The Bryan Family Open - Milwaukee, WI
Heat One
Charlie Clayton, Phillip Ruffin, Jason Ingle, Norm Gibson, Andy Bing, Randy Corson, Sam Harbin, Tommy Miller, Darryl Lozier, Kenny Rose, Reggie Banks, Will Thompson
A frantic opening five minutes saw three vehicles bear the brunt of the hits with Andy Bing, Charlie Clayton, Sam Harbin and Kenny Rose taking a combined twenty-four shots in that time, but it was Randy Corson (5th Frostbite, 5th Tampa Open, 8th Spring Fling Derby) who would miss his eighth final in a row after stalling out.
That was the start of four eliminations as Sam Harbin (2nd Arizona Derby, 6th Spring Fling, 6th SidelineStrategy.com Derby) was the victim of six hits, Charlie Clayton (7th Frostbite, 5th Texas Nationals, 8th Louisiana Invitational) took seven before he went down, and Reggie Banks (1st Firecracker Open) only took four but his blindside attack on Rose did him more harm than his target, but his hit on Will Thompson was deemed unfair and resulted in his disqualification.
Kenny Rose has three finals to his name, where he finished twelfth in all of them, and just misses out on a fourth as the alternate driver when, after hitting Clayton twice to help bring him down, stuttered then stopped on that aforementioned blindside hit; the seventh upon him with Tommy Miller striking him three times.
Andy Bing scrapes through to the consolation heat after laying six hits on five opponents, Harbin the recipient of two, before Norm Gibson came at him for a fourth time to finish what he started. Jason Ingle took four shots from Phillip Ruffin, all in quick succession,to drop him in sixth. Joining them in the second chance race are Will Thompson and Phillip Ruffin as the former was eliminated by the latter before Ruffin exited at the hands of Darryl Lozier.
Norm Gibson qualifies for his ninth final in eleven rounds; not bad for someone who failed to reach a single final in the first ten weeks. With Andy Bing the victim of three out of Gibson's first four hits, a pair of brief stalls either side of contact with Rose delayed his assault before he eventually brought down his rival. The five-time podium finisher then focused his attacks on Will Thompson that went a long way to putting him away, but a surprise hit from Tommy Miller was enough to end Gibson's hopes for a second heat victory this year.
That left the alternate driver battling against the champion elect. Miller was quick to get onto Lozier but a neat piece of driving made him miss and opened him up for the title leader to put away, but at least Tommy Miller can now he say he is a finalist as he qualifies for his first ever appearance with ten hits to his credit, three of which went to fellow alternate Kenny Rose.
It is a third heat win of the year and a sixteenth final appearance for Darryl Lozier but he could have easily missed out altogether as, with just four drivers eliminated, Lozier suffered a fire that brought the contest to a halt. After deliberation the officials declared the vehicle safe to continue, so on he went to deliver ten hits of his own with six different competitors feeling the heat before a hat-trick of shots on Ruffin and the coup de grace on Miller decided matters.
Race Result
1. Darryl Lozier
2. Tommy Miller
3. Norm Gibson
4. Phillip Ruffin
5. Will Thompson
6. Jason Ingle
7. Andy Bing
8. Kenny Rose
9. Reggie Banks
10. Charlie Clayton
11. Sam Harbin
12. Randy Corson
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