Swift Lifestyles Power Rankings - Week 8 (Darlington)

AREA Swift Lifestyles Pro Series
Weekly Power Rankings
Date: 12/6/21
Race 8 – Darlington

Five races to go in the regular season of the inaugural AREA Swift Lifestyles Pro Series (“SLPS”)! We saw a ton of fireworks last week at World Wide Technology Raceway, also known as “Gateway”, with Jordan Herrley stealing a win after a wreck on the backstretch after a green-white-checkered restart.

This week it’s throwback week! The ARCA Gang heads to Darlington to try to conquer the track that is too tough to tame. 100 laps with the lady in black. Be sure to vote for your favorite throwback schemes at areairacing.com/vote! The top four vote-getters will advance to the race in which you can vote on the Twitch stream, coverage beginning at 8:40 p.m. ET with Hunter Sleppy, Jacob Bell and Harold Darner.  

1 - #02, Jordan Herrley
Elwood Designs
Previous Rank: 1st (-)
Last Result: 1st – Gateway

What better way to stay atop the weekly power rankings than to win a race where you didn’t even have the best car? Jordan Herrley got his third win of the season last week at Gateway despite only leading 10 laps. He still has some issues getting onto pit road, but the dude is fast. Fast enough that there have been some rumblings of his YouTube tutorial videos going around, which makes people think – when will the AREA Competition Board invoke Rule 7.4?

2 - #40, Matthew Robinson
JW Racing; Northern Capital/Trak Racer
Previous Rank: 2nd (-)
Last Result: 4th – Gateway

Matthew Robinson was all-world in last week’s race. He led over 80% of the laps, qualified on the pole, and even had the fastest timed lap in the race. Some late race blunders cost him the victory, but he was able to backdoor his way into a Top 5 with a late race caution that he stayed clear through. Herrley versus Robinson. It’s becoming a heavyweight title fight down the stretch.

3 - #83, James Schanewolf
Audible Racing
Previous Rank: 3rd (-)
Last Result: 6th – Gateway

Last week wasn’t the best showing for James Schanewolf, as the #83 was a lap down for the majority of the race after starting with some audio issues. He was able to climb all the way into a sixth place finish, showing that he can finish well even when he’s not at his best. His hold on the third spot in the power rankings is a little loose, however, with a few guys looking to build on some strong finishes and runs behind him looking strong.

4 - #84, Forrest Smith
OneMind2Design Motorsports
Previous Rank: 9th (+5)
Last Result: 3rd – Gateway

Forrest Smith jumps five(!) spots as he finally gets a podium finish at Gateway. He’s always been fast, and he was in the right place at the right time last week as three cars wrecked in front of him during the green-white-checkered finish. But Smith has come on very strong as of late, and has the speed to contend for Top 5 finishes week-in and week-out, and now finds himself #4 in the power rankings.

5 - #1, Trevor Williams
Saloon Door Sports
Previous Rank: 6th (+1)
Last Result: 10th – Gateway

Trevor Williams probably lost the most last week during late race cautions. Before a JJ Wang self-spin with 15 laps to go, Williams was chasing down Robinson and looked to be competitive and potentially strong enough to pass him for the win. Fast forward another caution, and Williams finishes in a disappointing 10th place after being a legitimate contender for the win.

6 - #87, Nick Halda
JW Racing, Trak Racer
Previous Rank: 5th (-1)
Last Result: 12th – Gateway

The #87 of Nick Halda was another victim of the late race cautions last week, but he still remains second in total points and one of the fastest drivers on the SLPS. He’s chugging along.

7 - #19, Rick Christensen
nFinite Gaming
Previous Rank: 4th (-3)
Last Result: 20th - Gateway

Rick Christensen’s bad luck continued last week, being collected in a wreck between two lapped cars that ended his night early. He still has a win on his resume, but a 20th place is good to bump you down a few spots on the power rankings.

8 - #22, Sean Corcoran
Sampsin Motorsports; Northern Capital
Previous Rank: 10th (+2)
Last Result: 2nd – Gateway

Sampsin Motorsports still leads in the points standings - and Sean Corcoran’s second place last week is a big reason why they were able to hold on to first place. It’s his third Top 5 of the season, and if he was able to race in all events this year, he might be a little higher up in the power rankings. Consistency will be key going forward, but the #22 of Corcoran is trending up.

9 - #69 Gary Lewis
OneMind2Design Motorsports
Previous Rank: 11th (+2)
Last Result: 5th – Gateway

The #69 and war-face of Gary Lewis will look to bring the intensity to Darlington tonight. OneMind2Design Motorsports sees now two of its drivers inside the top 10 of the power rankings, and Lewis’ 5th place last week at Gateway was impressive. Can Lewis stay inside the Top 10 in the power rankings after tonight? He’s right on the fringe for the playoffs too, and with five races to go, he’s one to watch for the playoff bubble.

10 – #33 Brian Dixon
Previous Rank: 8th (-2)
Last Result: 8th – Gateway

Brian Dixon’s consistency never ceases to amaze! He’s 3rd in total points now, despite not ever finishing inside the Top 5. Dixon will look to make it three Top 10’s in a row tonight at Darlington.

On The Bubble:

11(-4) - #28, Eli Greene, Swift Lifestyles
12 (+2) – #66, Bobby Tinch, Northern Capital
13 (+3) – #92, Dustin Carroll, vADER Motorsports; Audible
14 (+3) – #21, Dominic DiLeo, Fazekas Motorsports; Eat Sleep Race
15 (-3) – #3, Kevin Haase, Valvoline
16 (-3) – #12, Brandon Hedrick, Fried Pies
17 (-3) – #00, JJ Wang, nFinite Gaming
18 (+3) – #81, Jerimy Horn, vADER Motorsports; Audible
19 (+2) – #55, Adam Capps, Audible Racing
20 (+1) – #34, Rick Ward