A win at the Cotton Classic with the King of the West allowed Tim Kaeding to continue his reign atop the California Sprint & Midget Power Poll for the second consecutive poll.  Kaeding has eight wins and 20 top-fives in his 26 starts in California this season driving for Roth Motorsports.

His nearest rival in the Power Poll had been USAC/CRA points leader Mike Spencer, but Spencer has taken a hit as of late.  After a seond place finish at Perris last week behind Nic Faas, Spencer continues to lead the statistical poll but he ranked just seventh among the media.  With major USAC/CRA events coming up over the next few weeks, Spencer will look to get back to victory lane and higher in the poll.

The cat with three lives is Elk Grove's Kyle Larson, who has worked his way up into second in the Power Poll.  Larson nearly won the King of the West at Hanford over the weekend and also won Friday's Ocean Sprints from 20th on the starting grid.  Larson also leads the NASCAR K&N Pro Series, East points and is in the top-five of the USAC National Midget points in a diverse season for the nation's leading race winner.

2012 King of the West champion Jon Allard has maintained the third position in the poll, while 2012 Silver Dollar Speedway champion Sean Becker slipped a few spots to fourth.  2012 Civil War and Placerville champion Andy Forsberg, who finished third without the wing against USAC at Hanford, dropped to sixth.

Ryan Bernal rejoins at seventh after winning the USAC feature at Hanford and ranks ahead of Kyle Hirst, Tommy Tarlton, and Bud Kaeding.  Tarlton and Kaeding both have had limited appearances as of late, with Kaeding focusing on Silver Crown competition in the MIdwest while Tarlton has yielded his seat to 2011 World of Outlaws champion Jason Meyers.  Kaeding managed to claim the 2012 USAC West Coast 360 championship despite missing the season finale.

Missing the cut yet again is Fremont's Shane Golobic, who won the 101 lap Johnny Soares Classic for USAC and BCRA Midgets last weekend, and followed that up with winning the Ocean Sprints championship this weekend.  Failing to finish the Ocean main event, coupled with a USAC crash at Hanford, kept Golobic out of the top 20 in statistical analysis.

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 other week 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.

October 17, 2012 Standings:

Also nominated: Rico Abreu, Stephen Allard, Nic Faas, Billy Wallace, Greg Decaires, Colby Wiesz, Brody Roa, Brad Furr, Cory Kruseman, Richard Vanderweerd, Brent Kaeding

Note: The statistical analysis takes into account car counts and finishes, but also the ratio of wins, top-fives, top-tens, fast-times, and heat wins as compared to number of starts.  October 17, 2012 Statistical Standings