Earl's Fast Qualifier 2005-05-23

GARDNER CONTINUES EARL'S DOMINANCE!

Damion Gardner is gone! His lead in the 2005 Valvoline CRA Sprint Car portion of the Earl's Plumbing Fast Qualifier standings is monumental after posting his ninth FQ in 10 tries Saturday night at Perris, Calif.

Gardner was joined by Chase Scott and Benny Moon as Earl's top point scorers last week. Scott paced the qualifying at Friday night's Midwest Ford Focus race at Lima, Ohio, while Moon earned the honors at Saturday's California Ford Focus race at Stockton, Calif.

Earl's points will be up for grabs this week in events at Anderson, Ind. and Rossburg, Ohio (Valvoline National Sprints); Indianapolis, Ind (National Midgets twice, Weld Raicng Silver Crown and Midwest Ford Focus Midgets), Perris, Calif. (Valvoline CRA Sprints), plus Anderson, Tulsa, Okla. and Irwindale, Calif. (Ford Focuses).

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. When qualifying is not held, points are awarded based on a system of lineup points earned in the preliminary heats.

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. The National and Western FQ champs will receive $5,000 each, while the Ford Focus FQ champs will each receive $1,500.

2005 Standings:

Weld Racing Silver Crown: 1-Bobby East-9; 2-Dave Steele-6; 3-Tracy Hines-4; 4-Josh Wise-3; 5-Jerry Coons, Jr.-2.

Valvoline National Sprint Car: 1-Bobby East, Jay Drake & Dave Darland-9; 4-Mat Neely-6; 5-Jerry Coons, Jr.-4.

National Midget Car: 1-Michael Lewis-9; 2-Bobby East-6; 3-J.J. Yeley-3; 4-Jay Drake-1.

Valvoline Western Sprint Car: 1-Brian McClish-15; 2-Tony Hunt-9; 3-Mike Murgoitio-6; 4-Tim Barber-5; 5-Brad Bumgarner & Michael Lewis-4.

Western Midget Car: 1-Robby Flock & Jerome Rodela-12; 3-Michael Lewis & Steve Paden-9; 5-Garrett Hansen-7.

Valvoline CRA Sprint Car: 1-Damion Gardner-89; 2-Rip Williams-34; 3-Charles Davis, Jr.-22; 4-Rickie Gaunt & Seth Wilson-19.

Midwest Ford Focus: 1-Chase Scott-9; 2-Jordan Noblitt-6; 3-Tony Main-4; 4-Ryan Smith-3; 5-Joshua Clemons-2.

California Ford Focus: 1-Alex Harris-37; 2-Chase Barber-23; 3-Robbie Whitchurch-21; 4-Audra Sasselli-15; 5-Chris Veach-14.

Carolina/Virginia Ford Focus: 1-Chase Scott-16; 2-Brit Andersen-10; 3-Aron Oakley, Robbie Ray, Mike Ward & Michael Sboro-9.

Oklahoma Ford Focus: 1-Dustin Morgan & Leon Bacon-15; 3-Jasiel Randolph & Evan Sewell-12; 5-Matt Sherrell-9.

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