Controlled Chaos - Indiana Open Standings

After back-to-back absences and only ten points in a possible eight finals Darryl Lozier continues to cling on to the lead with two events remaining on the calender. Will Thompson's seventh place in Winslow closes the gap to just two points with Scott Hutchins remaining a few points further back after he failed to qualify for the Indiana Open final.

Co-winners in Indiana John McCrory and Lynne Higgins only move up one place each with Ed Smith rounding out the unlikely podium, moving him up four spots but keeping him closer to the bottom than anywhere.

Name	Pts	Derby Wins	Heat Wins
Darryl Lozier	165.5	4	4
Will Thompson	163.5	2	5
Scott Hutchens	159	2	4
Tom Gariepy	138.5	3	1
Andy Bing	137	4	3
Joe Ramage	130	2	2
Norm Gibson	122.5	2	1
Chris Henton	118	1	3
Jamie Eilers	111	2	3
Ben Hadsell	110.5	2	5
Will Murphy	102		2
John McCrory	95		1
Lynne Higgins	89.5		4
Matt Welliver	81.5	1	4
Leo May	70		3
Danny Krol	62	1	4
Steven Redden	61.5		1
Darrell Andresen	57		7
Sam Harbin	52		2
Jess Yates	50		3
Ricky Grimes	49	1	2
John Ruiz	48	1	3
Rob Remaley	45.5		2
Randy Corson	35		2
Jason Ingle	34.5		3
Ed Smith	34		2
Charlie Clayton	32		2
Bobby Gallagher	27		2
Philip Ruffin	27		2
Dick Garrett	27		1
Don Davis	25		2
Reggie Banks	22	1
Bob Alexander	22		2
Randy Tondreau	22		1
Timmy Barnes	14		1
Bambi Rogers	14		1
Bill Malbrough	6		1
Kenny Rose	2		1
Billy Edgington	2
Tommy Miller	0

Controlled Chaos - Indiana Open Final

Indiana Open - Winslow, IN
Final
Chris Henton, Bill Malbrough, Lynne Higgins, Joe Ramage, Norm Gibson, Jamie Eilers, John McCrory, Will Thompson, Ed Smith, Jason Ingle, Sam Harbin, Andy Bing

He managed to strike Ingle, Thompson and Eilers but Chris Henton (1st Spring Fling Derby, 2nd Arkansas Derby, 2nd Bluegrass Derby, 2nd Hickory Derby) failed to register a point for the third time in his fourteen finals as Malbrough and Smith both dealt with his presence, and a trio of eliminations started with Sam Harbin (2nd Arizona Derby, 5th Ohio Derby, 2nd Mile High Open) took six shots with Norm Gibson's huge hit causing massive damage by itself.

Andy Bing (1st Idaho Invitational, Indy Nationals, Ohio, Golden Gate Invitational) scrapes his first point in five weeks with John McCrory's blindside one of the three hits on Bing, and Jason Ingle (Tied-5th Lobster Nationals, 7th Louisiana Invitational, 3rd Mile High) finishes his third final in twelve weeks with a ninth place finish as Smith and McCrory hit him twice each.

Norm Gibson (1st Lobster, 1st Texas Nationals, 2nd Louisiana) was rocked by a surprise hit from Eilers at the very start of the final but, after tearing apart Harbin, went on to exact some revenge with a double-tap before a trio of opponents waded in, then Will Thompson (1st Arizona Derby, 2nd Summer Sizzler, 2nd Bryan Family Open, 1st Halloween Open) moves within two points of championship leader Darryl Lozier as stalls and an untimely miss conspire to keep him down in seventh place as McCrory helped him along with three straight shots.

After six hits on as many competitors Bill Malbrough (11th Halloween) adds to his debut point earned as co-winner of heat three, finishing in sixth place when Ingle, Ramage and Smith struck him in turn, and Joe Ramage (1st Valentine's Day Massacre, 1st Bryan Family Open) collects his first set of final points for nine weeks with two hits on both Gibson and Malbrough. In return Ramage took seven shots with Higgins and Harbin delivering a pair each.

Jamie Eilers (2nd Frostbite, 2nd Ides of March, 1st Sizzler, 1st Summer National Derby) claims his sixth top four finish this year with a stal ending his run, but not before taking it to some of the bigger names in the final with Gibson, Bing, McCrory (2) and Ramage all feeling his wrath, and Ed Smith (7th Ohio Derby, 4th Mile High, 7th Hickory, 7th Halloween) continues to impress as the season winds down as, in his fifth final out of the last eight, he did not shy away from anyone, running through the pack with impunity with eight hits for and five against; two from McCrory deciding his fate.

