Spring Fling Derby - Buffalo, NY
Final
Chris Henton, Charlie Clayton, Randy Corson, Will Murphy, Timmy Barnes, Lynne Higgins, Ricky Grimes, Will Thompson, Joe Ramage, Sam Harbin, Darryl Lozier, Jason Ingle
With another invitational coming up, this one for the top twenty drivers, every point mattered as the twelve jostled for a place in that elite group. It was as short lived debut final for Timmy Barnes as Will Murphy slammed him into the barrier where he stayed until the officials counted him out. Moments later and Ricky Grimes, also in his first final of the year, was finished off by Lynne Higgins after taken several stern shots from the pack.
Charlie Clayton was the first to collect a point in his second final (7th Frostbite) after taking a blindside hit and leaving with a minor injury, and he was soon joined on the sidelines by an ill prepared Jason Ingle in ninth position for his first points haul of the year, and Randy Corson, fifth in Arizona and Tampa, was done in eighth place after taking a real beating from all-comers while he sat helplessly stalled.
Will Thompson will most likely lose his top spot in the standings despite a fifth top seven finish of the year. Multiple drivers were more than happy to hit Thompson if he came near but it was a hard collision with Darryl Lozier that did the most damage, locking them together until Lozier wriggled free and left his opponent as dead weight.
The runner-up at Frostbite Sam Harbin was eager to get at Lozier at the start of the final but an untimely miss imbedded his vehicle into the barrier opening him up for the coup de grace by Joe Ramage, and a third top five finish for Lynne Higgins sees her make a move up the standings spending this final focusing on Lozier and Corson before succumbing to her own damage.
Darryl Lozier came in to the final very well prepared but seven hits against him finally added up; his period of the derby locked up with Thompson did him no favours as he ended up in fourth. Will Murphy has made four of the season's seven finals and he was finished no worse than fourth in each of them and this third place helps him gain ground on a few above him after Chris Henton finished him off late on.
The finale was between debutant Chris Henton and the winner of the Valentine's Day Massacre and fourth straight finalist Joe Ramage. Ramage, who would claim a top two finish for the third time and take the lead in the standings no matter what, had spotted Henton early on and got in a couple of shots before dealing a fatal blow to Higgins. As it turned out Henton did not need to hit his remaining opponent but instead wait for the contact that would end Ramage's hopes of a second derby win this year.
Race Result
1. Chris Henton
2. Joe Ramage
3. Will Murphy
4. Darryl Lozier
5. Lynne Higgins
6. Sam Harbin
7. Will Thompson
8. Randy Corson
9. Jason Ingle
10. Charlie Clayton
11. Ricky Grimes
12. Timmy Barnes
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