June Power Rankings: Top 10 Pavement Drivers
June Power Rankings: Top 10 Pavement Drivers
FloRacing ranks which drivers flexed their muscles and showed some power throughout the pavement racing world during the month of June.
With FloRacing becoming the new home for pavement racing across North America, we knew we needed to have a way to rank the best of the best across all of the disciplines. With so much racing across Late Models, Stock Cars and Modifieds, nailing down the 10 best drivers might be a challenge, but we figure we are up to the task.
But first, we want to explain what qualified a driver to make this exclusive list. This list is based primarily off of each driver’s accomplishments in the month of June, but there’s also some emphasis placed on what they’ve done up to this point so far this year. And so, without further delay, here are the FloRacing Pavement Power Rankings for June.
1. Matt Hirschman (Previous Rank: 1st)
Hirschman’s kept the wins coming during the month of June. "Big Money" collected a pair of wins at Mahoning Valley Speedway and a win at Evergreen Speedway before ending the month with his fifth Open Wheel Wednesday win at Seekonk Speedway. He also scored a controversial second-place finish in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event at New Hampshire’s Monadnock Speedway. One can argue that Hirschman would have won that race before he had a run-in with JB Fortin while he was putting Fortin a lap down.
Interview: Matt Hirschman Left Frustrated Over Incident With JB Fortin at Monadnock
2. William Byron (Previous Rank: 5th)
The Hendrick Motorsports driver picked up another victory in what has already been a career year across all disciplines of racing. Byron absolutely dominated the Money in the Bank 150 at Berlin Raceway earlier this month, beating Bubba Pollard and Ty Majeski in what was a stacked field of talent throughout.
Interview: William Byron Wins The Money in the Bank 150 at Berlin Raceway
3. Bubba Pollard (Previous Rank: 3rd)
Previously, Pollard was ranked third on the list, and his accomplishments in June are definitely enough to keep him there. Pollard finished second to William Byron at Berlin Raceway’s Money in the Bank in an absolutely stacked field, and then he went and finished second in the Superstar Racing Experience season-opener at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida. His second-place result is the best finish for any of the “local heroes” since Doug Coby won the inaugural race last season.
Interview: Bubba Pollard One Spot Short In Money in the Bank 150 at Berlin Raceway
4. Layne Riggs (Previous Rank: 2nd)
The second-generation driver won a bunch of races at South Boston Speedway earlier in the season and has tailed off a little bit since then. However, he made it clear that he was going to be a contender for the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series national championship, and he’s living up to that. If anybody thought Riggs was going to fall away, he definitely hasn’t done that. Instead, Riggs has maintained his lead in the national standings over Peyton Sellers.
Interview: Layne Riggs Taking National Title Fight To Peyton Sellers' Playground
5. Sammy Smith (Previous Rank: 8th)
It took a while for Sammy Smith to break into victory lane in the national ARCA Menards Series before finally getting the win at Berlin Raceway. Smith backed that up with a dominating performance at Minnesota’s Elko Speedway. Smith now has five wins in ARCA Menards competition across the East series and the national series, and he continues to lead the points in the ARCA Menards Series East.
Highlights: ARCA Menards Series at Elko Speedway
6. Joey Doiron (Previous Rank: Unranked)
New to the power rankings this month is Maine native Joey Doiron who had a very powerful month of June. Doiron won a Pro All-Stars Series race at Oxford Plains Speedway that featured a 40-car Super Late Model field. He then finished second in a Granite State Pro Stocks Series race at Monadnock Speedway, and going back to May he won a GSPSS race at Lee USA Speedway in New Hampshire.
Joey Doiron Leads the Granite State Pro Stock Series Field
7. Marc-Antoine Camirand (Previous Rank: Unranked)
This name might not be a familiar one to many of our readers, but it’s about time you learn it. Camirand is from Quebec and races with the NASCAR Pinty’s Series, Canada’s premier stock car racing series. In the two races the Pinty’s Series ran in June, Camirand had an average finish of 1.5. He finished second at Autodrome Chaudiere and then finally scored the win at Nova Scotia’s Eastbound International Speedway. Camirand now leads the points by 10.
Highlights: NASCAR Pinty's Series at Eastbound International Speedway
8. Bryan Narducci (Previous Rank: Unranked)
When it comes to weekly pavement racing, it’s hard to find a better division than the SK Modifieds at Stafford Motor Speedway. Bryan Narducci was by far the strongest driver in that field throughout the month of June. Stafford ran four races in June and Narducci had finishes of first, second and third. Narducci had another second-place run, but he was disqualified from that finish for an infraction in post-race technical inspection.
Full Replay: Weekly Racing at Stafford Motor Speedway - June 10, 2022
9. Stephen Donahue (Previous Rank: Unranked)
Vermont’s Stephen Donahue is another name that might be unknown to many. Donahue races Late Models at Vermont’s Thunder Road International Speedbowl where he won the Memorial Day Classic and also won a 50-lap showdown on June 24.
Stephen Donahue takes the checkered flag following a win at Vermont's Thunder Road International Speedbowl
10. Kyle Soper (Previous Rank: Unranked)
Kyle Soper is a multi-time NASCAR Modified division champion at Long Island’s Riverhead Raceway, but this month he pulled off the most powerful feat of any weekly competitor at Riverhead in a very long time. Soper passed Justin Bonsignore to win the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race at Riverhead, the first time a weekly competitor had scored a NWMT win at Riverhead in 27 years. Eddie Brunnhoelzl Jr. was the last driver to beat the NASCAR invaders in 1995 before Soper pulled it off.
