SnakeX3
12-05-2015, 08:04 PM
For fun, me and Zach51 did our Top 25 Drivers of 2015 last month and what with everyone having such strong opinions about DoD's recently published top drivers list, I figured it would be appropriate for people to post their own lists. Use whatever criteria you like for your list, but base it on 2015 performance. No right or wrong answers on what you decide determines the order of your list. Your list. Your criteria. Have fun with it and let the arguments begin. LOL
Here's my Top 25 list and comments that I sent to Zach, so forgive the personal jokes in the comments. This list is in countdown order...
Honorable Mention: Jesse Stovall
25. Rambo Franklin – Because he’s frickin’ Rambo!!!…and also because won regional series races regularly against the likes of Casey and Fergy. If he had one win in a touring series race I’d feel less like a fan boi putting him in the top 25, but I think I deserve to have one of those in the bunch. LOL!
24 – Jason Feger – Won a Lucas race and some Hell Tour races, but it was that Wehr’s machine commercial that made him a top 25 season pick on my list all on its own. LOL
23 - Dale McDowell – No wins at a touring series race or Crown Jewel event, but he did win some regional series races and was often strong when he raced against top competition.
22 - Darrell Lanigan – If it wasn’t for the way he ran near the very end of the season the only reason to put him on the list might have been out of pity. Still, he did win a couple of WoO races…for what that is worth.
21 – “Hanging” Chad Simpson - 2015 Corn Belt Clash Late Model Series Champ, he was respectable against tough competition claiming a Friday victory at the Knoxville Nationals which gives him super double bonus points on my list since I picked him to win that race in 4Ms KOF Sniper Picks. LOL
20 - Billy Moyer Jr. – He’s always fun to watch and was very competitive and able to win when he was up against guys that I consider his peers…like the guys on Hell Tour in the Midwest and the drivers that run the Southern regional series. If he even had one Lucas regular show win or a couple few WoO wins or won the Hell Tour title I might have put him in the top 15. Coulda happened…didn’t happen. Hopefully next year.
19 – Rick Eckert – Eckert is one of many guys that came to life after a late season chassis switch. Class act, but with only four WoO wins and being unable to run consistently well against top competition, it's tough for me to put him higher than the better regional guys. I mean…the guy finished lower in the points then Chubzilla who didn’t win anything all year. That's the definition of inconsistent.
18 - Mike Marlar – He won a few races, but nothing on the Lucas or WoO tours and no Crown Jewels. Not his best year, but he was always a threat.
17 - Dennis Erb Jr. – Had a Lucas tour win and at least one win on the Hell Tour (might have been two). Like many others he got better after a rough spring/early summer, but he even though he didn’t have a great season he still gets the nod over most of the WoO guys and some non-touring and regional drivers because IMO he could have won gobs of races and maybe given Clanton and company a run for their money for the WoO title if he decided to take a step back.
16 - Shannon Babb – Although his Hell Tour performance wasn’t as dominating as I expected, in the latter half of the season he strung together a pretty darn good run including the win at Batesville. By re-establishing himself down the stretch it gave me more respect for the other top Hell Tour regulars….not enough to give Unzicker an honorable mention, but good enough to give more cred to the season of someone with billet trickery at their disposal. LOL
15 - Bobby Pierce – I don’t even have to look at his results to make a case for putting him in the top 15…he beat Babb on the Hell Tour and if Babb is 16th, then Pierce has to be ahead of him. Obviously he did more than just win the Hell Tour this season, but he had zero wins in Lucas shows, the WoO series or Crown Jewel events. He did have that 2nd in the World 100, so maybe that Pierce Platinum chassis and another year of experience will get him a top level win next season. Hopefully he doesn’t jump ship to NASCAR so we can find out. For now I think he did enough to merit a top 15 rank and I don’t know how I could be overrating him when I’m still ranking him one spot lower than….
