Compiled by: Langley Austin ~ [email protected]

Copper Hill, VA(June 29, 2012) — Alright here goes with a three-week edition of the FDJ Motorsports Power Rankings for Late Model Stock Car drivers.

Quite a bit of moving and shaking, so lets get to it.

Honorable Mentions ….

Michael Rouse
It’s hard to think that the driver, who stole the bounty money from Deac McCaskill at Southern National Motorsports Park wouldn’t make the top 10 list for this edition, but the truth is, Michael Rouse’s performances outside of that race haven’t been as good. However, he’s known for stepping up when everything’s on the line and might just put himself back in victory lane next week when the track holds a special 200-lap race.

Sam Yarborough
Most people thought that his career was dead and gone as after winning the Myrtle Beach 250 a few years back, he disappeared. Now with Myrtle Beach Speedway under new management and having a resurgence of their own, so too is Sam Yarborough. The young driver, who is a veteran on the big track in Myrtle Beach, SC picked up his first win of the season on Saturday, June 23rd, stopping a three race win streak by Justin Milliken.

10 – Lance Gatlin
Yeah, I know most of you didn’t even know that Lonesome Pine Raceway was still racing and even further, I’m sure you didn’t know that Lance Gatlin has been dominating every show up there. He has six wins to date and has a bounty on his head for anyone that can come to Coeburn, VA and beat him. He’s also chasing the ASA National Points Championship and for all that we had to squeeze him into the list.

9 – Frank Deiny, Jr.
Ole FDJ, as he’s known finally broke back into victory lane at Motor Mile Speedway, but like last seasons lone victory it wasn’t without a little controversy. Deiny made contact with Lee Pulliam, who was leading and started a chain reaction crash with Derrick Lancaster and others. That left Deiny at the head of the field as he took his first win of the season. Ninth isn’t where he wants to be, but the veteran driver has the potential to get himself further up the list.

8 – Justin Milliken
With three wins in a row at Myrtle Beach Speedway, Justin Milliken is as on top of his game as he has been in recent years and looks to be the top contender for the championship on the coastal track. Milliken looked unbeatable in a recent trip to Myrtle Beach for RACE22.com, but just last week Sam Yarborough knocked him off his perch. We’ll see how the rest of the races upcoming play out to see if he keeps himself among the top ten.

7 – Keith Bumgarner
Keith Bumgarner has kinda been a guy we’ve ignored this season at Hickory Motor Speedway. Winning only one race in the months of March and April, but starting with the last weekend in May, he’s now won three of the last four races on the historic Newton, NC track. Bumgarner is a veteran, who has only recently started racing full time again, but with the success he’s having lately, he might be able to keep himself being talked about.

6 – Adam Long
Adam Long had a long road to getting his first win in Late Model Stock Car racing, because unlike many in the division, he didn’t cherry pick races, instead he went head to head with the best in the business at Motor Mile Speedway and in the UARA-STARS Series. Recently he’s found a new home in Kingsport Speedway and after two second place finishes and a fourth place effort in his first three races on the 3/8 mile concrete track, he burst into victory lane on June 8th. After he got his first victory he backed that up with dominating the last two races, only to be run over in the closing laps, while racing for the lead.

5 – Tommy Lemons, Jr.
Tommy Lemons, Jr. has had an on again off again affair with good luck and it’s been off way more often than it’s been on. In the last two seasons he had accumulated exactly one win, in his first start of 2010 and that last time he’d won at his unofficial home track of Motor Mile Speedway was June 2009. After winning the pole for the last two races straight, Lemons got a little luck, first he thought it was bad, then it turned good when he was supposed to start on the pole and was forced to start last after a pace laps pit stop. That all turned to good fortune when the front row crashed on lap two and he outdueled, Lee Pulliam for the win last weekend.

4 – CE Falk III
Despite a bad weekend at Southern National Motorsports Park last week, CE Falk III has continued to have a great season. He picked up his second win of the season at South Boston and seventh win overall last week. His reign over Langley Speedway has continued as well despite his disqualification a few weeks ago.

3 – Deac McCaskill
With ten wins on the season at Southern National Motorsports Park and 11 overall(one at South Boston), Deac McCaskill has easily been one of the hottest drivers in Late Model Stock Car racing. The veteran driver has owned SNMP since the track reopened in March and looks to be on his way to the championship there. His biggest test of the season will likely come this weekend as he’s expected to try his hand at Motor Mile Speedway, the track with the most car count and competition of any other.

2 – Lee Pulliam
Despite getting off to a late start this season, Lee Pulliam is proving that he can get the job done in Late Model Stock Car racing. He’s entered 14 races and picked up wins in seven of them … not Lee’s 2011 stats, but not too bad considering he was suspended from the first part of the season. He’s also climbed into contention for the NASCAR National Title, sitting ninth currently, less than 100 points out of the lead. He would easily be #1 on this list, if not for the fact that he has yet to prove that he can beat the #1 driver on this list.

1 – Nate Monteith
I hear people all the time talk about how Nate Monteith isn’t as good as all the hype … they call him a one track jack and all kinds of other things and while he may only be dominating Kingsport Speedway right now ask some of his competitors how good he is there. Ask Lee Pulliam … Ask Adam Long … Ask Daniel Pope II. Ask anyone who’s watched him this season and they’ll tell you he’s at the top of his game, at least at Kingsport. However to stay at the top of this list, he’ll have to perform on trips to Motor Mile and other NWAAS tracks and he might just get his first shot on Saturday, as he’s expected to compete at Motor Mile.