HomeDirt Late Model NewsMike Ruefer’s Super Late Model Performance Ranking “Top 100” November 2020 “Final...

Mike Ruefer’s Super Late Model Performance Ranking “Top 100” November 2020 “Final Edition”

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Brandon Sheppard charges to his 17th Top-5 of the season on Saturday at Smoky Mountain Speedway (Michael Moats / MRMRacingPhotos.net)

What a long strange trip this year has been my friends. Finally it’s almost great-fully over. Before long we can plan out our new adventures in 2021 and hopefully without all the hysterical drama that played out before our eyes this past season.

Many accolades and wholehearted appreciation go out to everyone in the Dirt Late Model sport to make it a roaring success even though many politicians tried their best to hold us back. I think we found our inner strength to persevere and have the best racing season we could all have.

Without further ado I might as well just jump right into my highlight of the Top 10.

The Best of the Best this year and all season long is #1 Rocket and Brandon Sheppard. From the sands of Arizona to the shores of Carolina and all points between he proved once again that he is the best and with the best team in Dirt Late Model Racing. Congratulations!

Our second place finisher is no slouch either. Jimmy Owens carried the Orange Spoiler in Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series and proved once again that Nightmares are real and hard to get rid of.

The best Victory Lane in America goes to Tim McCreadie, our thirds place finisher. T-Mac had a great year and brought a level of consistency to his roof pounding excitement.

If I can toot my own horn for a minute. The one of many things I like about the formula that’s used in the SLMP ranking is the opportunity to showcase regional drivers that have a very good year. Weekly and Regional Series racing is the heart and soul of the sport and the next three drivers show staying close to home can be very successful.

Coming in at #4 is Max Blair the Best in Pennsylvania. Year after Max gets it done. Next is #5 Travis Stemler the Michigan Hot Rod who makes a splash in the ranking with his highest finish ever. Next at #6 is Zack Dohm who is force to recon with wherever he races. Folks, these three drivers did a fantastic job!

The next three drivers are current stars and their futures will continue to be bright. Brandon Overton is one of the winningest drivers in the sport and finished in 7th. Ricky Weiss calls the lower 48 home during racing season and is one of the most consistent drivers you can find. He lands in 8th. Josh Richards has been on the biggest stage and is one of our biggest stars. He worked his way into the Top 10 and drove consistently to stay there and finished in 9th.

Last but not least is Dale McDowell. I love it when the older guys still teach the young guns a thing or two. Dale had another great year to go along with his Hall of Fame Career.

Folks, that’s enough for the trip this year. You can scroll through the rest and find your name or favorite driver. Agree or disagree but I can tell you there is no fuzzy math, just a complex Excel Spreadsheet that’s prone to human error. Just kidding. I actually take this real seriously. One little tidbit that I find interesting is the Top 10 drivers accounted for 116 Feature wins. According to the Great Coach Vince Lombardi, “Winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing.” It pays the bills anyway.

The final event qualifier number for the year remained at 15 features. Since we lost most of March, all of April and didn’t get back going till May, I think 15 is a fair number for qualification. 150 drivers have met this threshold. All results are tracked via DirtonDirt. Without them and their attention to detail because they’re the best, I couldn’t do this and have this much fun.

With 1308 drivers tracked since January 1st, here is the Super Late Model Performance Ranking “Top 100” for November and final edition. It’s a strong list of the “Best of the Best” from around the country.

1          Brandon Sheppard

2          Jimmy Owens

3          Tim McCreadie

4          Max Blair

5          Travis Stemler

6          Zack Dohm

7          Brandon Overton

8          Ricky Weiss

9          Josh Richards

10        Dale McDowell

11        Ross Bailes

12        Jonathan Davenport

13        Ricky Thornton Jr.

14        Brian Shirley

15        Chris Madden

16        Bobby Pierce

17        Jason Feger

18        Tyler Erb

19        Michael Norris

20        Jared Miley

21        Shannon Babb

22        Gregg Satterlee

23        Shane Clanton

24        Ryan Unzicker

25        Jesse Stovall

26        Billy Moyer

27        Spencer Hughes

28        Frank Heckenast Jr.

29        Cade Dillard

30        Mike Marlar

31        Dennis Erb Jr.

32        Freddie Carpenter

33        Jimmy Mars

34        Devin Moran

35        Tyler Carpenter

36        Sam Seawright

37        Kyle Bronson

38        Kyle Strickler

39        Timothy Culp

40        Mason Zeigler

41        Tanner English

42        Payton Looney

43        Rick Eckert

44        Chris Ferguson

45        Ryan Gustin

46        B.J. Robinson

47        Kent Robinson

48        Chase Junghans

49        Donald McIntosh

50        Colten Burdette

51        Kyle Beard

52        Josh Rice

53        Cory Hedgecock

54        Darrell Lanigan

55        Steve Casebolt

56        Rusty Schlenk

57        Logan Martin

58        Chad Thrash

59        Chad Simpson

60        Michael Arnold

61        Michael Page

62        Tony Jackson Jr.

63        Gordy Gundaker

64        Jeremiah Hurst

65        Billy Moyer Jr.

66        Morgan Bagley

67        Ryan King

68        Mason Oberkramer

69        Ashton Winger

70        Devin Gilpin

71        Chad Finley

72        Earl Pearson Jr.

73        Tim Manville

74        Dan Stone

75        Johnny Scott

76        Josh Putnam

77        Cody Bauer

78        Chris Simpson

79        Hudson O’Neal

80        Wyatt Scott

81        David Scott

82        Jon Mitchell

83        Dustin Linville

84        Garrett Alberson

85        Shanon Buckingham

86        Ross Robinson

87        Neil Baggett

88        Terry Phillips

89        Scott Bloomquist

90        Mark Whitener

91        Dylan Yoder

92        Zack Mitchell

93        Steven Roberts

94        Scott James

95        Matt Cosner

96        Logan Roberson

97        Jason Covert

98        Rick Rickman

99        Michael Brown

100      Kyle Hardy

What is the Super Late Model Performance Ranking? The SLM Performance Ranking has its origins from the A-Team Ranking developed by Sam Holbrooks in 1996 and printed in “Behind the Wheel” and Late Model America.” The SLM Performance Ranking is a national ranking for Open Motor events that pay a minimum $2000 to win. Each driver who makes a feature event will earn a mathematical formula based rate built on performance, competition and durability. The final ranking is based on rate and logic rules that reward racing more. Nothing in the rate, rank or logic is subjective. It’s just all numbers, math and rules. The SLM Performance Ranking isn’t about who is best but who is having the best year. If you think that makes the driver “The Best” that’s ok with me.

 

Mike Ruefer

Photographer & Writer

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