That left Lynne Higgins and John McCrory battling it out for the win. Four times a fifth place finisher Higgins (4th Arkansas, 3rd Bluegrass), heading for her best result whatever the outcome, warred hard with Joe Ramage and Jamie Eilers, only striking McCrory late on with the pack thinned out.

McCrory (3rd Seattle, 2nd Ohio, 2nd Halloween), one of those who  came out of the consolation heat, took down several entrants with Ingle, Thompson and Smith all taking multiple hits and, like his final opponent, only initiated contact with Higgins very late one with their only contacts resulting in a dead heat handing both drivers their first event victory.

Race Result
1. Lynne Higgins
1. John McCrory
3. Ed Smith
4. Jamie Eilers
5. Joe Ramage
6. Bill Malbrough
7. Will Thompson
8. Norm Gibson
9. Jason Ingle
10. Andy Bing
11. Sam Harbin
12. Chris Henton

Controlled Chaos - Indiana Open, Consolation Heat

Indiana Open - Winslow, IN
Consolation Heat
Tom Gariepy, Reggie Banks, Leo May, Don Davis, Randy Tondreau, Will Murphy, Charlie Clayton,  Chris Henton, Rob Remaley, Andy Bing, John McCrory, Bob Alexander

With Bob Alexander (6th Arizona Derby, 3th Lobster Nationals, 9th Texas Nationals) unfit to participate Charlie Clayton became the first real elimination when he was shunted offline in his blindside attempt on Randy Tondreau by Leo May at the three minute mark, then six minutes in Leo May (4th Wisconsin Invitational, 4th Idaho Invitational, 2nd Indy Nationals) misses his twelfth straight final after Reggie Banks set him up for Don Davis (2nd Jersey Derby,7th Summer Sizzler, 9th Arkansas Derby) blindside that took them both out.

Hot on the heels of these eliminations Randy Tondreau (6th Tampa Open, 3rd Firecracker Open, 7th Alamo Derby) was forced to leave the arena of carnage with a slight leg injury, his battle with McCrory the cause of the hurt, and Tom Gariepy (1st Wisconsin,, 1st Arkansas, 1st Mile High Open)stalled out after tapping Reggie Banks (1st Firecracker, 10th Ohio Derby, 10th Fall Nationals) twice before the latter then took back-to-back blindsides from Bing and then Murphy.

The domino effect continued all the way down until only the three qualifiers remained and it was Rob Remaley (3rd Ides of March, 4th Seattle Derby, Tied-4th SidelineStrategy.com Derby) falling in fifth place thanks to Chris Henton's unrelenting triple assault with fourth spot going to Will Murphy (2nd Tampa, 3rd Spring Fling Derby, 3rd Idaho, 3rd Big Apple Smash Up) who misses his sixth final in a row, with just three appearances in eighteen, with both McCrory and Bing tag-teaming him at the very end.

Chris Henton makes it fourteen finals this year and, after back-to-back absences, returns to his first since his eight week final run. With hits on May, Banks, and three on Rob Remaley, Henton took just two hits, both from Bing that caused a stall he was able to salvage.

Andy Bing rolled into his sixteenth final, but just his fourth in ten weeks, on the back of seven hits with McCrory and Henton both taking a pair. Only Remaley at the very start of proceedings was able to make contact with the four-time event winner as he was otherwise untouched throughout.

Finally, John McCrory is heading into his thirteenth final this season, and third in a month, with a troubling stall interrupting his progress. Hits on Remaley and Tondreau came either side of the delay, with Murphy taking a late double-tap. McCrory took six shots as Bing and Tondreau both laid it on him twice each.

