Controlled Chaos - Lobster Nationals, Heat Two

Lobster Nationals - Bangor, ME
Heat Two
Will Thompson, Randy Corson, Timmy Barnes, Norm Gibson, Lynne Higgins, Sam Harbin, Will Murphy, Jess Yates, Leo May, Tom Gariepy, Bambi Rogers, Darrell Andresen

With no stall outs in the opening heat both Tom Gariepy, who misses back-to-back finals for the first time since the first three events of the season, and Bambi Rogers, still waiting for her final debut, both failed to move from their starting positions and were counted out.

Lynne Higgins picked up yet another disqualification as she bounced between Will Murphy and Sam Harbin and it was her second hit on the latter that was judged to be unfair. Harbin was also keen to take on two at once with the prone Gariepy taking two hits, Will Thompson the other two, but a double-team from Murphy and Jess Yates ended the Arizona Derby runner-up's day in ninth place.

Randy Corson and Timmy Barnes had an almighty battle going - Will Thompson throwing his efforts in on both for good measure - with Corson (5th Frostbite, 5th Tampa) the first to go causing him to miss out on the consolation heat, but Barnes (4th Smash Up) would also lose out on a second chance as a huge blindside hit from Norm Gibson gave him an injury that would keep him out of the rest of the day's action.

That big hit caused Gibson's car to stall out but he will move on into the consolation heat as he tries to make it two finals in a row. There was a gap of around two minutes between the sixth and fifth place finishers and it was Jess Yates and Leo May all over Darrell Andresen with four hits between them, but as the heat headed towards it's climax they started on each other and put themselves into the second chance race.

After qualifying for three of the first four finals this season, where his best result was eighth at Frostbite, Darrell Andresen makes it to his second in the last eight events. Outside of the aforementioned double-teaming he had to endure, Andresen did a good job in avoiding trouble and he gave as good as he got from Yates before Will Murphy came in and crushed him out of the running.

That left the two Will's, Murphy and Thompson, who sit in third and fourth in the championship standings, Thompson one point behind his rival. They were happy to be regular partners with six of their seventeen total shots hitting each other, but in the end it was Frostbite winner and now nine time finalist Will Thompson who takes his second heat win of the year, leapfrogging eight time finalist Murphy for third place.

Race Result
1. Will Thompson
2. Will Murphy
3. Darrell Andresen
4. Leo May
5. Jess Yates
6. Norm Gibson
7. Timmy Barnes
8. Randy Corson
9. Sam Harbin
10. Lynne Higgins
11. Bambi Rogers
12. Tom Gariepy