Thanksgiving Derby - Pasadena, CA
Final
Billy Edgington, Timmy Barnes, Reggie Banks, Jamie Eilers, Leo May, Jason Ingle, Sam Harbin, Joe Ramage, Chris Henton, Bambi Rogers, Will Murphy, Will Thompson
Leo May (4th Wisconsin Invitational, 4th Idaho Invitational, 2nd Indy Nationals) left California with nothing to show for his first final in thirteen weeks as a hit on Edgingtonwas only followed up by a bad and damaging miss, leading to Jason Ingle's blindside attack, then Ingle (Tied-5th Lobster Nationals, 7th Louisiana Invitational, 3rd Mile High Open) failed to register a point for the fifth time in his twelve finals as he stalled out.
It's tenth place for Timmy Barnes (12th Spring Fling Derby, 4th Big Apple Smash Up, 8th Bluegrass Derby) as, after striking Thompson, Edgington and Harbin, had the pack descend upon him with great fury, and Billy Edgington (9th Firecracker Open) laid two of his five hits on Thompson before the six hits against him, led by Banks' pair, took their toll.
Reggie Banks (1st Firecracker, 10th Ohio Derby, 10 Fall Nationals) collects points for a fourth time in his sixth final after rallying from a very early Harbin blindsider, going on to tackle Edgington twice with a hit on both Eilers and Barnes as well.
It's seventh for Bambi Rogers (6th Arkansas Derby, 11th Bluegrass, 5th Halloween Open) as she changed up the tactics she employed in heat three, this time taking on all comers before Joe Ramage put her down, and Will Murphy (2nd Tampa Open, 3rd Spring Fling, 3rd Idaho, 3rd Big Apple) keeps up his very impressive record of finishing no worse than sixth in any of his twelve finals as he delivered huge hits to Banks and May but these, along with the shots to Ramage (2) and Thompson, took it out of his vehicle as well.
For the longest time Darryl Lozier has led the championship but now, heading into the final round of the year, Will Thompson (1st Arizona Derby, 2nd Summer Sizzler, 2nd Bryan Family Open, 1st Halloween) is atop the standings after taking his tenth top five finish in his twenty-third final; only failing to pick up points once (Tied-11th Mile High) in any of them. Two hits on Ingle and Barnes made up the majority of his six shots (Edgington, Henton) while seven came against him with most of these coming later in his final.
Sam Harbin (2nd Arizona, 5th Ohio, 2nd Mile High) had two awful misses early on but he rallied, going on to strike his first victim Joe Ramage two more times, but Ramage got the last word in and that was the difference between finishing on the podium or not.
Joe Ramage (1st Valentine's Day Massacre, 1st Bryan Family) then moves up two spots in the standings to stay very much in the title hunt but was almost pointless this week after barely re-firing his engine off the start before the race officials counted him out. Only five hits dished out by the four-time runner-up, taking seven back from the pack, but he picked his spots smartly to earn top spot in the standings with one big event to go.
Jamie Eilers (2nd Frostbite, 2nd Ides of March, 1st Summer Sizzler, 1st Summer National) and Chris Henton (1st Spring Fling, 2nd Arknsas, 2nd Bluegrass, 2nd Hickory Derby) combine for twenty-eight finals and ten podiums this season, and thirteen hits today.
With Eilers carving through the pack and Henton doing likewise there was no interaction between the final pairing until the closing stages where Eilers struck his opponent who turned around and laid three hits in revenge. Yet despite this onslaught, a blindside hit from Ramage, and a miss, Jamie Eilers takes his third event win of the season. Both men are tied on points in the standings and have an outside chance of glory next week.
Race Result
1. Jamie Eilers
2. Chris Henton
3. Joe Ramage
4. Sam Harbin
5. Will Thompson
6. Will Murphy
7. Bambi Rogers
8. Reggie Banks
9. Billy Edgington
10. Timmy Barnes
11. Jason Ingle
12. Leo May
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