Compiled by: Langley Austin ~ [email protected]

Copper Hill, VA(August 30, 2012) — Two more weeks in the books of NASCAR Whelen All-American Series, ASA Member Tracks and outlaw, Late Model Stock Car racing around the Virginia, North and South Carolina and Tennessee region.

That’s means there’s been at least two chances for drivers everywhere to gain a little momentum or equally lose momentum and certainly over these last two weeks we’ve seen that even the top two drivers from the FDJ Motorsports Power Rankings for much of this season have found a way to slip from prominence.  Lee Pulliam, who has been atop this list since basically his return from NASCAR suspension and Nate Monteith, who’s been second for most of the season both have not visited victory lane in recent races.

Pulliam seems to be struggling on two different tracks, Caraway and Southern National, while Monteith had a bad night on his home turf in the season finale twin races.  Pulliam, however did return to his original home track, South Boston Speedway and grab twin wins even with the return of NASCAR Whelen All-American Series 4-time National Champion and Late Model Stock Car “King”, Philip Morris.

So with some ups and a lot of downs at the top of this list … lets just get to it, lets give you the FDJ Motorsports Power Rankings for Weeks #23-24 and close out the month of August.

 

Honorable Mentions …

Anthony Anders
Seems that at Myrtle Beach Speedway at least, Anthony Anders has been able to stir the pot better than any driver this season and not necessarily because of his wins, but rather mixing it up with the local drivers all the way to the tech shed. He recently picked up win number two after he protested Sam Yarbrough’s engine after finishing second. Anders is powerful, not just because he can run up front week in and week out, but because he isn’t afraid to stir things up with the drivers and that attitude has him on the verge of a championship at Myrtle Beach.

Chad Finchum
With a lot of starts in a Late Model away from the Motor Mile/South Boston “Virginia” hub of the division, Chad Finchum has proven himself a talent, but recently he moved to running at Motor Mile Speedway. The track has the best competition and largest car counts in all of Late Model Stock Car racing and Finchum might not have been rolling out of the gate, but in the most recent race on the 4/10 mile track he proved himself against even the best in the business(Frank Deiny, Jr.) as he placed second. Yeah, I know if you look in the results he name isn’t there after he was disqualified for an infraction with his engine’s intake that was found after his engine was tore down(only top finisher to have his engine inspected), but if you were there and you saw the drive he made, you know that no engine infraction put him in second and that the kid can just plain wheel.

Mack Little
You gotta give credit where credits due … Mack Little, might not have had a dominant season at Caraway, in fact the Late Models are awfully competitive with no driver winning more than three races(Little has two wins), but he has been strong even against some stiff outside competition. Last Friday night he was making a pass on Lee Pulliam late in the first of two 50-lap races when he broke and then after starting last in the second race, he motored to a fifth place finish. It’s efforts like that, that will see Little through to his first Late Model Stock Car division track championship on the 4/10 mile track.

Keith Stiltner & Ronnie McCarty
I couldn’t dare give one credit without the other, so I decided to lump them both together and make this the largest list of honorable mentions this season. Keith Stiltner and Ronnie McCarty recently broke through with their first wins of the season at Lonesome Pine Raceway and both deserve much credit for the effort. For Stiltner it was his first race of the season in a Late Model and for McCarty it was a turn around of what was a tough season at Kingsport Speedway and it delivered his first career Late Model victory.

10 – Austin McDaniel
He’s bounced back and forth all season from making the list to the honorable mentions list to not even being on the list at times, but Austin McDaniel seems to have now taken hold of the Late Model Stock Car division at Hickory Motor Speedway, where he leads with seven wins on the season. For much of the season he was in a dead lock with young veteran, Jesse LeFevers and a much older veteran, Keith Bumgarner, but in the last few weeks has made the season his own. Both of his counterparts each have five wins, but with the two McDaniel has in the last three races, he’s rolling into big race season with all kinds of momentum.

9 – Philip Morris
It’s just strange. Strange to see Philip Morris listed as the ninth best driver of … well, anything, but even more strange is having him not competing this season. The last five months have proven two things … 1, that the Late Model Stock Car roller coaster will roll on without it’s King in the field and 2, it’s not nearly as much fun for the competitors when they don’t have someone they respect as much as they all do Morris on the track to aim for. Philip, it’s good to have you back.

