Earl's Fast Qualifier 2005-11-21

GARDNER SETS RECORD 22 CRA FAST TIMES!

Damion Gardner of Concord, Calif. is the 2005 Earl's Fast Qualifier Champion in the Valvoline USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series. That's not surprising, though, since he posted the fastest qualifying time 22 times this season! That's nine more than Tom Bigelow had in 1978 when he established the USAC National Sprint Car record! Gardner was Saturday night's fastest qualifier in the CRA finale at Perris, Calif.

The 2005 Earl's Championships conclude Thursday with the annual "Turkey Night Grand Prix" at Irwindale, Calif. The USAC National and Western Midget, Western Sprint Car and California Ford Focus Pavement Series are all involved at Irwindale.

Although Jerome Rodela and Alex Harris have locked up the Western Midget and California Pavement Focus Earl's titles, the other two are still up for grabs. Michael Lewis leads Josh Wise and Jerry Coons Jr. by six points and Billy Wease by eight in the Western Midgets with nine points available Thursday. Tony Hunt leads Kody Swanson by two and Brian McClish by six in the Western Sprints.

Points are 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 for Ford Focus events, 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 $1,000.

2005 Standings:

Weld Racing Silver Crown: 1-Josh Wise-38; 2-Dave Steele-31; 3-Bobby East-27; 4-Tracy Hines-24; 5-Dave Darland-18.

Valvoline National Sprint Car: 1-Levi Jones-93; 2-Jay Drake-58; 3-Dave Darland-45; 4-Bobby East-43; 5-Josh Wise-42.

National Midget Car: 1-Michael Lewis-33; 2-Josh Wise & Jerry Coons Jr.-27; 4-Billy Wease-25; 5-Bobby East-21.

Valvoline Western Sprint Car: 1-Tony Hunt-44; 2-Kody Swanson-42; 3-Brian McClish-38; 4-Mike Murgoitio-34; 5-Tim Barber-27.

Western Midget Car: 1-Jerome Rodela-48; 2-Garrett Hansen-27; 3-Michael Lewis & Wally Pankratz-21; 5-Robby Flock-19.

Valvoline CRA Sprint Car: 1-Damion Gardner-240; 2-Rip Williams-72; 3-Cory Kruseman-69; 4-Charles Davis Jr.-66; 5-Rickie Gaunt-53.

Midwest Ford Focus: 1-Tate Martz-96; 2-Stephanie Mockler & James Robertson-47; 4-Derek Fisher-36; 5-Jordan Noblitt-25.

California Ford Focus: 1-Alex Harris-112; 2-Chase Barber-70; 3-Benny Moon & Chris Veach-62; 5-Robbie Whitchurch-61.

Carolina/Virginia Ford Focus: 1-Chase Scott-73; 2-Robbie Ray-44; 3-Aron Oakley-26; 4-Michael Sboro-25; 4-Mike Ward-22.

Oklahoma Ford Focus: 1-Jasiel Randolph-18; 2-Dustin Morgan-17; 3-Evan Sewell-16; 4-Leon Bacon-15; 5-Chett Gehrke-14.

Northeast Ford Focus: 1-Stephanie Stevens-37; 2-Nick Wean-36; 3-Jeff Abold-32; 4-Brit Andersen-25; 5-Ryan Smith-20.

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