Hickory Nationals - Hickory, NC
Heat One
Darrell Andresen, Sam Harbin, Dick Garrett, Tom Gariepy, Will Thompson, Bobby Gallagher, Darryl Lozier, Jess Yates, John Ruiz, Randy Tondreau, Joe Ramage, Jamie Eilers
The first five minutes consisted of the kind of full-on action Controlled Chaos fans have come to expect as all twelve entrants went at it. Tom Gariepy was struck three times at the very start, John Ruiz was knocked seven times in the opening period, while Randy Tondreau (6th Tampa Open, 3rd Firecracker Open, 7th Alamo Derby) took four hits including a second bite from Andy Bing's stand-in Bobby Gallagher (8th Valentine's Day Massacre, 3rd Wisconsin Invitational) that took them both out of the running.
The punishment inflicted upon John Ruiz (9th Arizona Derby, 1st Ides of March, 8th Seattle Derby) saw him finished in a sandwich between Sam Harbin and Dick Garrett, and Jamie Eilers (1st Summer Sizzler, 1st Summer National Derby) misses out on a sixth final out of the last ten as he waged a war with Darrel Andresen that consisted of five collisions where Andresen got in the final word.
Dick Garrett (6th Ides, 7th Wisconsin, 5th Seattle) makes it fourteen weeks without a final appearance to his name, seven hits from the pack doing him in, but Sam Harbin progresses to the consolation heat after delivering five hits, including that one that finished Garrett, and escaping a tight squeeze with seconds to spare on his count-out.
Another entrant that moves on into the consolation heat is Tom Gariepy who was indiscriminately motoring through the pack with seven hits before a combination of hits from Harbin and Garrett crippled him enough that his final hit on Joe Ramage put an end to his own ambitions. Joining him and Harbin will be Jess Yates who battled hard with and defeating Ruiz, and Darryl Lozier who yet again must survive the second chance race in order to make it to the final. His path ended in a stall after Will Thompson wiped him out hard on a blindsider with the championship leader chasing down both Ramage and Yates.
After missing on his first attempt Darrell Andresen composed himself and struck seven cars nine times with Ramage and Harbin earning his wrath twice. His late battle with Will Thompson was too much and he places in third, meaning he qualifies for his twelfth final and first since making five in a row over a month ago.
Will Thompson had already found himself under constant harassment from Joe Ramage as he took four shots from him, three of which came late in the twelve minute heat after Thompson initiated things by blindsiding Ramage. Joe Ramage though was just unable to find enough and win the heat, but he survived a very long stall early on before going all-out on Thompson.
Will Thompson then takes his fifth heat victory and guarantees he will at least move above Andy Bing in the standings as he enters his twentieth final of the year and fourth in a row. A late stall and a mid-race miss could have proved costly, but he survived those problems and the head-to-head conflict against Andresen while he had Ramage hounding him throughout.
Race Result
1. Will Thompson
2. Joe Ramage
3. Darrell Andresen
4. Darryl Lozier
5. Jess Yates
6. Tom Gariepy
7. Sam Harbin
8. Dick Garrett
9. Jamie Eilers
10. John Ruiz
11. Bobby Gallagher
11. Randy Tondreau
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