14 - Jared Landers – It absolutely pains me to rank him this high. It's not that I don't like the guy. He reminds me a lot of Moyer Jr. because he is so humble and unlike a lot of drivers is quick to take the blame when he doesn't run well. The reason it's so painful for me to rank him in the top 15 because I spent all last season poking fun of his bad driving and unlike Jared, it ain't easy for me to admit I may have made a mistake. Maybe it’s just that the Bloomquist chassis is that good or like Jesse Stovall says about his new Black Diamond that “holy cow...it fits my style”, but he really seemed to take a step forward. You never know. Maybe he just learnt himself something about driving, but I really can’t justify ranking him lower and if I wasn't such a homer he probably should be ranked higher than...
13 - Chris Ferguson – He coulda shoulda been ranked higher simply for humiliating the WoO guys with two wins on back to back nights when they came to our state. Still, even with 11 or so wins until he wins a Lucas race or a Crown Jewel or puts together a stretch of strong performances against top competition a la Chris Madden or Randy Weaver, I just can’t really rank him any higher. I think that day will come, but it wasn’t this day. Someday it will be FERGY TIME!!
12 - Casey Roberts - It was tough for me to decide between Casey and Fergy but since Casey punched out Josh that trumps the two WoO wins that Fergy had. On top of that Casey had two regional titles and 13 wins for the season so he gets the nod over the driver of the 22...and the 2015 DLMR Golden Gloves title. LOL
11 - Chris Madden – Based on how tough I was on others that couldn’t nail down a Lucas race or Crown Jewel, he probably shouldn’t be this high especially since he only ran half a season. But even before taking the summer off he could still run top 5 against tough competition and dominated after he made the switch to Longhorn. \m/
10 - Randy Weaver – He had that hot streak at the start of the season, beat some of them Lucas boys a couple of times in some non-sanctioned races and one Lucas sanctioned race as well. Might have been a bit higher on the list if he ever won a race when he started a feature deeper then 3rd. LOL
9 - Earl Pearson Jr.. – If his season was reversed, putting him this high wouldn’t look so out of place. It seems like race fans have a “what have you done for me lately?” mentality when looking at a driver’s season, but I don’t. He ran better at start the season than Madden did at the end of it and 3 Lucas wins were more than anyone not named Moyer, Bloomquist or Davenport. He ranks no higher though because the Lucas points do a good job of illustrating how weak he was after July.
8 - Casey's Punching Bag – I'm not particularly fond of the way he races.
7 - Don O’Neal – Only one win for O’Neal after 2014 was a surprise. Considering Francis couldn’t do any better in the same stuff and that he runs in the premier touring division, I’m comfortable slotting him 7th.
6 - Brandon Sheppard – Great season for B-Shep. That’s the type of season and level of competition that makes the title of Rookie of the Year mean something. Taking over the title from Jason Hughes adds so much prestige to the Lucas Oil series that they should have been paying him a salary just to assure a young talented driver won the award. I mean…Chris Brown would have still been an upgrade over 2014, but even though Shep was far from being a rookie in DLM racing running as well as he did at his age in the top series in the country is what the title of Rookie of the Year was meant to be.
5 - Shane Clanton – I like Shane and I’m glad he finally won a national touring title. Granted, 12 of his 14 wins were whipping up on weaker competition including a weekly race, an unsanctioned race that he ran because it was near his in-laws house and 10 WoO races, but no matter who you run against winning 14 races in a season is no small accomplishment…especially for a guy suffering from hydrocephalus. LOL! And he did win a Southern Nationals race and also that one Ultimate series race in May that had a lot of them Lucas boys runnin’ it and paid $20k to win. So good for him. I’m glad he had one big pay day. I mean that $100k check he got at the end of the year is great and all, but you’d figure the winningest guy on such a prestigious tour wouldn’t be collecting his biggest check in an Ultimate series race.
4 - Billy Moyer Sr. – This one may be a bit sketchy. I was gonna put Clanton 4th because I really had a tough time putting a non-touring driver in the Top 5 when he didn’t win a Crown Jewel. Despite that fact, when I look at the number of races he ran, the distances he traveled and that he won 3 Lucas races early on and had 9 other wins in series like WoO and on the Hell Tour that was a pretty rigorous schedule. I really think his season was under-rated by most people.
3 - Jimmy Owens – Not much need to justify the top 3 slots. Much like O’Neal, he didn’t have the best season and everyone has an off year now and again. Still, it was a solid season for The O Show.