Race Result
Q. Chris Henton
Q. Andy Bing
Q. John McCrory
4. Will Murphy
5. Rob Remaley
6. Reggie Banks
7. Tom Gariepy
8. Randy Tondreau
9. Don Davis
10. Leo May
11. Charlie Clayton
12. Bob Alexander (DNS)

Controlled Chaos - Indiana Open, Heat Three

Indiana Open - Winslow, IN
Heat Three
Steven Redden, Charlie Clayton, John McCrory, Phillip Ruffin, Lynne Higgins, Dick Garrett, Ricky Grimes, Bill Malbrough, Joe Ramage, Rob Remaley, Randy Corson, Chris Henton

Only Dick Garrett (6th Ides of March, 7th Wisconsin Invitational, 5th Seattle Derby, 7th Indy Nationals), who suffered five hits in the opening two minutes to force him to miss a seventeenth straight final, was eliminated after six minutes of the third heat, with seven-time finalist Ricky Grimes (3rd Jersey Derby, 3rd Texas Nationals, 1st Louisiana Invitational) starting a run of four exits after he was involved with eight collisions.

It's four finals in twenty-two weeks now for Randy Corson (5th Frostbite, 5th Tampa Open, 6th Alamo Derby, 6th Fall Nationals) as he re-fired a lengthy stall only for Rob Remaley to return from an early hit to finish what he started, and, after Steven Redden came in to break up the attached Charlie Clayton and Phillip Ruffin just prior to the clock counting down on the both of them, Ruffin (8th Big Apple Smash Up, 8th Mile High Open, 5th Hickory Derby, 5th Fall) finally fell to the abuse handed down by John McCrory.

After his charitable work ten-time finalist Steven Redden (Tied-2nd Valentine's Day Massacre, 3rd Indy), who now has one appearance in the last thirteen finals (7th Fall), took a fourth consecutive hit from Chris Henton who, as a result of this brutality, claimed the seventh spot, moving him on to the consolation heat and leaving Redden nowhere.

John McCrory, who laid five of his eight hits on Ruffin (3) and Lynne Higgins (2), ended up smashed into the wall after a terrible miss, and he joins both Rob Remaley and Charlie Clayton who combined for fourteen hits with Corson and McCrory taking three each.

It's fourteen finals on the year for Lynne Higgins with her eighth in eleven weeks. Starting out with a short stall Higgins went on to strike Garrett, Redden and Corson before Remaley took a pair. A return to Redden and Remaley led into Malbrough, then Ramage twice, taking punishment. In return she rode ten hits with her final two victims sandwiching her at the end.

After so long without an appearance this season Bill Malbrough makes it back-to-back finals, with Joe Ramage making it thirteen. Malbrough spent a lot of the fourteen minute contest chasing after Ramage striking him six times, with Higgins and McCrory taking a pair each, all while his final opponent was merrily carving through the whole pack as only Clayton (3) and Remaley (2) experiencing multiple attacks. In the end it was the sixth hit from Malbrough while Ramage was stalled that caused both vehicles to call it day, resulting in Malbrough picking up his first ever point; Ramage in comparison earns his one-hundred-and-twenty-second.

Race Result
1. Joe Ramage
1. Bill Malbrough
3. Lynne Higgins
4. Charlie Clayton
5. Rob Remaley
6. John McCrory
7. Chris Henton
8. Steven Redden
9. Phillip Ruffin
10. Randy Corson
11. Ricky Grimes
12. Dick Garrett

Controlled Chaos - Indiana Open, Heat Two

Indiana Open - Winslow, IN
Heat Two
Jess Yates, Reggie Banks, Danny Krol, Jason Ingle, Tom Gariepy, Bob Alexander, Norm Gibson, Will Thompson, Scott Hutchins, Bambi Rogers, John Ruiz, Randy Tondreau

Almost six minutes had passed in the second heat in Winslow before Scott Hutchins (1st Seattle Derby, 2nd Big Apple Smash Up, 2nd Lobster Nationals, 1st Bluegrass Derby) blew a huge chance to take over the lead in the championship, missing his first final in six weeks as Banks, Tondreau and Krol all conspired against him, knocking him out after he had struck Ruiz, Yates, Tondreau, and his title rival Will Thompson.

That was the first of a string of eliminations where Jess Yates (4th Summer Sizzler, 3rd Alamo Derby, 3rd Halloween Open) was knocked around by the pack, Bambi Rogers (6th Arknsas Derby, 11th Bryan Family Open, 5th Halloween) tried to hunt down John Ruiz before Thompson charged in with a devastating blindsider, and then Ruiz (1st Ides of March, 8th Seattle Derby, 2nd Fall Nationals) unsurprisingly succumbed to the nine shots he took with Thompson finishing the job on a double-tap, keeping his poor record going with just three finals out of the last twenty.

