Steven Blakesley
ELK GROVE, CALIFORNIA (June 19, 2012) – As the summer temperatures have heated up, so has the California Sprint & Midget Power Poll on StevenBlakesley.com Thanks in large part to his win on Friday night in the USAC/CRA feature at Ocean Speedway and Bud Kaeding taking the weekend off, USAC/CRA points leader Mike Spencer assumes the top spot in the poll for the first time.
Spencer has led the statistical portion of the Power Poll throughout 2012 but finally earned respect with the media with his furthest trip north this season. The win at Ocean Speedway came against 27 cars in the pits. Spencer passed fellow top-10 driver in the poll Ryan Bernal for the win.
Bud Kaeding tied his brother Tim for the 2nd position on the poll but won the tie-breaker based on earning three first place votes from the five voters on the panel. Tim Kaeding is third after being the high point driver in the rained out Skagit Dirt Cup.
New to the poll is Stephen Allard (8th), who scored points with our panel after winning the Civil War race at Quincy on Saturday night, along with a second place finish at Chico on Friday, and a Placerville win the week before. Perhaps the biggest surprise is Kyle Larson leaning on his season-long statistical points to crack the top-10 despite not appearing on any media ballots or racing in California since May.
Just missing the cut is Tommy Tarlton who has two Ocean Sprints victories and one Rebel Cup win in 11 starts in 2012.
About the CA Sprint Car & Midget Power Poll:
Eligible drivers come from any injected winged or non-wing Sprint Car division in the state along with full Midgets as well.
The poll includes top-ten lists from various media members including site editor Steven Blakesley, photographer Chris Cleveland, announcers Troy Henning, Ron Lingron, and Bill Sullivan, King of the West PR guru Gary Thomas, and driver PR specialist PJ Petersen. A statistical analysis of California racing stats by Jeff Bye, Jr. is combined with the media poll to create a current picture of the top-10 drivers in the state.
Power polls will be released every first and third Tuesday throughout the racing season until the first week of December, when StevenBlakesley.com will crown a California Sprint & Midget Power Poll” champion for the season.
To view this week’s top-10, visit http://www.stevenblakesley.com