Firecracker Open - Daytona, FL
Heat Three
Tommy Miller, Will Thompson, Matt Welliver, Joe Ramage, Jason Ingle, Sam Harbin, Darrell Andresen, Billy Edgington, Will Murphy, John Ruiz, Dick Garrett, Timmy Barnes
John Ruiz (9th Arizona Derby, 8th Seattle Derby, 10th Jersey Derby) hits SidelineStrategy.com Derby winner Matt Welliver, who stalled at the start and failed to re-fire, before the Ides of March champion has Dick Garrett driver over the top of his car. The heat was halted to check on Ruiz but there were no injuries resulting from the spectacular elimination.
Joe Ramage, who picked up his fourth runner-up spot last week in just his second final out of eleven, joins Scott Hutchins on the sidelines for the remainder of the Firecracker Open as both men tied for third in the championship standings are dumped in their respective heats; Ramage's exit came with a bang into the wall, a whimper of a stall and and a shot by Will Thompson to put him out of his misery in tenth place.
Dick Garrett (6th Ides of March, 7th Wisconsin Invitational, 5th Seattle) has qualified for a single final in ten weeks now (7th Summer Sizzler) when eight-time finalist Jason Ingle double-tapped him as part of a pack who descended upon Garrett, but it was for naught when Ingle himself was denied a fourth final in five rounds when he was eliminated by a triple team of Thompson, Harbin and Andresen.
Timmy Barnes has two finals to his name all year with a twelfth (Spring Fling) and fourth (Big Apple Smash Up) place finish, and here in Daytona he was denied a chance at qualifying through the consolation heat when Will Murphy clobbered him and rolled his car. Barnes then left his vehicle holding his arm and, while it is a minor injury, he is done for the day.
Tommy Miller, the replacement driver for Rob Remaley, was dueling with Thompson before a stall finished him off in sixth, and Sam Harbin went to war against Darrell Andresen, getting revenge after both blinsdie hits he suffered from his nemesis. The final entrant into the eleven car consolation heat is Billy Edgington who laid eight hits on four drivers; four on Murphy, a pair each on Miller and Harbin, and a single effort on Barnes.
Half of the hits on Will Murphy came late on and they did the job but just not in a timely fashion as Edgington went down off a fourth consecutive hit by Andresen allowing Murphy to move on to his ninth final, first in seven rounds, after a heat-ending stall.
Will Thompson makes it fifteen finals in nineteen events and the man second in the standings hopes that Lozier will be unsuccessful in his bid to qualify out of the consolation heat. A blindside hit from Ingle distracted him and he took a shot on the opposite side from Harbin but still managed to come through both wars on top. A late stall prevented him from mixing it with his final opponent and when he did manage to re-fire he plowed straight into the wall.
That means a competition high fourth heat victory goes to Darrell Andresen as he hits back-to-back finals for the third time this year and his eighth appearance altogether. Not shy about who he struck in the beginning, Andresen began his obsession with Edgington, missing him on the second attempt at contact, before resuming his aimless attacks. But when the pack was down to five cars he returned to strike Edgington another four times, spending the final seconds getting into position for hits he never had to deliver with his remaining opponents exiting the field.
Race Result
1. Darrell Andresen
2. Will Thompson
3. Will Murphy
4. Billy Edgington
5. Sam Harbin
6. Tommy Miller
7. Timmy Barnes
8. Jason Ingle
9. Dick Garrett
10. Joe Ramage
11. Matt Welliver
12. John Ruiz
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