The Power Rankings are expanding.
The Restricted ranks are where the sport’s next stars are being built right now, and the racing at the front of this class is already as serious as anything on four wheels. These are not vibes, either. We weighed the biggest Restricted results of the season, from the Outlaw Nationals to the Cornfield Combat, US 24’s Big Dance weekend, the Mattix Salmon Memorial, the KKM Challenge swing, and the Independence Day NOW600 stop at Dodge City.
Head-to-head results, podium rate, national-field strength, win quality, current momentum, and championship positioning all went into the blender.
No participation trophies. Just receipts.
Here’s the top ten after Independence Day weekend.
1. Levi Ballard
The iron man of the big shows.
The Grimes, Iowa driver owns the most complete national résumé in the class right now: a Cornfield Combat opener win, a US 24 finale podium, and a statement Saturday night at Dodge City, where he converted the pole into a 20-lap Restricted win while holding off Mason Corbin.
Add in his position at the front of the NOW600 National Restricted championship picture, and the argument is clean.
Nobody is stacking national results at Ballard’s rate right now. He has the consistency, the points profile, the big-show results, and the kind of week-to-week presence that makes everyone else chase him.
Power rankings are not just about one trophy. They are about who keeps showing up at the front when the field gets nasty.
Until somebody outruns him consistently on that stage, the top spot is his.
2. Dawson Woods
The win column is getting too loud to ignore.
Woods won the Outlaw Nationals Restricted feature at Macon in May against one of the best spring fields in the country, then added a pair of Restricted wins at I-44 during Mini Sprint Nationals weekend in April.
That is not noise. That is a résumé with teeth.
Woods may not always get the loudest headlines, but the stopwatch does not care about follower count. Neither does the checkered flag. When a driver wins against that kind of field, the ranking has to respect it.
This is not a sleeper anymore.
This is a top-two case.
3. Chase DeMarco
The scariest trend line in the class.
Sixth at the Outlaw Nationals, second in the Cornfield Combat opener, then the win in the Cornfield Combat finale. That is not just progress. That is a warning label.
Add in a Golden Driller podium at Tulsa, and the floor is already high while the ceiling keeps climbing.
DeMarco has the kind of profile that makes every ranking feel temporary. He has major-stage speed, recent momentum, and a résumé that keeps getting stronger every time the field gets deeper.
One more hot stretch, and he is not just pushing for the podium on this list.
He is pushing for the top spot.
4. Mason Corbin
Ask the top of this list about Mason Corbin, because he has already beaten them.
Corbin captured the Saturday NOW600 National Series Restricted feature at Sweet Springs after starting second, with Lucas Corbin and Levi Ballard chasing him across the line. Then he followed it up with a runner-up finish to Ballard at Dodge City during Independence Day weekend.
He sits right in the thick of the NOW600 National Restricted championship chase, making him a legitimate contender for both the title and the No. 1 ranking.
That combination matters: points, wins, and pressure.
Corbin is not just hanging around the conversation. He is helping shape it.
He is hunting the top spot on both lists.
5. Braxton Flatt
The West Coast statement-maker still belongs in the top five.
The Illinois driver hauled all the way to California for the Mattix Salmon Memorial at Delta Speedway and came away with both Restricted feature wins, even though Briggs Davis edged him by one point in the two-night event standings.
Earlier this season at Port City, Flatt also beat Levi Ballard head-to-head in CSI Restricted competition.
That matters. A lot.
Ballard owns the summer consistency. Woods has the win-column muscle. DeMarco and Corbin have the trend line and championship pressure. But Flatt owns one of the loudest single-weekend statements and one of the best head-to-head wins on the board.
Nobody should feel safe when Flatt rolls through the pit gate.
6. Mavrick Page
The most efficient US 24 résumé in the division belongs to Mavrick Page.
Page finished third on night one and won the finale, giving him a 2.0 average across the Big Dance weekend. That is not a fluke. That is a driver showing up when the field gets deep and the pressure gets loud.
Quietly, methodically, the Greenwood, Missouri driver has built one of the cleanest big-race résumés in the class.
The only reason he is not higher is the weight of the results above him. That is not a knock. That is just how nasty this top ten is.
Page does not need a megaphone when the results are already doing the talking.
The rest of the list should be paying attention.
