Controlled Chaos - Fall Nationals, Heat Three

Fall Nationals - Bristol, TN
Heat Three
Leo May, Will Murphy, Timmy Barnes, Phillip Ruffin, Scott Hutchins, Randy Tondreau, Tom Gariepy, Norm Gibson, Charlier Clayton, Ben Hadsell, Andy Bing, Jess Yates

Leo May (4th Wisconsin Invitational, 4th Idaho Invitational, 2nd Indy Nationals), Jess Yates (4th Summer Sizzler, 3rd Alamo Derby, 5th Bluegrass Derby), and Timmy Barnes (12th Spring Fling Derby, 4th Big Apple Smash Up, 8th Bluegrass) all met the same fate when they stalled on the start, and then Randy Tondreau's (6th Tampa Open, 3rd Firecracker Open, 7th Alamo) kamikaze approach where he laid out seven quick hits - May and Gariepy two each - resulted in his ninth place dismissal.

Norm Gibson (1st Lobster Nationals, 1st Texas Nationals) misses a third straight final for the first time since he qualified for his first final seventeen weeks ago, appearing in twelve during that span. Avoiding a blindside hit only to be caught on the opposite side by Clayton, Gibson became stuck and easy pickings for Bing.

Andy Bing could do no better than seventh though as he started out with a bad miss before blindsiding Hadsell and then tackling Gibson and Clayton twice. He moves on into the second chance race along with Charlie Clayton who was rampant on Hadsell with five hits, Will Murphy who stalled out after finishing off Bing, and Scott Hutchins who warred with both Tondreau and Gariepy with the latter resulting in seven hits between the two.

After surviving the aforementioned five hit onslaught Ben Hadsell qualifies for his twelfth final, his second in seven weeks, on the back of double-taps to Yates and Murphy with Tondreau, Bing, Clayton, and Gibson also taking contact.

Heading into his fifth final with his first set of back-to-back appearances all year Phillip Ruffin was close to becoming another stall victim when Hutchins started proceedings with a hit to his blindside. Another point of contact with Hutchins resulted in another stall, this one re-fired in the nick of time. A borderline hit to Clayton was followed by a pair of misses before he finally got Hutchins off his back for good with another hit which then led into his first attack on Gariepy.

Tom Gariepy, heading into his tenth final, led the way with eleven hits but he was nit picky about who to target as Barnes, Hadsell and Ruffin accounted for two hits each with the remainder spread around through the pack. He was provided a big favour by Ruffin when the latter removed Hutchins from play who was proving to be a thorn in the side of Gariepy targeting him four times in their battle.

The finale came when both Ruffin and Gariepy charged full on at each other. This collision was one where neither vehicle would be able to survive leaving both men walking to the final with a point each.

Race Result
1. Phillip Ruffin
1. Tom Gariepy
3. Ben Hadsell
4. Scott Hutchins
5. Will Murphy
6. Charlie Clayton
7. Andy Bing
8. Norm Gibson
9. Randy Tondreau
10. Timmy Barnes
11. Jess Yates
12. Leo May