockon (3) 497, 9. Shane Cottle (4) 451, 10. C.J. Leary (3) 446.
2015 – 1. Robert Ballou (18) 959, 2. Dave Darland (6) 895, 3. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (6) 649, 4. Chase Stockon (5) 607, 5. Brady Bacon (9) 601, 6. Jon Stanbrough (2) 577, 7. Brady Short (16) 561, 8. C.J. Leary (4) 517, 9. Thomas Meseraull (9) 466, 10. Shane Cottle (5) 419.
2014 – 1. Robert Ballou (11) 822, 2. Dave Darland (11) 750, 3. Jon Stanbrough (8) 705, 4. Bryan Clauson (9) 671, 5. Justin Grant (8) 625, 6. Brady Short (12) 605, 7. Chase Stockon (4) 532, 8. Brady Bacon (4) 477, 9. Chad Boespflug (7) 438, 10. Shane Cottle (3) 410.
2013 – 1. Dave Darland (9) 631, 2. Bryan Clauson (11) 627, 3. Brady Short (10) 531, 4. Jon Stanbrough (3) 509, 5. Chase Stockon (3) 507, 6. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (10) 496, 7. Robert Ballou (5) 474, 8. Chris Windom (6) 414, 9. Chad Boespflug (6) 390, 10. Brady Bacon (2) 389.
In the Beaver Stripes Non-Wing 360 Sprint Car ranks, Phoenix shoe R.J. Johnson is gunning for the number one ranking for a fifth year in a row.
And he’s off to a strong start with five overall wins to hold the top spot by 24 points over Ryan Bernal and Charles Davis, Jr., with Bernal getting the nod for second with three wins compared to the Chargin’ one’s single triumph.
Running a mix of events thus far in 2017, Stevie Sussex stands fourth behind the lead trio with Austin Liggett rounding out the early top five.
The Beaver Stripes Non-Wing 360 Sprint Car Power Rankings are a part of the Open Wheel Power Rankings that also includes STIDA Winged 410s, Rod End Supply Winged 360s, www.midgetmadness.com Midgets and 305s presented by Dodge City Raceway Park.
The current top 25 in Beaver Stripes Non-Wing 360 Sprint Car Power Rankings….
| Rank | Name | Hometown | Wins | Points | 2016 Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | R.J. Johnson | Phoenix, AZ | 5 | 109 | 1 |
| 2 | Ryan Bernal | Hollister, CA | 3 | 85 | 29 |
| 3 | Charles Davis, Jr. | Buckeye, AZ | 1 | 85 | 2 |
| 4 | Stevie Sussex | Tempe, AZ | 1 | 68 | 3 |
| 5 | Austin Liggett | Tracy, CA | 4 | 67 | 35 |
| 6 | Jake Swanson | Anaheim, CA | 1 | 64 | 55 |
| 7 | Shon Deskins | Waddell, AZ | 0 | 56 | 11 |
| 8 | Geoff Ensign | Sebastopol, CA | 0 | 45 | 34 |
| 9 | Jace Vander Weerd | Visalia, CA | 0 | 39 | 10 |
| 10 | Brady Bacon | Broken Arrow, OK | 0 | 39 | 30 |
| 11 | Richard Vander Weerd | Visalia, CA | 0 | 36 | 19 |
| 12 | Landon Cling | Tempe, AZ | 0 | 33 | 62 |
| 13 | Mike Martin | Yuma, AZ | 0 | 33 | 8 |
| 14-tie | Cody Majors | Simi Valley, CA | 0 | 27 | 50 |
| 14-tie | Chris Bonneau | Phoenix, AZ | 0 | 27 | 54 |
| 16 | Danny Faria, Jr. | Tipton, CA | 0 | 26 | 25 |
| 17 | Dave Darland | Lincoln, IN | 1 | 25 | 126 |
| 18 | Brody Roa | Buena Park, CA | 0 | 24 | 4 |
| 19 | Nick Aiuto | Camp Verde, AZ | 0 | 22 | 31 |
| 20 | Klint Simpson | Melbourne, AUS | 2 | 21 | 18 |
| 21 | Joe Stornetta, Jr. | Napa, CA | 0 | 21 | 169 |
| 22 | Matt Rossi | Peoria, AZ | 1 | 20 | 5 |
| 23 | Jason Grady | Flora Vista, NM | 1 | 15 | 15 |
| 24 | Andrew Reinbold | Chandler, AZ | 0 | 15 | 28 |
| 25 | Brady Short | Bedford, IN | 0 | 15 | 93 |
Features Completed: 25
Number of Different Winners: 14
Number of Drivers to Earn Points: 71
Past Top Tens in Beaver Stripes Non-Wing 360 Sprint Car Power Rankings:
2016 – 1. R.J. Johnson (12) 453, 2. Charles Davis, Jr. (1) 298, 3. Stevie Sussex (6) 207, 4. Brody Roa (3) 172, 5. Matt Rossi 168, 6. Dennis Gile 145, 7. Josh Hodges (3) 144, 8. Mike Martin 144, 9. D.J. Johnson (3) 134, 10. Jace Vander Weerd (2) 129.
2015 – 1. R.J. Johnson (10) 377, 2. Charles Davis, Jr. (3) 317, 3. Ryan Bernal (7) 231, 4. Danny Faria, Jr. (3) 199, 5. Mike Martin (3) 198, 6. Stevie Sussex (3) 196, 7. Brady Bacon (1) 178, 8. Matt Rossi (1) 170, 9. Josh Pelkey 145, 10. Brody Roa (3) 142.
2014 – 1. R.J. Johnson (11) 480, 2. Josh Pelkey (4) 366, 3. Charles Davis, Jr. (4) 361, 4. Ryan Bernal (12) 329, 5. Matt Rossi (1) 251, 6. Shon Deskins (1) 226, 7. Mike Martin (1) 212, 8. Brady Bacon (2) 160, 9. Richard Vander Weerd (1) 158, 10. Matt Mitchell (1) 150.
2013 – 1. R.J. Johnson (11) 387, 2. Charles Davis, Jr. (6) 260, 3. Richard Vander Weerd (7) 280, 4. Josh Pelkey (3) 236, 5. Ryan Bernal (5) 191, 6. Danny Faria, Jr. (4) 184, 7. Mike Martin (1) 184, 8. Bud Kaeding 166, 9. Shon Deskins 143, 10. Bryan Clauson (6) 138.
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 2017 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.
(Brandon Murray photo)
