Tanner Thorson Tops 2015 Midget Power Rankings – See the Top 50!
The Wheatley Chronicles – Volume III, No. 88
Lonnie Wheatley, TULSA, Okla. (December 21, 2015) – With the final Midget events of the 2015 season in the books, Minden, Nevada native Tanner Thorson has emerged atop this year’s www.midgetmadness.com Midget Power Rankings.
A part of the potent Keith Kunz Racing stable that amassed 28 overall Midget feature wins this year, Thorson reached victory lane on seven occasions to take the top spot by 26 points over Mid-Season Power Rankings leader Darren Hagen.
Among Thorson’s triumphs were victories during both POWRi and USAC Midget weeks, an Iron Man 55 score, a sweep of Tri-City Speedway’s Gold Crown Nationals and a Turkey Night triumph to round out the season.
While Thorson made the leap from sixth last year to the top spot, POWRi champion Hagen ranked among the top five for the third year in a row with his runner-up ranking.
Picking off a handful of wins, Spencer Bayston made a leap from a ranking of 21st in 2014 all the way to third this year while Rico Abreu and Christopher Bell rounded out this year’s top five with both running a limited slate of events.
Belleville Midget Nationals champ Bryan Clauson was sixth with the balance of the top ten including Andrew Felker, Zach Daum, Kevin Thomas, Jr., and Tyler Thomas.
Bayston and Kevin Thomas, Jr., both ranked among the top ten for the first time while Hagen, Abreu, Bell, Clauson, Felker and Daum have each ranked among the top ten over each of the past three years.
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. Bobby Clark topped the 305 portion, R.J. Johnson was best in the Non-Wing 360 ranks and Seth Bergman bested the Winged 360s with the final standings for the remaining divisions to be released in the coming days.
Official Sprint Car Power Rankings apparel featuring the top five in each division is available for purchase at http://thg-media.myshopify.com/collections/apparel.
A look at this year’s Top 50 in www.midgetmadness.com Midget Power Rankings is as follows:
| Rank | Name | Hometown | Wins | Points | 2014 Rank | 2013 Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tanner Thorson | Minden, NV | 7 | 548 | 6 | 25 |
| 2 | Darren Hagen | Riverside, CA | 5 | 522 | 5 | 3 |
| 3 | Spencer Bayston | Lafayette, IN | 5 | 500 | 21 | 200 |
| 4 | Rico Abreu | Rutherford, CA | 9 | 488 | 4 | 5 |
| 5 | Christopher Bell | Norman, OK | 8 | 438 | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | Bryan Clauson | Noblesville, IN | 6 | 422 | 3 | 6 |
| 7 | Andrew Felker | Carl Junction, MO | 3 | 383 | 7 | 4 |
| 8 | Zach Daum | Pocahontas, IL | 3 | 379 | 2 | 2 |
| 9 | Kevin Thomas, Jr. | Cullman, AL | 3 | 373 | 31 | 97 |
| 10 | Tyler Thomas | Collinsville, OK | 2 | 276 | 9 | 13 |
| 11 | Tracy Hines | New Castle, IN | 0 | 266 | 8 | 8 |
| 12 | Jerry Coons, Jr. | Tucson, AZ | 1 | 197 | 45 | 11 |
| 13 | Austin Brown | Millstadt, IL | 0 | 184 | 16 | 18 |
| 14 | Ronnie Gardner | Norco, CA | 2 | 167 | 19 | 9 |
| 15 | Anton Hernandez | Arlington, TX | 2 | 164 | NR | NR |
| 16 | Dave Darland | Lincoln, IN | 0 | 152 | 11 | 12 |
| 17 | Frankie Guerrini | San Rafael, CA | 5 | 147 | 104 | 115 |
| 18 | Ryan Bernal | Hollister, CA | 1 | 141 | 133 | 91 |
| 19 | Kyle Schuett | Urbana, IL | 1 | 141 | 188 | NR |
| 20 | Justin Peck | Monrovia, IN | 2 | 131 | 14 | 66 |
| 21 | Steven Drevicki | Reading, PA | 1 | 115 | 12 | 19 |
| 22 | Matt Sherrell | Owasso, OK | 2 | 109 | 48 | 158 |
| 23 | Keith Rauch | Denver, CO | 6 | 106 | 61 | 70 |
| 24 | Kyle Larson | Elk Grove, CA | 1 | 106 | 55 | 14 |
| 25 | Cody Brewer | Choctaw, OK | 0 | 106 | 38 | 84 |
| 26 | Payton Pierce | Bridgeport, TX | 0 | 101 | 166 | NR |
| 27 | Danny Stratton | Riverside, CA | 1 | 98 | 78 | 21 |
| 28 | Tucker Klaasmeyer | Paola, KS | 0 | 97 | NR | NR |
| 29 | Daryn Pittman | Owasso, OK | 0 | 96 | 32 | 170 |
| 30 | Michael Faccinto | Hanford, CA | 2 | 95 | NR | 156 |
| 31 | Michelle Decker | Guthrie, OK | 1 | 92 | 89 | NR |
| 32 | Chase Stockon | Sullivan, IN | 1 | 92 | 202 | NR |
| 33 | Ryan Robinson | Foresthill, CA | 0 | 91 | NR | NR |
| 34 | Ryan Greth | Shartlesville, PA | 3 | 90 | 58 | 27 |
| 35 | Damion Gardner | Concord, CA | 0 | 90 | 41 | 86 |
| 36 | Tony Rossi | Brighton, CO | 3 | 89 | 135 | 88 |
| 37 | Bob Harr | Arvada, CO | 1 | 87 | 86 | 174 |
| 38 | Steve Buckwalter | Royersford, PA | 2 | 86 | 23 | 16 |
| 39 | Chett Gehrke | Broken Arrow, OK | 2 | 84 | 22 | 39 |
| 40 | Gage Walker | Indianapolis, IN | 1 | 83 | 111 | NR |
| 41 | Jake Neuman | New Berlin, IL | 1 | 83 | 193 | 132 |
| 42 | Brady Bacon | Broken Arrow, OK | 1 | 83 | 36 | 22 |
| 43 | Brian Gard | Kelseyville, CA | 1 | 82 | 46 | NR |
| 44 | Trey Marcham | Newcastle, OK | 0 | 82 | 18 | 109 |
| 45 | Daniel Robinson | Wayne City, IL | 0 | 81 | 17 | 35 |
| 46 | Blake Hahn | Sapulpa, OK | 0 | 80 | NR | NR |
| 47 | Nick Chivello | Manteca, CA | 1 | 79 | 52 | 61 |
| 48 | Trevor Kobylarz | Birdsboro, PA | 0 | 79 | 29 | 15 |
| 49 | Ty Hulsey | Owasso, OK | 1 | 77 | 77 | NR |
| 50 | P.J. Gargiulo | Morton, PA | 2 | 74 | 39 | 31 |
Features Completed: 141 (126 in 2014, 154 in 2013)
Number of Different Winners: 65 (57 in 2014, 66 in 2013)
Number of Drivers to Earn Points: 274 (241 in 2014, 248 in 2013)
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 2015 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.
