TQ: Headin'' for the "PAS"

Davey Hamilton of Las Vegas, Nev. and J.J. Ercse of Lakewood, Calif. captured USAC "Western" feature events last weekend at tracks in Tucson, Ariz. and Irwindale, Calif. respectively. Hamilton drove the Consani Special to victory in Saturday night's 40-lap Sprint Car race at Tucson Raceway Park, passing defending Western Sprint Car Champion Bud Kaeding on the 27th lap and leading the rest of the way. Kaeding took second ahead of Rick Hendrix, Todd Ellison and fast qualifier Jeff Gardner. Gardner led five drivers who shattered the track's 1-lap qualifying record with a lap of 13.943 seconds. Burney Lamar and Hamilton won the two preliminary heat races. Curtis Brown led the first seven laps of the feature before yielding to Kaeding. Hamilton emerged from the race with a 38-point lead over Ellison in the series standings going into races May 6 and 7 at Madera and Tracy, Calif. Ercse caught West Evans on the ninth lap of Saturday night's 20-lap MCI WorldCom TQ Midget Car race at Irwindale, then led the final 12 laps for the win. Walt Johnson finished second ahead of Greg Edenholm, Todd Hunsaker and Evans. Ercse was also the fastest qualifier and won the opening heat race. Edenholm also won a heat. Ron Wade, sixth at Irwindale, leads Edenholm by four points going into this Saturday night's MCI WorldCom TQ Midget Car race at the Perris Auto Speedway in Perris, Calif.

<pre> USAC WESTERN SPRINT CAR SERIES STANDINGS

1. Davey Hamilton       319
2. Todd Ellison         281
3. Burney Lamar         252
4. Jeff Gardner         249
5. Mike Boat            241
6. Tony Hunt            223
7. Kevin Kierce         198
8. Amy Barnes           175
9. Rick Hendrix         161
10. Kenny Hamilton      132

USAC MCI WORLDCOM TQ MIDGET CAR SERIES STANDINGS

1. Ron Wade             184
2. Greg Edenholm        180
3. Walt Johnson         164
4. J.J. Ercse           155
5. Todd Hunsaker        149
6. West Evans           144
7. Steve Lambert        104
8. Steve Parke          98
9. Ron Ahrendt          97
10. Josh Lakatos        92