NASCAR Roots Power Rankings: A look at the top drivers from NASCAR’s Roots divisions

Teams and drivers who compete in the ARCA Menards Series, the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series make up the backbone of NASCAR. Here are the top-10 NASCAR Roots level competitors as chosen by the NASCAR.com Roots Editorial team.

10. Doug Barnes Jr.

A contender for the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division I national championship for most of 2023, Doug Barnes Jr. has had a season to remember. He’s scored eight victories at a variety of tracks this year and hopes to close out the year with a victory in the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway.

9. Luke Fenhaus

If things had been different during the Bristol 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway, we might have been calling Luke Fenhaus the 2023 ARCA Menards Series East champion. That’s not what happened, however, as two crashes took Fenhaus out of the race and out of championship contention. Still, it was a good year for Fenhaus; he scored two East Series wins, one of which came during a combo event with the ARCA Menards Series at Iowa Speedway.

8. Sean Hingorani

It’s been a busy but strong season for Newport Beach, California’s Sean Hingorani. In his first year driving for Venturini Motorsports, Hingorani has scored four ARCA Menards Series West wins and currently leads the series standings by a single point ahead of Landen Lewis with four races remaining.

7. Ron Silk

Despite coming up on the losing end of a back-and-forth battle with Justin Bonsignore Saturday night at Riverhead Raceway, the 2023 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season has arguably been Ron Silk’s best to date. In 15 starts, he has scored four wins as well as 13 top-five and 14 top-10 finishes. Those are all career highs. With three races left in the season, he’ll need to stay on his game if he hopes to win his second series championship.

6. Peyton Sellers

A two-time NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division I national champion, Peyton Sellers has enjoyed another of his traditionally strong seasons in 2023. He scored 17 victories at a variety of tracks and secured the track championship at Dominion Raceway on Saturday night. His focus now turns to Martinsville Speedway, where he hopes to win his second ValleyStar Credit Union 300.

5. Matt Sheppard

If it weren’t for the incredibly wet summer endured by the Northeast region this year, Matt Sheppard may very well have run away with the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division I national championship. Despite that, he’s enjoyed an incredible season that’s seen him earn 11 victories in 19 starts at NASCAR-sanctioned tracks as well as the Utica-Rome Speedway track championship. 

4. Justin Bonsignore

After a horrible race at Oswego Speedway on Sept. 2, Justin Bonsignore needed to rebound if he hoped to stay in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour title fight. He’s done just that with a flag-to-flag victory at Monadnock Speedway on Sept. 9, which was followed by a thrilling win in the Eddie Partridge 256 at Riverhead Raceway. With five victories on the year, he unofficially leads rival Ron Silk by three points in the series standings.

3. Jesse Love

The word dominant doesn’t really do the season Jesse Love has had justice. In 18 ARCA Menards Series starts, he has scored nine wins and has finished inside the top-10 in all but two of those starts. In addition, Love has been successful away from ARCA, scoring an Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series victory at Illinois’ Tri-City Speedway in June and on Saturday he picked up his first ASA STARS National Tour triumph at Toledo Speedway.

2. William Sawalich

Sixteen-year-old William Sawalich put a bow on his first ARCA Menards Series East championship last Thursday with a victory in the Bristol 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway. The victory was his fourth of the East Series season and fifth ARCA platform victory of the season overall.

1. Connor Hall

Despite finishing third in Saturday’s 100-lap Late Model Stock Car feature at Langley Speedway, Connor Hall has enjoyed a career season. He’s scored 18 victories in 27 starts in NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series-sanctioned events as well as a CARS Tour victory at Langley. He is expected to be named the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division I national champion.