2 - Scott Bloomquist – even with that extra 25lbs I don’t think he would have deserved the #1 spot. This season was all……
1 - Jonathan Davenport – Not much to say about his season that hasn't been said already. With a new engine in that toterhome next year, the sky’s the limit for Superman.
Here's my Top 25 list and comments that I sent to Zach, so forgive the personal jokes in the comments. This list is in countdown order...
Honorable Mention: Jesse Stovall
25. Rambo Franklin – Because he’s frickin’ Rambo!!!…and also because won regional series races regularly against the likes of Casey and Fergy. If he had one win in a touring series race I’d feel less like a fan boi putting him in the top 25, but I think I deserve to have one of those in the bunch. LOL!
24 – Jason Feger – Won a Lucas race and some Hell Tour races, but it was that Wehr’s machine commercial that made him a top 25 season pick on my list all on its own. LOL
23 - Dale McDowell – No wins at a touring series race or Crown Jewel event, but he did win some regional series races and was often strong when he raced against top competition.
22 - Darrell Lanigan – If it wasn’t for the way he ran near the very end of the season the only reason to put him on the list might have been out of pity. Still, he did win a couple of WoO races…for what that is worth.
21 – “Hanging” Chad Simpson - 2015 Corn Belt Clash Late Model Series Champ, he was respectable against tough competition claiming a Friday victory at the Knoxville Nationals which gives him super double bonus points on my list since I picked him to win that race in 4Ms KOF Sniper Picks. LOL
20 - Billy Moyer Jr. – He’s always fun to watch and was very competitive and able to win when he was up against guys that I consider his peers…like the guys on Hell Tour in the Midwest and the drivers that run the Southern regional series. If he even had one Lucas regular show win or a couple few WoO wins or won the Hell Tour title I might have put him in the top 15. Coulda happened…didn’t happen. Hopefully next year.
19 – Rick Eckert – Eckert is one of many guys that came to life after a late season chassis switch. Class act, but with only four WoO wins and being unable to run consistently well against top competition, it's tough for me to put him higher than the better regional guys. I mean…the guy finished lower in the points then Chubzilla who didn’t win anything all year. That's the definition of inconsistent.
18 - Mike Marlar – He won a few races, but nothing on the Lucas or WoO tours and no Crown Jewels. Not his best year, but he was always a threat.
17 - Dennis Erb Jr. – Had a Lucas tour win and at least one win on the Hell Tour (might have been two). Like many others he got better after a rough spring/early summer, but he even though he didn’t have a great season he still gets the nod over most of the WoO guys and some non-touring and regional drivers because IMO he could have won gobs of races and maybe given Clanton and company a run for their money for the WoO title if he decided to take a step back.
16 - Shannon Babb – Although his Hell Tour performance wasn’t as dominating as I expected, in the latter half of the season he strung together a pretty darn good run including the win at Batesville. By re-establishing himself down the stretch it gave me more respect for the other top Hell Tour regulars….not enough to give Unzicker an honorable mention, but good enough to give more cred to the season of someone with billet trickery at their disposal. LOL
15 - Bobby Pierce – I don’t even have to look at his results to make a case for putting him in the top 15…he beat Babb on the Hell Tour and if Babb is 16th, then Pierce has to be ahead of him. Obviously he did more than just win the Hell Tour this season, but he had zero wins in Lucas shows, the WoO series or Crown Jewel events. He did have that 2nd in the World 100, so maybe that Pierce Platinum chassis and another year of experience will get him a top level win next season. Hopefully he doesn’t jump ship to NASCAR so we can find out. For now I think he did enough to merit a top 15 rank and I don’t know how I could be overrating him when I’m still ranking him one spot lower than….
14 - Jared Landers – It absolutely pains me to rank him this high. It's not that I don't like the guy. He reminds me a lot of Moyer Jr. because he is so humble and unlike a lot of drivers is quick to take the blame when he doesn't run well. The reason it's so painful for me to rank him in the top 15 because I spent all last season poking fun of his bad driving and unlike Jared, it ain't easy for me to admit I may have made a mistake. Maybe it’s just that the Bloomquist chassis is that good or like Jesse Stovall says about his new Black Diamond that “holy cow...it fits my style”, but he really seemed to take a step forward. You never know. Maybe he just learnt himself something about driving, but I really can’t justify ranking him lower and if I wasn't such a homer he probably should be ranked higher than...
