Jersey Derby - Atlantic City, NJ
Heat Two
Norm Gibson, Jess Yates, Ben Hadsell, Lynne Higgins, Dick Garrett, Randy Tondreau, Don Davis, Sam Harbin, Billy Edgington, Darryl Lozier, Scott Hutchins, Leo May
For the second straight week Lynne Higgins was first out of her heat via disqualification with a bad hit on Darryl Lozier costing her this time. Leo May also left early without even moving as he stalled at the start.
In his return from injury Billy Edgington was eager to get involved, laying hits on Scott Hutchins, May, Lozier and Sam Harbin. In return the pack welcomed him back with four hits of their own, two of which came from Don Davis before Harbin's revenge shot resulted in a premature end to the return derby of Edgington.
Norm Gibson was out in ninth place and became his own worst enemy by missing two targets and crashing into barriers. His derby came to an end when Hutchins went up and over Gibson's vehicle, leading to a short stoppage to check on the victim and safely extract him from the wreckage. Gibson walked off fine under his own steam and did not report any injury problems.
After reaching back to back finals for the first time this season (6th Spring Fling, 12th Idaho) Sam Harbin misses two in a row for the second time. He made six good hits, two of which landed on Gibson, but his final target was Hutchins who proceeded to turn around and return the favour, eliminating Harbin.
Randy Tondreau earns his place in the consolation heat after losing a battle against Dick Garrett and Ben Hadsell where the former hit him four times and the latter three, including a vicious blindside, and then Hadsell himself was wiped out by Hutchins in pay back for an earlier blindside hit. Dick Garrett limped along a little longer after rampaging over Tondreau, and Hutchins became a favourite target for Darryl Lozier to abuse.
Lozier stalled after eliminating Hutchins and left himself wide open for Davis to crush him before the latter man resumed his long running war with Jess Yates to determine who would win the heat. Yates survived a stall at the midway point of the heat, Davis putting him in that position, before both men went their separate ways only to become the last ones standing. It was only fitting that a stall on Davis would allow Yates to finish the job and claim his first heat victory and reach his second final of the year (8th Arizona)
Race Result
1. Jess Yates
2. Don Davis
3. Darryl Lozier
4. Scott Hutchins
5. Dick Garrett
6. Ben Hadsell
7. Randy Tondreau
8. Sam Harbin
9. Norm Gibson
10. Billy Edgington
11. Leo May
12. Lynne Higgins
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