Firecracker Open - Daytona, FL
Heat One
Jess Yates, John McCrory, Charlie Clayton, Bill Malbrough, Andy Bing, Norm Gibson, Bambi Rogers, Ed Smith, Randy Tondreau, Lynne Higgins, Scott Hucthins, Danny Krol
After seven finals in eight rounds with two wins (Lobster Nationals, Texas Nationals), two runner-up spots and a third place finish, Norm Gibson is finally stopped. His early hit on Ed Smith resulted in a stall he could not recover from.
Next out of the contest was Danny Krol (8th Ides of March, 4th Jersey Derby, 3rd Summer Sizzler) who took just four hits before his exit including a shot from John McCrory that locked them together for a moment before Andy Bing's hit separated them.
Jess Yates (8th Arizona Derby, 7th Jersey, 4th Sizzler) was all over McCrory with three hits in as many minutes but was undone by seven from the pack, and Bambi Rogers made some bad decisions with the four collisions she initiated and finished in ninth place.
With nine finals to his name, including a run of seven in a row, the Seattle Derby winner Scott Hutchins blows his chance of chasing down Darryl Lozier from his joint-third position in the standings. Hutchins was eager to be involved laying out seven hits on five opponents, but three of the five hits against him came from McCrory with interest who had apparently caught some severe rampancy from Krol.
That means Charlie Clayton, Ed Smith, Bill Malbrough and Lynne Higgins all make their way into the consolation heat. Clayton had all the luck with two bad misses and a blindside hit from Bing putting him off stride as he went for Malbrough who in turn was stuck no less than three times, but only taking a few shots while vulnerable. Smith stalled out when the remaining pack descended upon him during a lengthy stall, and Higgins also suffered from an engine shutdown and was counted out prior to the man who finished in third.
Just barely making his way to his fourth final and first in nine events is Randy Tondreau. Stalling just after Higgins, Tondreau was another driver who rode his luck for all it was worth with a hit on his blindside by Malbrough and multiple misses. When he was mobile and making contact he preferred to challenge Yates and Smith, giving them two shots each.
John McCrory makes it back-to-back finals for the first time this season with a fourth appearance in seven weeks. After he was freed from his predicament with Krol, McCrory went full on against Hutchins before turning his attentions to Bing who stalled twice at the end but still managed to win his second heat of the year.
At the start of the race Andy Bing was immediately caught unawares by Rogers and this seemed to brush away any cobwebs he had coming into round nineteen as he went on to carve through the pack with nine hits, tying McCrory for most, including two on both Smith and McCrory.
Race Result
1. Andy Bing
2. John McCrory
3. Randy Tondreau
4. Lynne Higgins
5. Bill Malbrough
6. Ed Smith
7. Charlie Clayton
8. Scott Hutchins
9. Bambi Rogers
10. Jess Yates
11. Danny Krol
12. Norm Gibson
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