13 - Chris Ferguson – He coulda shoulda been ranked higher simply for humiliating the WoO guys with two wins on back to back nights when they came to our state. Still, even with 11 or so wins until he wins a Lucas race or a Crown Jewel or puts together a stretch of strong performances against top competition a la Chris Madden or Randy Weaver, I just can’t really rank him any higher. I think that day will come, but it wasn’t this day. Someday it will be FERGY TIME!!
12 - Casey Roberts - It was tough for me to decide between Casey and Fergy but since Casey punched out Josh that trumps the two WoO wins that Fergy had. On top of that Casey had two regional titles and 13 wins for the season so he gets the nod over the driver of the 22...and the 2015 DLMR Golden Gloves title. LOL
11 - Chris Madden – Based on how tough I was on others that couldn’t nail down a Lucas race or Crown Jewel, he probably shouldn’t be this high especially since he only ran half a season. But even before taking the summer off he could still run top 5 against tough competition and dominated after he made the switch to Longhorn. \m/
10 - Randy Weaver – He had that hot streak at the start of the season, beat some of them Lucas boys a couple of times in some non-sanctioned races and one Lucas sanctioned race as well. Might have been a bit higher on the list if he ever won a race when he started a feature deeper then 3rd. LOL
9 - Earl Pearson Jr.. – If his season was reversed, putting him this high wouldn’t look so out of place. It seems like race fans have a “what have you done for me lately?” mentality when looking at a driver’s season, but I don’t. He ran better at start the season than Madden did at the end of it and 3 Lucas wins were more than anyone not named Moyer, Bloomquist or Davenport. He ranks no higher though because the Lucas points do a good job of illustrating how weak he was after July.
8 - Casey's Punching Bag – I'm not particularly fond of the way he races.
7 - Don O’Neal – Only one win for O’Neal after 2014 was a surprise. Considering Francis couldn’t do any better in the same stuff and that he runs in the premier touring division, I’m comfortable slotting him 7th.
6 - Brandon Sheppard – Great season for B-Shep. That’s the type of season and level of competition that makes the title of Rookie of the Year mean something. Taking over the title from Jason Hughes adds so much prestige to the Lucas Oil series that they should have been paying him a salary just to assure a young talented driver won the award. I mean…Chris Brown would have still been an upgrade over 2014, but even though Shep was far from being a rookie in DLM racing running as well as he did at his age in the top series in the country is what the title of Rookie of the Year was meant to be.
5 - Shane Clanton – I like Shane and I’m glad he finally won a national touring title. Granted, 12 of his 14 wins were whipping up on weaker competition including a weekly race, an unsanctioned race that he ran because it was near his in-laws house and 10 WoO races, but no matter who you run against winning 14 races in a season is no small accomplishment…especially for a guy suffering from hydrocephalus. LOL! And he did win a Southern Nationals race and also that one Ultimate series race in May that had a lot of them Lucas boys runnin’ it and paid $20k to win. So good for him. I’m glad he had one big pay day. I mean that $100k check he got at the end of the year is great and all, but you’d figure the winningest guy on such a prestigious tour wouldn’t be collecting his biggest check in an Ultimate series race.
4 - Billy Moyer Sr. – This one may be a bit sketchy. I was gonna put Clanton 4th because I really had a tough time putting a non-touring driver in the Top 5 when he didn’t win a Crown Jewel. Despite that fact, when I look at the number of races he ran, the distances he traveled and that he won 3 Lucas races early on and had 9 other wins in series like WoO and on the Hell Tour that was a pretty rigorous schedule. I really think his season was under-rated by most people.
3 - Jimmy Owens – Not much need to justify the top 3 slots. Much like O’Neal, he didn’t have the best season and everyone has an off year now and again. Still, it was a solid season for The O Show.
2 - Scott Bloomquist – even with that extra 25lbs I don’t think he would have deserved the #1 spot. This season was all……
1 - Jonathan Davenport – Not much to say about his season that hasn't been said already. With a new engine in that toterhome next year, the sky’s the limit for Superman.