Big Apple Smash Up - New York, NY
Heat Three
Tom Gariepy, Bambi Rogers, Bob Alexander, Darrell Andresen, Steven Redden, Ricky Grimes, Will Murphy, Will Thompson, John McCrory, Matt Welliver, Phillip Ruffin, Bill Malbrough
Tom Gariepy's will not improve upon his third place in the standings as his recent form continues where he has qualified for every other final, starting at the Valentine's Day Massacre, and misses those in between, but on this occasion it was an illegal hit on Darrell Andresen that dumped him in twelfth position.
Andresen was also the victim of a Ricky Grimes (3rd Jersey Derby) hit before Matt Welliver doubled up on Grimes, and Bambi Rogers remains without a final appearance after eleven events as Welliver turned his attention onto her and finished what Andresen and Will Thompson had started. Bill Malbrough is another driver looking for a final as his return from injury ends in ninth place despite looking a threat with multiple hits on Gariepy, but two hits from Phillip Ruffin's did a lot of the damage.
The first four exits all occurred inside the opening five minutes of the heat and the next elimination came after the seven minute mark when Darrell Andresen finally succumbed to the six hits put on him, three of which came from Bob Alexander (6th Arizona, 10th VDM) who in turn scraped into the consolation heat after a pair of hits on Ruffin and six hits against; three of them coming at the start of the heat.
Another two minutes of rough and tumble before Phillip Ruffin fell by the wayside thanks to a hard hit on the blindside by Thompson, only the fourth hit on his vehicle, and John McCrory quickly followed after repeating his custom on Matt Welliver (3) and Bob Alexander (2) all the while taking heavy fire from Thompson with four hits. The final consolation heat entrant is Steven Redden who, after fourteen grueling minutes, stalled out of the running after a long war against Will Murphy that saw Redden blindsided twice, giving a trio of shots back in return.
Arizona Derby winner Will Thompson finishes in third place and makes his way into an eighth final of the year. With four hits on McCrory and two each on Alexander and Murphy he was a one-man wrecking crew that ended up losing his late battle with Murphy.
Will Murphy enters his seventh final of the season where he enjoys a record of five top four places and a sixth in Atlantic City. He is just one point behind Thompson but was just unable to claim the reward for winning the heat. It could have been much worse with an early stall and no three misses, any of which could have ended badly for him.
That means Matt Welliver reaches his first final since starting the season with three in a row where he managed to finish in eleventh place every time. Multiple hits on Grimes (2), Thompson (4), and Murphy (3) all went show what force he was on the day.
Race Result
1. Matt Welliver
2. Will Murphy
3. Will Thompson
4. Steven Redden
5. John McCrory
6. Phillip Ruffin
7. Bob Alexander
8. Darrell Andresen
9. Bill Malbrough
10. Bambi Rogers
11. Ricky Grimes
12. Tom Gariepy
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