Eldora 4-Crown Nationals preview

Bobby East of Brownsburg, Ind., aiming at his initial USAC National driving championship, leads the USAC National Midgets into this weekend's "4-Crown Nationals," returning to the Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio after a year's hiatus.

East already has piled up more than a dozen USAC feature victories this season, five in National Midget competition. He's the 2004 "Hut Hundred" and "Belleville Midget Nationals" titlist and would like nothing more than to add the "4-Crown" to the list. In June he won the "Buckeye Nationals" Midget feature at Eldora, so he holds the favorite's role entering this weekend's event.

The "4-Crown" showcases all three of USAC's National racing series, with prelims on Friday night and semis and features on Saturday night. A 25-lap feature is slated for the Midgets, followed by a 30-lapper for the Sprint Cars, a 20-lapper for UMP Modifieds and the 50-lap Weld Racing Silver Crown finale.

USAC NATIONAL MIDGET CAR SERIES STANDINGS
1.-Bobby East-1,120
2.-Josh Wise-823
3.-Tom Hessert-620
4.-Brad Kuhn-587
5.-Cole Carter-577
6.-Dave Steele-556
7.-Ron Gregory-554
8.-Davey Ray-542
9.-Teddy Beach-505
10.-Dave Darland-503