Compiled by: Langley Austin ~ [email protected]
Photo by: James Price/South Boston Speedway

Copper Hill, VA(March 13, 2012) — WOW … what an opening weekend of racing for the Late Model Stock Car division in Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee.

Three races headlined the Late Model Stock Car divisions opening weekend and when the checkered flag had fallen in all three races, there were a handful of headlines.  Some involved a guy who wasn’t even at a race track this weekend, others involved stellar car counts at Hickory and Kingsport, one surrounded what seemed to be a low car count at South Boston for the $10,000 to win race and others revolved around the players involved in the finish of all three races.

With the first weekend of racing in the books, it’s time for us here at RACE22.com to begin working on a little thing called the FDJ Motorsports Power Rankings.  Frank Deiny, Jr. has been kind enough to return for the third straight year as the title sponsor of the Power Rankings here on RACE22.com with his driver development company, FDJ Motorsports and we’re about as jazzed up about race season as we’ve ever been.

Despite the fact, that we actually have the “Pre-Season” Power Rankings set to be released next week(which was made up before the weekends racing at SoBo, Kport and Hickory), we’re ready to give you a little tease, if you will.  This week we’re debuting a new set of FDJ Motorsports Power Rankings for week one of the season that we’re calling the “Muscle Flexers” edition.  This will give you this weeks power players, the guys who flexed their muscles in the opening weekend of the season and who you should be watching when week two of the season rolls around this weekend.

Take a look at the list below of who I think really flexed their muscles this past weekend and check back next week to see the Pre-Season FDJ Motorsports Power Rankings for the Late Model Stock Car division ….

10 – Dillon Bassett
This kid hasn’t stopped impressing since he first jumped into a Late Model type chassis in the Limited division at Ace Speedway. Last season’s 10 wins in a row maybe just one of million stats on his resume this season in Saturday night’s Hickory Motor Speedway debut was any indication. He started last and drove all the way to a third place finish, besting his Rookie of the Year competitor, Ben Rhodes along the way.

9 – Eddie Johnson
Eddie “Always there at the end” Johnson was once again flexing his muscle at exactly the right time in the Danville Toyota 300 at South Boston Speedway. Many believe that if we had seen a caution late in the going that Eddie Johnson would have been hoisting the trophy instead of CE Falk.

8 – Mike Looney
He might well have finished a dismal 14th and ended his day spun around over in turn number four in the season opener at Kingsport Speedway, but Mike Looney flexed a little muscle along the way. Looney in just his second start on the concrete oval posted the second fastest time in qualifying and kept his car in contention all afternoon until a lapped car spun in front of him and he got spun trying to avoid while running third.

7 – Nick Smith
One of the few young drivers that doesn’t get quite the credit he deserves is Nick Smith. Smith, back driving for veteran car owner, Bob Unczer after parting ways with the team last year has proven that he has the skills to win and run up front everywhere. Unczer once had one of the dominant teams in Late Model Stock Car racing and with Smith behind the wheel he may well get back there again.

6 – Frank Deiny, Jr.
Wait …. I know, I know, some of you who don’t actually understand racing might think that FDJ as Frank Deiny, Jr. is affectionately known as only gets a spot on here because he’s the title sponsor. But, if you had been at South Boston or even paid attention, you would have known that until a mechanical failure plagued his Kiker Motorsports entry, he had the best car in the field. Even after rallying back, he made his presence known to the leaders, all be it around 8-laps down and out of contention.

5 – Josh Wimbish
Josh Wimbish isn’t the Wimbish brother that we’re used to seeing up front and contending for wins, but in Hickory Motor Speedway’s season opening 100-lap race, he was right there all night long while his brother, Grant struggled in the back of the pack. Wimbish even went door to door for the final 15-laps with Austin McDaniel and got the victory by a few feet as he flexed his muscle to get the season started off right.

4 – Zeke Shell
For much of the 60-lap season opening race at Kingsport Speedway, Zeke Shell looked to have the best car in field. He was out front, leading laps and pacing the field the whole way until, Nate Monteith got by him after making it three wide for the lead with a lapped car. Monteith went on to win, but Shell had proven that he had the car to beat as he was out front showing the way.

3 – Austin McDaniel
He might have come up short on the final lap of the 100-lap season opener at Hickory Motor Speedway, but up to that point he had shown that he was the man to beat on “America’s Most Famous Short Track”. McDaniel, who entered his sophomore season on Saturday night after winning three races as a rookie last season, qualified fifth, but he quickly made his way to the point and showed that he was going to be one of the cars to beat this season at Hickory.

2 – Nate Monteith
Nate Monteith qualified on the pole, but was inverted to fifth for the start of the 60-lap season opener at Kingsport Speedway, where he had won the championship the season before on the heels of ten wins. The fifth place start would prove to be a challenge for the veteran Late Model Stock Car driver, but he didn’t get in a hurry and as the laps clicked off he picked the cars in front of him off one by one. In the final laps he made it three wide with a lapped car and leader, Zeke Shell to get his car out front and take the win.

1 – CE Falk III
Despite the fact that Philip Morris wasn’t racing in the season opening Danville Toyota 300 at South Boston Speedway and despite the fact that the car count was off tremendously, CE Falk’s dominance shouldn’t be overlooked. The veteran driver, who is a three time, Langley Speedway champion and winner of several races at South Boston, took the lead midway through the 300-lap race and never looked back. Falk opened the season exactly like he knew he needed to, to compete for the NASCAR National Championship and his home track hasn’t even opened for the season yet.