Earl's Fast Qualifier update 2003-10-20

Yeley stays alive in Earl's midget chase.

J.J. Yeley of Phoenix, Ariz., with one $5,000 Earl's Plumbing Fast Qualifier bonus already tucked away for 2003, remained in the hunt for another Saturday night, posting the third-fastest time for the USAC National Midget race at South Boston, Va. That effort left him 12 points shy of leader Tracy Hines in the battle for the 2003 Earl's National Midget FQ honors. Hines failed to earn Earl's points at South Boston.

Two events remain in the USAC National Midget Car Series for 2003, at Tucson, Ariz. Nov. 22 and Irwindale, Calif. Nov. 27 and a total of 18 Earl's points are up for grabs in those two events. Yeley also leads Josh Wise by four points in the battle for the 2003 Earl's Western Midget Car FQ title going into the two aforementioned races.

Earl's points will next be distributed on November 22 at the "Old Pueblo Classic" USAC National/Western Midget and Western Sprint Car "doubleheader" at Tucson (Ariz.) Raceway Park.

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:

Final Weld Racing Silver Crown:
1-J.J. Yeley-72
2-Dave Steele-44
3-Tracy Hines-28
4-Dave Darland-21
5-Jay Drake-15.

Final National Sprint Car:
1-Tracy Hines-127
2-Jay Drake-124
3-J.J. Yeley-123
4-Boston Reid-53
5-Jon Stanbrough-26.

National Midget Car:
1-Tracy Hines-100
2-J.J. Yeley-88
3-Bobby East-77
4-Jay Drake-30
5-Dave Steele-24.

Western Sprint Car:
1-Tony Hunt-57
2-Michael Lewis-50
3-Rick Hendrix-43
4-Jeff Gardner-22
5-Jim Waters-15.

Western Midget Car:
1-J.J. Yeley-37
2-Josh Wise-33
3-Dave Steele-24
4-Bobby East-22
4-Steve Paden-21.

--USAC--