Seattle Derby - Seattle, WA
Final
Rob Remaley, Jason Ingle, Leo May, Scott Hutchins, Darryl Lozier, Randy Tondreau, Dick Garrett, Chris Henton, John McCrory, Will Thompson, John Ruiz, Andy Bing
Before the final got underway word came down that there was a slight modification in the points system. Drivers who tie for positions in a final will split the points 50/50, bringing the half points into play, rather than rounding down. This means that Tom Gariepy moves into second place in the standings above Will Thompson by virtue of his 60.5pts. Steven Redden was the man who tied with him for second spot at the Valentine's Day Massacre and is now on 31.5pts.
In something reminiscent of the heats here in Seattle the final had a good five minutes before the first elimination. Rob Remaley and Will Thompson were all over Jason Ingle like a rash who was also blindsided by Scott Hutchins, so it was no surprise that Ingle was first man out.
Chris Henton was not too far behind as a hit he laid on John McCrory caused his motor to stall and he was unable to re-fire, leaving him pointless for a second straight final. Randy Tondreau picks up a single point in his second final of the year as he tried to take on Thompson while both he and Bing teamed up on the Canadian.
With the top two in the standings not competing in the final it was terrific opportunity for Thompson to take advantage but the pressure from Tondreau along with some hard hits from Bing and Hutchins meant he could do no better than ninth place, at least giving him two points to retake second place in the championship.
Winner of the Ides of March John Ruiz was quick on the heels of Thompson as they had a late coming together and it was just luck that one car stopped before the other. Then Leo May continues his record of finishing inside the top ten in all five of his finals by ending seventh in Seattle. After dealing with Ingle, Rob Remaley was quick to join John McCrory in getting at May who was blindsided by the latter before missing two targets and stalling.
Darryl Lozier made up some ground with a sixth top six finish of the year, only a fifteenth place in Idaho spoiling his record, taking on Hutchins before coming out second best in his strikes on Dick Garrett, and then Garrett himself earns a season high fifth place finish as he took great interest in John Ruiz and Remaley before drew the attention of Hutchins.
Rob Remaley has his second top four finish in a season where he has ended up in the top ten in all six of his finals. His rampage on Jason Ingle and Leo May was soon paid back in kind by a fearsome assault from Andy Bing.
The final three quickly disintegrated into a race result when John McCrory gladly took third place - his previous finals in Tampa and VDM ended in ninth and eleventh - after good attcks on Thompson and May before stalling, re-firing, and going hard at Bing.
And Bing earns his second straight finish on the podium after winning Idaho. After a brief stall at the start he neatly avoided a hit on his blindside before working through the field and ending up taking down Remaley with five hits.
That means Scott Hutchins becomes the ninth derby winner of the season and moves him above the likes of Bing and May and up into the top six in the championship standings. He began the final desperately trying to fire up his engine and, after starting up just in time, proceeded to miss two targets where he almost took himself out of the race before finding a groove where he put in two hits on Garrett before bouncing between Bing and Remaley.
Race Result
1. Scott Hutchins
2. Andy Bing
3. John McCrory
4. Rob Remaley
5. Dick Garrett
6. Darryl Lozier
7. Leo May
8. John Ruiz
9. Will Thompson
10. Randy Tondreau
11. Chris Henton
12. Jason Ingle
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