Texas Nationals - Dallas, TX
Final
Danny Krol, Charlie, Clayton, Matt Welliver, Norm Gibson, Darryl Lozier, John McCrory, Ricky Grimes, Bob Alexander, Kenny Rose, Ed Smith, Will Thompson, Ben Hadsell
The winner of the events first heat Kenny Rose ends his third final of the year in the same place as the previous two with a twelfth place exit, this one coming off a monster hit by Bob Alexander in the opening seconds, and heat two winner Ed Smith then became the target of Alexander's fury with a pair of big hits to end his debut final early.
Danny Krol (4th Jersey Derby, 3rd Summer Sizzler) has had an up and down season with two heat wins and this his fifth final with a top ten finish in all, but he less than thirty points to show for it. Elimination for him today came with only four hits against him, three of them coming inside a minute of each other, and he was quickly joined on the sidelines by the rampaging Bob Alexander, who also has a top ten finish in each of his four finals with a season's best coming at the Lobster Nationals where he finished third, when Ricky Grimes took great exception to his antics and focused on his destruction.
A double elimination next and it involved two drivers at completely the opposite end of the standings. Currently second in the title race Will Thompson, one of only three drivers currently in the top ten of the standings, ends his sixth consecutive final tied for seventh after re-firing an early and dangerous stall before blindsiding Matt Welliver only for the latter to take revenge, lay a colossal hit on his opponent, and take them both out in fiery style. Welliver needed some medical assistance after the derby and his condition is day-to-day.
John McCrory (9th Tampa Open, 3rd Jersey, 5th Indy Nationals) will make a move up the standings with a sixth place result in Dallas, a very costly miss that catapulted him into the barriers finishing himself off after avoiding a lot of attention, and Charlie Clayton (7th Frostbite, 10th Spring Fling) earns his best result this year after carving his way through the field which included a hit on Ben Hadsell who had the last laugh with a pair of tough shots of his own.
With Thompson finishing seventh Darryl Lozier increases his championship lead a little with his eighth top five finish of the year. The three-time event champion (Tampa, Jersey, Big Apple Smash Up) was brutalised by Norm Gibson throughout the final and eventually succumbed to a double assault when Ricky Grimes saw the advantage in teaming up on the Canadian.
After two hits on Alexander and four on Lozier, Ricky Grimes took his second third place finish of the year in his fourth final, the other coming in the Jersey Derby with a pair of eleven spots in the others, as Gibson turned around from his battering of Lozier to finish off Grimes who gave all he had to combat the standings leader.
He did well to last so long after qualifying out of the consolation heat but Ben Hadsell is the bridesmaid for the second straight week as he, after cleaning up Clayton, was left helpless by a stall and could only wait for the man he tied for runner-up place with at the Summer National Derby Norm Gibson to finish the job and take his second derby win in the last five events.
Gibson, who has qualified for all five of his finals in the past six events, was not alert enough to start proceedings this time as Ed Smith hit him on the blindside. That hit cleared the cobwebs and Gibson went hard at Darryl Lozier with four hits in quick succession before finishing off both Ricky Grimes and Ben Hadsell with a single shot to each.
Race Result
1. Norm Gibson
2. Ben Hadsell
3. Ricky Grimes
4. Darryl Lozier
5. Charlie Clayton
6. John McCrory
7. Matt Welliver
7. Will Thompson
9. Bob Alexander
10. Danny Krol
11. Ed Smith
12. Kenny Rose
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