8 – Nate Monteith
This might be the last time you see Nate Monteith on the regular season edition of the FDJ Motorsports Power Rankings. The season is over at Kingsport Speedway and while he’ll likely travel around to other venues to try and maintain a top three spot in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series National point standings, he would have to surprise at one of the tracks in one of those races to keep him on the list in the coming weeks. Not that he won’t run good, but just running good when you’ve been one of the seasons dominators isn’t good enough to maintain your position on the FDJ Motorsports Power Rankings.

7 – Josh Berry
Josh Berry might be the only one time winner to grace the FDJ Motorsports Power Rankings here on RACE22.com this season(well at least back as far as a month into the season), but his one win doesn’t tell his story. Berry has been a model of consistency at Motor Mile Speedway and has a handful of second, third, fourth and fifth place finishes. His finishes haven’t showed his ability and has shown how he’s run as he’s been the top contender for a win several times including the tracks most recent race when a late timed caution for a blown engine saw him and many of the leaders crash. Berry had the most damage of the bunch and went from leading to chasing from behind with major damage to his car and yet, he still managed a fifth place finish.

6 – Toby Porter
Every week that the veteran continues to win at Greenville Pickens Speedway makes it that much harder for me to dismiss his incredible success on the ailing track. Fending off all challengers including the best driver at Greenville Pickens in the last decade, Marty Ward as well as the guy he’s chasing for the NWAAS South Carolina State Championship and last seasons biggest winner, Anthony Anders and other contenders including UARA drivers and NASCAR kids. Porter’s domination on the track can’t be ignored any longer and with now 13 wins on the season, he’s head and shoulders above all South Carolina drivers.

5 – CE Falk III
Despite the fact that CE Falk is Late Model Stock Car racing’s most disqualified driver over the last two seasons, his success on the track can’t be ignored. Falk, who has been disqualified three times this season at his home track of Langley Speedway also has eight trips to victory lane on the same venue this season and 14 wins total with two each at South Boston, Southern National and Motor Mile.

4 – Adam Long
After he figured out how to win, breaking through with his first career Late Model Stock Car win back in June, he’s been in contention every race since and would certainly have more wins if not for being run over by other competitors in the late stages of two different races after leading the most laps. And, Long closed out the 2012 season at Kingsport Speedway in the fashion that only the “King of the Concrete Jungle” could with two wins in the seasons longest and best paying races. Long certainly proved that he’ll be the top contender for the title next season as he chases his first Kingsport Speedway championship.

3 – Lee Pulliam
Wow, first Nate Monteith drops to 8th on the FDJ Motorsports Power Rankings and now Lee Pulliam finds himself in an unfamiliar number three position. Taking the season as a whole, certainly no one would argue with him being the number one driver, but taking into consideration first and foremost the last two weekends of racing and the season as a whole last, Pulliam easily finds himself slipping a little. For whatever reason, it seems Pulliam didn’t have a good weekend last weekend in three races, two at Caraway and one at Southern National where he finished second twice and third(Caraway) once. It will probably only be a temporary slip, but it does show that he’s human after all and Late Model Stock Car racing’s “Prince” will certainly return to prominence soon.

2 – Deac McCaskill
With three wins over the last two weekends of racing, it’s kind of hard to argue against Deac McCaskill being one of the top three drivers, albeit I know “fans” will argue the position of almost every driver. McCaskill picked up twin wins two weeks ago and then fended off the challenges of this seasons best driver, Lee Pulliam for a third victory last weekend. Those wins brought his season total at Southern National Motorsports Park to 15 with him having 16 overall including his single trip to victory lane at South Boston Speedway this season.

1 – Tommy Lemons, Jr.
Without researching it, I think this might be the first time in Tommy Lemons, Jr.’s career that he’s found himself on top of the FDJ Motorsports Power Rankings. And, his last three races certainly have shown that he deserves the position atop even the best Late Model Stock Car racers in the business. Lemons has been one of those “best” drivers over the last four seasons, but he’s been so hit or miss, one week he’d win, the next he’d finish seventh and one month he’d be toward the top of the FDJ Motorsports Power Rankings and the next he wouldn’t even make the list. However this season, he’s been more of a mainstay with finishes of first, second or third in most of his starts this season. 18 times in 32 starts he’s finished in the top three this season, so his twin wins on Friday night besting even Lee Pulliam easily boasts him to the top of the board when coupled with his Motor Mile win the weekend before.