Alamo Derby - San Antonio, TX
Heat Two
Leo May, Scott Hutchins, Phillip Ruffin, Jason Ingle, Tom Gariepy, Timmy Barnes, Will Murphy, Dick Garrett, Bob Alexander, Billy Edgington, Reggie Banks, Darryl Lozier
Heat two began with drama and controversy in the opening seconds as eight-time finalist Jason Ingle (tied-5th Lobster Nationals, 7th Louisiana Invitational) missed his intended target, crashed into the wall and watched the smoke billow from his engine. The most controversial part of the derby, and possibly the season, came when Darryl Lozier crashed into the driver's side of Billy Edgington but there was no disqualification forthcoming and the officials allowed the heat to continue.
Billy Edgington (9th Firecracker Open) clearly felt aggrieved after Lozier's brutality was followed up by a double-tap by Timmy Barnes, two of the seven hits he took, and he was dismissed in eleventh position five minutes in.
Dick Garrett (6th Ides of March, 5th Seattle Derby) suffered a long stall after two hits from Murphy only to re-fire and take one more shot from his adversary, and Leo May (4th Wisconsin Invitational, 4th Idaho Invitational, 2nd Indy Nationals) was all over Timmy Barnes, hitting him three times without a revenge attack, but goes down in ninth place to miss his fourth final in a row, and tenth in thirteen, as Alexander and Banks sandwich him into submission.
Timmy Barnes (12th Spring Fling Derby, 4th Big Apple Smash Up) would go on to miss out on a place in the consolation heat as Tom Gariepy took off where May left, but Scott Hutchins scrapes through to the second chance race as his stall started late enough to be counted out after the elimination of Barnes.
Will Murphy, a big attacker of Garrett earlier in the heat, went on to finish sixth after getting banged around by a pack of four, Bob Alexander leading the way with two hits on him, and both Phillip Ruffin and Tom Gariepy also move into the consolation heat. Ruffin was relentlessly attacking Gariepy, striking him five times, but his final shot disqualified him and took down his opponent.
That means it is a sixth final this year for Bob Alexander, his third in the last seven weeks, after hitting seven cars a total of nine times including the blindside hit on Banks that disabled the latter before a second shot took the pair of them out; Banks qualifying for just his second final with the first a round win in the Firecracker Open.
So, after his controversial reprieve from the race officials and a sudden finish where he started a chain of seven eliminations by finishing off Hutchins, Darryl Lozier wins his fourth heat and goes through to a seventeenth final through twenty-two attempts. His lucky escape on striking Edgington was followed up by another hit on the Brit, then a pair to the vehicle of Leo May with Will Murphy suffering a shot in between. He rode his luck again when he very nearly stalled out in eighth position, but re-fired and, after striking Hutchins, watched the rest of the pack disintegrate in a matter of seconds.
Race Result
1. Darryl Lozier
2. Reggie Banks
2. Bob Alexander
4. Tom Gariepy
5. Phillip Ruffin
6. Will Murphy
7. Scott Hutchins
8. Timmy Barnes
9. Leo May
10. Dick Garrett
11. Billy Edgington
12. Jason Ingle
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