Five races into Season 2, the first AARN Truck Series Power Rankings are here.
The standings matter, but they aren’t the whole story. Wins, consistency, recent form, time spent at the front and what each driver has shown through the opening five races all factor into the rankings.
1. #22 Tyler Wagner — 1st in Points
The points leader gets the top spot, but this isn’t just because he’s leading the standings.
Wagner is the only driver in the field with a top-10 finish in all five races while also showing serious race-winning speed. He opened the season with a runner-up finish at Daytona, finished second again at St. Petersburg and then made his biggest statement yet at Dover.
The No. 22 led 76 of 122 laps at Dover on the way to his first win of the season. Wagner has now led a series-high 131 laps, has three podiums and owns a nine-point championship lead.
Through five races, he’s been the most complete driver in the series.
2. #44 Chris Romano — 2nd in Points
If Dover hadn’t happened, there would be a legitimate argument for Romano at No. 1.
The No. 44 won the season opener at Daytona, finished fifth at Texas, then won again at St. Petersburg before adding a fourth at Kentucky. That’s four top-five finishes in the first four races and two wins — the most in the series.
Then came Dover.
A disconnected 23rd-place finish was easily Romano’s first major setback of the year and cost him the points lead. Still, one bad race isn’t enough to erase what he did over the opening month. He’s only nine points behind Wagner and remains one of the clear drivers to beat.
3. #75 Shawn Hughes — 3rd in Points
Nobody may be carrying more momentum right now than Hughes.
His season started solidly with finishes of sixth, 12th and seventh, but the No. 75 has taken a major step forward over the last two weeks.
Hughes finished second at Kentucky and followed it with another runner-up finish at Dover, where he also led 15 laps.
He still hasn’t won, but back-to-back seconds have moved Hughes to third in points and within 16 of the championship lead. If the recent trend continues, a victory doesn’t feel very far away.
4. #66 Elijah Maupin — 4th in Points
Maupin hasn’t led a lap or won a race yet.
He also hasn’t finished outside the top 10.
The No. 66 has gone 10th, 10th, fourth, third and sixth through the opening five races. Over the last three races alone, Maupin has finished fourth, third and sixth.
There are drivers with more outright speed and more laps led, but very few have been as dependable. Maupin is quietly sitting fourth in points because he simply hasn’t had a bad night yet.
5. #29 Howard Peeples — 6th in Points
Peeples has been much harder to predict, but when the No. 29 is good, it’s very good.
He led 27 laps at Texas before finishing seventh, then suffered a disastrous 19th-place result at St. Petersburg.
One week later, Peeples responded by leading 25 laps and winning at Kentucky.
An eighth at Dover backed that victory up with another solid result. With one win and 56 laps led, Peeples has shown more front-running speed than several drivers ahead of him in points. Eliminating the occasional bad night could move him much higher.
6. #5 Gary May — 5th in Points
May has quietly put together one of the steadier starts in the field.
The No. 5 opened the year with consecutive fourth-place finishes at Daytona and Texas, then added a fifth at Kentucky. His other two finishes have both been 11th.
There hasn’t been much time spent out front — May has led just one lap — but three top fives in five races have him sitting only one point behind Maupin for fourth in the standings.
The next step is turning that consistency into more time fighting for wins.
7. #31 Dave W Allen — 7th in Points
Dover did some serious damage to what had been an excellent start.
Before last week, Allen’s finishes were third at Daytona, eighth at Texas, third at St. Petersburg and ninth at Kentucky. Four races, four top 10s and two podium finishes.
Then the No. 31 made it only three laps at Dover and finished 28th.
That result drops Allen down the rankings, but the first four races showed enough to keep him comfortably inside the Top 10. How quickly he rebounds will determine whether Dover was just a bad night or the beginning of a slide.
8. #88 Jason Thomas — 8th in Points
Thomas picked the right time to have his best race of the season.
The opening four races produced finishes of 13th, 14th, 10th and 11th. Solid enough, but not quite Power Rankings material on their own.
At Dover, Thomas drove from 20th to fifth and did it with zero incidents.
That gives the No. 88 his first top five of the season and moves him to eighth in points. One race doesn’t make a trend, but Dover was enough to get our attention.
9. #10 Joseph Essenberg — 10th in Points
Essenberg’s position in the standings doesn’t tell the full story because he has only four starts.
After a rough 25th at Daytona, the No. 10 responded with three consecutive strong races: sixth at Texas, eighth at St. Petersburg and seventh at Kentucky.
He was credited provisionally at Dover, interrupting what had become one of the more consistent stretches in the field.
Three top 10s in four starts are enough to keep Essenberg in the Top 10 for now.
10. #25 Austin Kelley — 14th in Points
Here’s the first real departure from the standings.
Kelley’s overall numbers aren’t pretty. His first four finishes were 28th, 20th, 13th and 13th.
But power rankings are also about which direction a driver is heading, and the No. 25 just delivered a huge step forward.
Kelley finished fourth at Dover after starting eighth, giving him his first top-five finish of the season. His results have steadily improved since Daytona, and that recent trajectory is enough to sneak him into the final spot.
Now he has to prove Dover wasn’t a one-off.
Just Missed: #16 Douglas Scalice, #33 Marc Bender and #65 Gregory Vadnais
Scalice sits ninth in points and started the season well with finishes of ninth at Daytona, third at Texas and sixth at St. Petersburg. But back-to-back finishes of 21st at Kentucky and 27th at Dover have sent the No. 16 sharply in the wrong direction.
Bender is doing almost the opposite. His season began with finishes of 23rd and 24th, but he’s improved to 15th, 12th and most recently seventh at Dover. Another race like that could put the No. 33 on the list.
Vadnais owns a runner-up finish at Texas and has shown flashes of speed, but finishes of 15th at Kentucky and 20th at Dover leave him just outside this first edition.
Five races down.
Tyler Wagner owns the top spot for now, but with Romano’s two wins, Hughes heating up and several drivers starting to find their stride, the Truck Series pecking order is far from settled.
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