Earl's Fast Qualifier 2004-10-11

Rodela, Rahe Extend Earl's Leads

Jerome Rodela of El Monte, Calif. and Chris Rahe of Placentia, Calif. extended their leads in respective Earl's Plumbing Fast Qualifier Championships with qualifying performances Saturday night. Both will continue their search of Earl's titles in this Saturday night's USAC "tripleheader" at Las Vegas, Nev.

Rodela has a 19-point lead over Garrett Hansen in the Western Midgets, while Rahe has a comfortable 33-point lead over Josh Lakatos in the California Ford Focuses. Tony Hunt of Fair Oaks, Calif. leads Michael Lewis by just seven points in the Valvoline Western Sprints, also slated to compete at Las Vegas.

Steve Paden of Downey, Calif. was Saturday night's fastest Midget qualifier at Hanford, Calif., while Bobby McGowan of Ramona, Calif. was Saturday's fastest Focus qualifier at Irwindale, Calif.

Earl's points will also be distributed Wednesday and Saturday nights to Valvoline National Sprint participants at Charlotte, N.C. and Woodstock, Ga. Levi Jones of Olney, Ill. holds a four-point lead over Josh Wise in that series' qualifying points.

Points are traditionally awarded at each USAC event based on an international system awarding the top-six qualifiers with points in the following scale: 1st-9, 2nd-6, 3rd-4, 4th-3, 5th-2, 6th-1.

Each USAC National, Western and Ford Focus Midget Car Earl's Plumbing FQ Champion will be honored at USAC's Champions Night ceremony in Indianapolis in December. The National and Western FQ champs will receive $5,000 each, while the Ford Focus FQ champs will each receive $1,500.

2004 Standings:

Weld Racing Silver Crown:
1-Dave Steele-40
2-Tyler Walker-36
3-Jay Drake & Jerry Coons, Jr.-30
5-Dane Carter-27.

Valvoline National Sprint Car:
1-Levi Jones-61
2-Josh Wise-57
3-Dave Steele-49
4-Bud Kaeding & Jay Drake-43.

National Midget Car:
1-Bobby East-70
2-Josh Wise-65
3-Dave Steele-56
4-Dave Darland-31
5-J.J. Yeley-28.

Valvoline Western Sprint Car:
1-Tony Hunt-84
2-Michael Lewis-77
3-Brian McClish-34
4-Brad Bumgarner-26
5-Tim Barber-20.

Western Midget Car:
1-Jerome Rodela-84
2-Garrett Hansen-65
3-Steve Paden-60
4-Johnny Rodriguez-44
5-Michael Lewis-26.

California Ford Focus:
1-Chris Rahe-119
2-Josh Lakatos-86
3-Bradley Galedrige-71
4-Nick Morago-39
5-Bobby Michnowicz-35.

Carolina/Virginia Ford Focus:
1-Chase Scott-85
2-Sam Beam-32
3-Aron Oakley-30
4-Danny Bopp-27
5-Mike Ward & Robbie Ray-21.

Midwest Ford Focus:
1- Rex Norris III-54
2-Jordan Noblitt-49
3-Tate Martz-44
4-Brad Loyet-32
5-Ryan Litt-31.

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