Earl's Fast Qualifier 2006-09-25

GARDNER NOW AT 17 FQs!

Damion Gardner earned his 17th fast qualifying time in the 2006 USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series Saturday night at Phoenix, Ariz. and increased his Earl's FQ Championship total to 180, nearly, double that of runner-up Cory Kruseman!

Drivers earning top Earl's points in last weekend's action included Mat Neely (Silver Crown), Jerry Coons Jr. (National Sprints), Darren Hagen (National Midgets), Cory Kruseman and Damion Gardner (CRA Sprints), Mike Murgoitio (Western Sprints) Ryan Kaplan (Western Midgets) and Tim Skoglund and Bradley Riethmeyer (Ford Focuses).

Earl's points will be up for grabs this week in races at Kansas City, Kan. (Silver Crown), Perris, Calif.. (CRA Sprint), Ventura, Calif. (Western Midget) and Ventura, Calif. and Marne, Mich. (Ford Focuses).

Points are awarded 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. When qualifying is not held for Ford Focus events, points are awarded based on a system of lineup points earned in the preliminary heats.

Each USAC National, Western and Ford Focus Midget Car Earl's Plumbing FQ Champion will be honored at USAC's Champions Night ceremony in Indianapolis. The Silver Crown FQ champ will receive $5,000, while National Sprint and Midget and Western Sprint and Midget and USAC/CRA FQ champs will receive $3,000 each. The Ford Focus FQ champs will each receive $500.

2006 Standings:

Silver Crown (K & N Engineering): 1-Bud Kaeding-49; 2-Josh Wise-47; 3-Brian Tyler-32; 4-Jay Drake-27; 5-Dave Steele-24.

National Sprint Car: 1-Josh Wise-91; 2-Levi Jones-77; 3-Tracy Hines-56; 4-Jerry Coons Jr.-45; 5-Bryan Clauson-42.

National Midget Car: 1-Josh Wise-78; 2-Jerry Coons Jr.-49; 3-Bobby Santos III-37; 4-Dave Steele-33; 5-Bryan Clauson and Darren Hagen-28.

Western Sprint Car: 1-Tony Hunt-72; 2-Kody Swanson-60; 3-Mike Murgoitio-43; 4-Nick Green-25; 5-Bradley Galedrige-20.

Western Midget Car: 1-Ryan Kaplan-52; 2-Jerome Rodela-42; 3-Garrett Hansen-30; 4-Chase Barber-28; 5-Bradley Galedrige-24.

CRA Sprint Car: 1-Damion Gardner-180; 2-Cory Kruseman-94; 3-Tony Jones-55; 4-Mike Spencer-39; 5-Evan Suggs-35.

Midwest Ford Focus: 1-Tate Martz-82; 2-James Robertson-41; 3-Chett Gehrke-30; 4-Jordan Noblitt-30; 5-Mario Clouser-28.

Indiana Ford Focus (Final): 1-James Robertson-49; 2-Tate Martz-41; 3-Shannon McIntosh & Zach Schiff-40; 5-Ricky Ehrgott-39.

California Ford Focus: 1-Michael Faccinto-72; 2-Nic Faas-49; 3-Chris Veach & Tim Skoglund-41; 5-Bobby Michnowicz-32.

Carolina/Virginia Ford Focus (Final): 1-Chase Scott-85; 2-Bradley Riethmeyer-72; 3-Aron Oakley-41; 4-Mark Burt-25; 5-Michael Sboro-15.

Florida Ford Focus (Final): 1-Ryan Smith-21; 2-Ryan Scott-18; 3-Craig Haack-15; 4-Ricky Ehrgott-13; 5-Terry Hall-11.

Northeast Ford Focus: 1-Ryan Smith-61; 2-Nick Wean-29; 3-Sean Carman-24; 4-Jeff Abold-20; 5-Jesse State-17.

-credit: usac