July Power Rankings: Top 10 Pavement Drivers
July 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 July.
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 July, 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 July.
1 . William Byron (Previous Rank: 2nd)
The Hendrick Motorsports driver in the NASCAR Cup Series has been the dominant force in Super Late Model racing this year, with multiple wins during the World Series of Asphalt at New Smyrna Speedway, a win at the historic Nashville Fairgrounds, and a victory in the Money in the Bank 150 at Berlin Raceway over Bubba Pollard and Ty Majeski back in June. In July he added another big Super Late Model victory to his stellar resume by winning the Slinger Nationals at Wisconsin’s Slinger Speedway. He also finished second at the Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park to fellow Cup driver Erik Jones to finish off the month of July.
2. Sammy Smith (Previous Rank: 5th)
The Iowa driver has put up incredible numbers all year long across the ARCA Menards Series and ARCA Menards Series East, with five wins across both divisions. Smith also scored a Super Late Model victory during the World Series of Asphalt at New Smyrna Speedway back in February. But in July he scored a win in one of the most historic Super Late Model races, the Redbud 400 at Indiana’s Anderson Speedway.
3. Matt Hirschman (Previous Rank: 1st)
The Northampton, Pennsylvania Modified ace started off the year as the hottest driver in all of pavement racing, regardless of the discipline. His winning ways have curtailed a little bit, but he’s still finding his way to victory lane with a frequency that would make just about any driver jealous. Hirschman scored two victories in the month of July at Pennsylvania’s Mahoning Valley Speedway and Evergreen Raceway. He also finished second in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event at New Jersey’s Wall Stadium and finished fourth in the NWMT event at the Claremont Motorsports Park.
4. William Sawalich (Previous Rank: Unranked)
At just 15 year old, Sawalich has been lighting the pavement Late Model world on fire over the last couple of months. The young Eden Prairie, Minnesota hotshoe has at least five victories in 2022, including in a Super Late Model with the Southern Super Series, one of which came at the home of the Snowball Derby, Pensacola, Florida’s Five Flags Speedway on July 23rd. Sawalich also just scored a Pro Late Model victory at Hickory Motor Speedway this past weekend, and he finished second in the Redbud 400 to Sammy Smith.
5. Layne Riggs (Previous Rank: 4th)
The second generation driver has 13 wins so far this season, and continues to lead the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series national championship points standings. Riggs scored his 13th win of the year this past weekend at Virginia’s Dominion Raceway. Oh, and that came 24 hours after scoring a top-10 finish in his NASCAR Camping World Trucks Series debut at the Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.
6. Preston Peltier (Previous Rank: Unranked)
The veteran Super Late Model driver who now calls Colorado home added to his already stellar resume at the biggest Super Late Model race west of the Rockies. Peltier won the $25,000 Summer Showdown 200 at Monroe, Washington’s Evergreen Speedway over Derek Thorn. What’s more impressive is that the victory is Peltier’s fourth win in this race. No other driver even has two wins in this race’s 10-year history.
7. Jason Corliss – (Previous Rank: Unranked)
The Danville, Vermont native doesn’t race as much as he used to, or as much as every other driver on this list, but when he does race he typically wins. Especially in the Vermont Governor’s Cup 150 at the Thunder Road Speedbowl, his home race track. Corliss dominated the 150-lap race that featured 2012 NASCAR Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski. The victory is the third in a row for Corliss in the Vermont Governor’s Cup.
8. Jared Fryar – (Previous Rank: Unranked)
The Trinity, North Carolina driver absolutely dominated the second half of the Hampton Heat 200 at Virginia’s Langley Speedway a couple of weeks ago to score the victory. The win propelled him to third-place in the Virginia Late Model Stock Car Triple Crown standings, a title he can win at Martinsville Speedway in September.
9. Erik Jones – (Previous Rank: Unranked)
The Byron, Michigan native scored a big win in an ARCA/CRA Super Series race at the legendary Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in a Super Late Model this past weekend. The Petty GMS Motorsports driver in the NASCAR Cup Series beat fellow Cup driver William Byron to score the victory.
10. Casey Call – (Previous Rank: Unranked)
Call was a relatively unknown name until the middle of July when he scored his first Super Late Model victory with the Granite State Pro Stock Series at New Hampshire’s Lee USA Speedway. Getting his first win was cool enough, but the Pembroke, New Hampshire driver did so in a fashion he’ll never forget. Call beat Tyler Reddick, a two-time NASCAR Cup Series winner this year, in a photo-finish to grab the checkered flag. Call also added another Pro Stock victory this past weekend by winning the first of two 40-lap races at Lee USA Speedway.
