Mike Spencer survived a brutal onslaught of votes for Tim Kaeding and Kyle Larson to continue to top the California Sprint & Midget Power Poll for another week.  Spencer won Saturday's Perris Auto Speedway USAC/CRA feature for his eighth win of 2012, and leads the power poll by just one point ahead of Kyle Larson and was only two points up on Tim Kaeding in our most hotly contested poll yet.

Larson finds himself back onto the poll in the second position thanks to a strong showing during the Gold Cup Race of Champions.  In six main events, Larson won three of them including the USAC Western Sprints, Civil War Sprints, and the $20,000 Gold Cup finale on Saturday night September 8.  Larson ranked first among the media panel and is third in the statistical category with six wins and ten top-fives in 17 starts.

Tim Kaeding ranks third in the poll after second and third place finishes in the Gold Cup preliminaries.  Andy Forsberg's win at Petaluma leapfrogged him ahead of Tommy Tarlton, who picked up a win against an all-star Rebel Cup field at Hanford.  Bud Kaeding used a critical win at Hanford with the USAC West Coast 360s to gain three positions in the poll despite a poor showing with the USAC/CRA at Perris.

The panel was hardest on Kyle Hirst and Stephen Allard.  Hirst has fallen to ninth place despite finishing in the top-11 in all three nights of the Gold Cup.  Hirst's 18th place effort with the Civil War at Petaluma may have done him in.  Stephen Allard failed to transfer out of the B in the Civil War event at Petaluma and fell to tenth on the Power Poll.

Narrowly missing the poll is Sean "The Shark" Becker who was perhaps the most impressive local during Gold Cup with a preliminary win and a third place finish in the Saturday feature.  Becker had to transfer out of the B main in the Civil War at Petaluma, however, and finished 22nd in the feature.

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.

September 19, 2012 Standings:

Also nominated: Rico Abreu, Shane Golobic, Billy Wallace, Nic Faas, Greg Decaires, Colby Wiesz, Cory Kruseman, Brody Roa, Brent Kaeding, Richard Vanderweerd, and Mason Moore.

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.  September 19, 2012 Statistical Standings