7. Owen Larson
Forget the last name, because the results already stand on their own.
Larson finished second at the Outlaw Nationals Restricted feature against a stacked spring field, then added a fourth-place finish in the Tulsa Shootout Restricted A-Main.
That gives him two big-stage results against serious fields before the summer really heats up.
The only reason Larson slides behind Page is because Page’s US 24 weekend was too efficient to ignore. This is not a demotion as much as it is a reminder of how loaded this class is.
Larson has already proven he can run at the front when the lights are brightest, and that is usually the hard part.
This may still end up looking conservative by August.
8. Mason Vincent
The big-show workhorse.
Vincent finished fifth at the Outlaw Nationals, then landed back-to-back podiums at the Cornfield Combat with a third-place run in the opener and a runner-up finish in the finale.
He is at the front when the big shows roll around, and the first major summer win feels inevitable.
At this point, it is less “if” and more “which trophy gets nervous first.”
Vincent may not have the loudest single win on this board yet, but the consistency is real. When the field gets deep, he keeps finding the front.
That matters in a class where one bad night can bury a résumé faster than a turn-one slider gone wrong.
9. Brexton Busch
Limited Restricted micro schedule, unlimited threat level.
Busch won the KKM Challenge Restricted finale at Plaza Park in March and also finished top ten in the Tulsa Shootout Restricted A-Main after starting deep in the field.
Part-time schedule, full-time problem.
That limited schedule is the only thing keeping him from climbing higher. The speed is obvious, the ceiling is obvious, and the name on the entry list instantly changes the temperature of the race.
And no, the last name has nothing to do with the lap times.
10. Cade Wolfe
The East just sent a message.
Wolfe won night one of the US 24 Big Dance weekend and backed it up with a fourth-place finish in the finale, averaging 2.5 across the two-night showdown.
That kind of efficiency travels.
The tenth spot is not a punishment. It is a compliment to how brutal this list is. Wolfe has the kind of Big Dance weekend that would rank higher in a lot of divisions, but Restricted is not exactly handing out free parking right now.
If the momentum holds, this ranking may look conservative by August.
Knocking on the Door
The scary part about this class is who did not crack the top ten.
Adam Presnar averaged 2.5 across the US 24 weekend and continues to be a podium machine when the field gets deep.
Lucas Corbin has back-to-back fourth-place finishes at the Cornfield Combat, a Friday-night Dodge City win, a Saturday Dodge City podium, and sits near the front of the NOW600 National Restricted points picture. That makes the championship chase feel like a Ballard-Corbin-Corbin fight, and that is exactly the kind of family drama racing can get behind.
Collin Pruitt is one of the toughest cuts on the board. He has the speed, the points profile, and enough race-winning evidence to crash this list quickly.
Braxon Vasconcellos is the reigning Tulsa Shootout Restricted Golden Driller champion, and that crown does not expire just because the calendar changed. The only reason he lands outside this version is the current power-ranking emphasis on recent outdoor momentum and broader summer activity.
The Roush brothers are coming. Brycen Roush nearly stole the Golden Driller at Tulsa with a runner-up finish, while Mackcen Roush keeps logging laps against the kind of fields that harden drivers fast.
Tate Gurney is the sleeper of the whole board after winning the 40-lap KKM Giveback Classic Non-Wing Restricted finale over Brexton Busch last fall.
Lathan Knott ran top five in the US 24 finale and remains a steady name near the front of national points. Garrett Mohrfeld swept the Junior Sprint features at the Cornfield Combat while continuing to cut his teeth against Restricted national fields. Lydia May charged from 11th to a podium in the Cornfield Combat finale.
Ryker Jones Won 6 Features 1 being the Pete Frazier memorial 5 th in points at port rookie of the year and 6th in now 600 points, and currently leading port city, one of the most prestigious tracks in the country in points in restrictor.
And Kayden Anderson, Gavyn Bolt, Mackcen Roush, and the rest of this chase pack all have enough speed, points, and race-winning evidence to make this entire list look silly by August.
That is the beauty of Restricted right now.
The top ten is not comfortable.
It is being hunted.
Think we got it wrong? Good.
Drop your Restricted top ten in the comments and tell us who got robbed. New rankings drop every week, and every feature between now and then is a chance to move.
