Weekend wrapup 2004-05-31

East Takes "USAC 50"; Rain Halts Eldora

Bobby East of Brownsburg, Ind. captured Wednesday night's "USAC 50" Valvoline National Sprint Car race at the Anderson (Ind.) Speedway. The win was his second in series competition as he led the final five laps around the 1/4-mile paved oval in his Power Stroke Diesel Ford Beast after passing leader Bud Kaeding on lap 46.

East now heads for the 1/2-mile paved Hawkeye Downs Speedway in Cedar Rapids, Iowa for Friday night's Advance Auto Parts USAC Sprint/Midget "doubleheader" presented by Papa Johns.

Featuring the Valvoline National Sprint cars and Midwest Ford Focus Midgets, action will take place on both the 1/4-mile and 1/2-mile paved Cedar Rapids ovals. The Sprinters compete on the big track, with a 40-lap main event, while the Focuses are slated on the smaller track with a 30-lap feature. Practice begins at 6 pm and is followed by qualifying at 7 and racing at 8. East finished second to Michael Lewis at Cedar Rapids last year.

Rains forced cancellation of Sunday night's scheduled Border Wars X finale, the "Don Branson/Jud Larson Classic" at the Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. A decision is yet to come on the disposition of the Border Wars finale.

Trailing East and Kaeding at Anderson were Jay Drake, Eric Gordon and Aaron Pierce. Levi Jones, the fastest qualifier, finished sixth.

Drake's third-place finish extended his point lead over Jones to 49 points going into Friday's race at Cedar Rapids.

VALVOLINE USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR SERIES STANDINGS
1.-Jay Drake-347
2.-Levi Jones-298
3.-Cory Kruseman-280
4.-Dave Darland-261
5.-Bud Kaeding-232
6.-Tony Elliott-217
7.-Brian Tyler-199
8.-Boston Reid-196
9.-Josh Wise-189
10.-Brian Lee-146

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