Earl's Fast Qualifier 2004-11-15

East, Hunt Try To Lock Up Earl's Titles at Tucson

USAC National Midget Car point leader Bobby East and USAC Valvoline Western Sprint Car point leader Tony Hunt hope to lock up 2004 Earl's Plumbing fast qualifier championships this Saturday as they compete in the "Old Pueblo Classic" doubleheader at Tucson (Ariz.) Raceway Park.

East is five points ahead of Josh Wise and 14 ahead of Dave Steele going into the penultimate series event, while Hunt leads Michael Lewis by nine entering the penultimate Western Sprint race. Both series conclude November 25 at Irwindale, Calif.

Jerome Rodela holds an insurmountable lead over Garrett Hansen in the Western Midget Earl's points entering the final two races.

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-72
2-Josh Wise-57
3-Cory Kruseman-54
4-Jay Drake-52
5-Dave Steele-49

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-93
2-Michael Lewis-83
3-Brian McClish-38
4-Brad Bumgarner-26
5-Tim Barber-20.

Western Midget Car:
1-Jerome Rodela-87
2-Garrett Hansen-65
3-Steve Paden-60
4-Johnny Rodriguez-46
5-Michael Lewis-35.

California Ford Focus:
1-Chris Rahe-131
2-Josh Lakatos-88
3-Bradley Galedrige-73
4-Bobby McGowan-47
5-Nick Morago-39.

Carolina/Virginia Ford Focus:
1-Chase Scott-94
2-Aron Oakley-34
3-Sam Beam-32
4-Danny Bopp-27
5-Mike Ward-25.

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

-usac-