Earl's Fast Qualifier update 2003-09-09

J.J. Yeley, Jay Drake and Tracy Hines are locked in a tense battle for the 2003 Earl's Plumbing Fast Qualifier Championship in the USAC National Sprint Car Series. With only two races remaining, only two points separate all three, with Yeley and Drake tied for the lead!

Hines posted the fastest time at Joliet, Ill. Friday night, while Yeley was sixth and Drake ninth.

Hines was second fastest behind Cole Carter in the Joliet National Midget qualifying and leads Yeley by only seven points for that Earl's title. Yeley continues to lead the Weld Racing Silver Crown qualifying points after qualifying second-fastest behind surprise pole winner Teddy Beach at DuQuoin, Ill. Saturday night.

Earl's points this week will be distributed on four fronts. They'll be up for grabs at Tulsa, OK Sunday (Silver Crown), Sapulpa, OK Saturday (Midgets), Salt Lake City, UT Saturday (Western Sprint) and Bakersfield, Calif. Saturday (Western Midget).

This year, each USAC National and Western Series qualifying champion will receive a $5,000 bonus from Earl's in recognition of their accomplishment. Points are earned 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.

The current Earl's Plumbing Fast Qualifier standings for each series are as follows:

Weld Racing Silver Crown: 1-J.J. Yeley-63; 2-Dave Steele-44; 3-Tracy Hines-26; 4-Dave Darland-21; 5-Jay Drake-15.

National Sprint Car: 1-Jay Drake & J.J. Yeley-120; 3-Tracy Hines-118; 4-Boston Reid-53; 5-Jon Stanbrough-26.

National Midget Car: 1-Tracy Hines-85; 2-J.J. Yeley-78; 3-Bobby East-65; 4-Jay Drake-27; 5-Dave Steele-24.

Western Sprint Car: 1-Tony Hunt-47; 2-Michael Lewis-40; 3-Rick Hendrix-34; 4-Jeff Gardner-20; 5-Jim Waters-11.

Western Midget Car: 1-J.J. Yeley-37; 2-Josh Wise-27; 3-Bobby East-22; 4-Dave Steele-18; 5-Rick Hendrix-16.

--USAC--