Mile High Open - Denver, CO
Heat Three
Norm Gibson, Sam Harbin, Andy Bing, Ed Smith, Bill Malbrough, Jason Ingle, Jamie Eilers, Chris Henton, Darrell Andresen, Tommy Miller, Danny Krol, Reggie Banks
Reggie Banks (1st Firecracker Open, 11th Alamo Derby, 10th Ohio Derby) is unable to keep his good form going where he has qualified for three finals in the five events, but a rush by Eilers, Miller, and Krol, the latter deciding matters with an up-n-over, put paid to his hopes very early on.
After taking the high road on Banks, Danny Krol (8th Ides of March, 4th Jersey Derby, 3rd Summer Sizzler) took a double-tap from Bill Malbrough before he experienced his own devastating Pack Attack as Bing, Ingle, and Andresen all get their licks in.
The cycle continues with Darrell Andresen (4th Indy Nationals, 5th Firecracker, 5th Arkansas Derby) laying on the finishing blow just prior to his own demise, this coming courtesy of five attackers swarming him, and Tommy Miller (13th Bryan Family Open) stalled out in ninth place before another group of three cars could tear him apart.
Andy Bing, winner of last week's event and two others in the Idaho Invitational and Indy Nationals rounds, was part of the clique that helped eliminate the first three drivers, but he would miss out on further action when Sam Harbin shunted him hard and caused a minor injury. It was enough to make him pull out of the Mile High Open but it is not enough to keep him out of future events.
Bill Malbrough moved on from his assault on Krol and struck both Miller and Ingle before Chris Henton inadvertently went into him, bouncing both men off course where they then missed their targets. Colliding with the wall, whereas Henton merely grazed it, Malbrough had Henton to thank for freeing him but only managed one more hit, on Norm Gibson, before Ed Smith steamed in as he did for his first hit of the heat and took him down.
Joing Malbrough in the second chance race after a heat-ending fire will be Ed Smith, Jason Ingle blindsiding him before he too was eliminated after delivering ten hits on nine cars when Henton forced him awkwardly into Norm Gibson. The final entrant into the consolation heat is Norm Gibson who was helplessly stalled when Jamie Eilers charged at him, rolling over his victim's car.
After attacking both Henton and Eilers at the very start of the heat, Scott Hutchins joined them at the end for a the final trio. Suffering a small fire after the aforementioned opening Hutchins, entering his twelfth final this year, was allowed to continue where he went after Miller twice before Gibson caught him unawares. Hits on Ingle and Bing, coupled with the six shots he took, helped him on his way to a stall, but a successful re-firing led to one last go at Eilers before Henton came back for seconds to finish the job.
Jamie Eilers, delivering a total of eleven hits, and Chris Henton, bringing it on nine occasions, both move into their tenth finals but would have to be content with a share of the spoils as neither man could win the heat outright. Eilers was keen on targeting Ed Smith and Darrell Andresen early on, but later, after a brief period stuck in the barriers, was more than happy to put his efforts into hitting Henton.
Henton on the other hand suffered an early stall after hitting Bill Malbrough and, upon re-firing his engine, hit both Ingle and Andresen before missing his next target and careening into Malbrough and then finishing him off as reported earlier. Ingle, Gibson, and Harbin twice were his next ports of call before a final showdown with Eilers where they cleanly took each other out.
Race Result
1. Jamie Eilers
1. Chris Henton
3. Sam Harbin
4. Norm Gibson
5. Jason Ingle
6. Ed Smith
7. Bill Malbrough
8. Andy Bing
9. Tommy Miller
10. Darrell Andresen
11. Danny Krol
12. Reggie Banks
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