Mile High Open - Denver, CO
Heat Two
Leo May, Bob Alexander, Phillip Ruffin, Timmy Barnes, John Ruiz, Lynne Higgins, Matt Welliver, John McCrory, Joe Ramage, Charlie Clayton, Ricky Grimes, Scott Hutchins
As in the first heat it's sequel was a mass of carnage for the opening minutes as everyone was in full flight for five minutes before Bob Alexander (6th Arizona Derby, 3rd Lobster Nationals, 9th Texas Nationals) was DQ'd for the gas tank that had come loose, knocked askew by Scott Hutchins, a carbon copy of the opening of heat one.
Hutchins was hit twice in the opening minute, first by Alexander and then by Timmy Barnes (12th Spring Fling Derby, 4th Big Apple Smash Up) who went on to barely survive a disastrous miss that catapulted him into a barrier, and then stalled out.
Ricky Grimes (3rd Jersey Derby, 3rd Texas) was eliminated in tenth place causing him to miss a seventh consecutive final since winning the Louisiana Invitational. Carrying the torch in a crusade upon Hutchins, hitting his rival three times in a row, his comeuppance came when he was bounced from Lynne Higgins, to Phillip Ruffin, then to Joe Ramage.
With back-to-back finals in the past fortnight Charlie Clayton (7th Frostbite, 5th Texas, 6th Ohio Derby) misses out on his chance have three appearances in a row for the second this season after delivering six good shots, Ramage again finishing up what someone else had started, this time John McCrory with a blindside hit, and then after Ramage caused a long stall early on McCrory (3rd Seattle Derby, tied-4th SidelineStrategy.com Derby, 2nd Ohio) goes on to miss just his third final in the past nine as he was struck twelve times, Welliver (5) and Ruffin (4) relentless in their victimisation.
Leo May was everywhere he didn't want to be with stalls and situations where he was stuck and he finished his contest by crashing into the wall, but he does move into the consolation heat along with Joe Ramage, who had ten hits on seven cars, John Ruiz, who finished off Ramage when he could actually move, suffering as he did with three stalls, and finally Scott Hutchins; this last driver taking nine hits with three a piece from Welliver and Grimes.
Lynne Higgins makes it ten finals on the year by finishing third, her fourth in a five week span, after bouncing through the pack during the first half of the fourteen minute heat and then, after freeing her car from a sticky position against the wall, went all-out on Welliver with four hits. Her attention upon her rival was so keen that she forgot about Phillip Ruffin who was happy to take her down.
With eleven hits on four vehicles Matt Welliver, who took eight shots from the pack himself, was solely focused on one task at a time. Starting with a hat-trick on John McCrory, who he would return to for another two shots later on, Welliver, heading to his eighth final, stuck Hutchins with a good shot, the first of three on that target. Joe Ramage would also take a double-attack but the final effort was a hit to the car of Ruffin who was able to turn around and win the heat on his twelfth hit of the day.
It nearly went very wrong minutes before for Phillip Ruffin as he missed a target and barely scraped the barrier he was heading for. If not saved this incident could have resulted in Ruffin finishing fifth. As it was he takes his debut heat victory and enters just his third final this season, the first appearance he will make in thirteen weeks. Timmy Barnes was attacked twice then, after single hits to McCrory, Ruiz, Grimes and May, he returned to John McCrory with another three hits to wipe him out. Ruiz suffered his wrath once more and, after that miss, struck Higgins to knock her down in third place, finishing off with his first shot to Welliver.
Race Result
1. Phillip Ruffin
2. Matt Welliver
3. Lynne Higgins
4. Scott Hutchins
5. John Ruiz
6. Joe Ramage
7. Leo May
8. John McCrory
9. Charlie Clayton
10. Ricky Grimes
11. Timmy Barnes
12. Bob Alexander
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