With Danny Krol (4th Jersey Derby, 3rd Sizzler, 4th Bluegrass, 1st Hickory) taken out by just three hits - his five shots on as many opponents causing as much damage to himself as to anyone else - the consolation heat entrants were Reggie Banks, who carved through seven different competitors, Randy Tondreau, who survived a stall and rampaged over Reggie Banks to take him down, with Tom Gariepy and Bob Alexander both heading out together when the former flew up and over Alexander.

While Gariepy was stalling and requiring the marshall's help in putting out a small fire Bob Alexander was warring with Rogers and then helped to soften up Banks before his nemesis of the day paid heavy attention to him. The second hit laid on by Gariepy saw his car crush the roof of his opponent while he somersaulted onto his own back, eliminating the pair.

When Will Thompson and Norm Gibson came together for the eighth time in the heat that was it for both drivers, forcing them to share runner-up spot. Thompson, who trails championship leader Darryl Lozier by just six points, heads into his twenty-second final after chasing after Ingle and Gibson, but it was a hit to Bambi Rogers that started off his heat. Hutchins then came in with a blindside early in his ill-fated day before passing it on, then he struck his two victims once each, double-tapped Ruiz, then laid five more hits on Ingle (2) and Gibson (3).

That final hit left Gibson stranded along with his attacker, but it's fourteenth final for him; just his second in five weeks. Also suffering an early blindside - from who else but Thompson? - their ten minute war raged on with Alexander earning a couple of shots along the way; Yates and Rogers one each.

Jason Ingle therefore takes his third heat win this year as he moves on into eleventh final of his season, third in twelve. Almost falling at the start when his car stalled for a long time Ingle re-fired and struck both Alexander and Banks, avoiding a hit to his blindside as well, before suffering yet another tough stall. Again he had seconds to spare when he eventually re-fired the engine, but with everyone else preoccupied he suffered only six hits against throughout the heat. Laying a shot each into Gariepy and Alexander before their cataclysmal finale, he then rode the final challenges to take the win,.

Race Result
1. Jason Ingle
2. Norm Gibson
2. Will Thompson
4. Tom Gariepy
4. Bob Alexander
6. Randy Tondreau
7. Reggie Banks
8. Danny Krol
9. John Ruiz
10. Bambi Rogers
11. Jess Yates
12. Scott Hutchins

Controlled Chaos - Indiana Open, Heat One

Indiana Open - Winslow, IN
Heat One
Jamie Eilers, Ben Hadsell, Ed Smith, Matt Welliver, Sam Harbin, Andy Bing, Leo May, Will Murphy, Timmy Barnes, Darrell Andresen, Darryl Lozier, Don Davis

Ben Hadsell (1st Frostbite, Tied-2nd Summer National Derby, 2nd Texas Nationals, 1st Fall Nationals) went from hitting Ed Smith to colliding with Matt Welliver, jarring him enough to force him out very early on with a knock, and Darrell Andresen (4th Indy Nationals, 5th Firecracker Open, 5th Arknsas Derby) has two finals out of the last eight as he and Darryl Lozier tangled leaving the former stalled out.

It's no finals in four and with only three all year Timmy Barnes (12th Spring Fling Derby, 4th Big Apple Smash Up, 8th Bluegrass Derby) endures another hard luck round with five hits against him in quick order, two of them coming from Jamie Eilers, and the fall of the long-term standings leader Darryl Lozier (1st Tampa Open, Jersey Derby, Big Apple, Alamo Derby) continues as his battle with Ed Smith leaves him stalled and unable to re-fire in ninth position. This is the second time in two months he has missed back-to-back finals with only a 10th in the Bluegrass Derby and 4th at Hickory making up his points hauls in that time.

Matt Welliver (1st SidelineStrategy.com Derby, 2nd Golden Gate Invitational, 3rd Fall Nationals) is unable to continue his good form of late where he has four top four finishes in the last seven rounds, Andy Bing finishing with a blindside what Smith started with a double-attack, and then Bing creeps into the consolation heat after Welliver freed him and Harbin from a locked-bumper situation, going on to be crushed by a trio of assailants to take his total of hits against into double figures.

After looking in good form by taking it to five drivers Will Murphy suffered from a terrible miss that ended his heat in a wall, but he moves onto the second chance race along with Leo May who became locked up with Hadsell before Bing freed them, and Don Davis who warred hard with both Bing and Eilers with the latter ending it with a surprise hit after missing an earlier blindside attempt.

It's a fifth final in eight for Ed Smith who only enjoyed a single pointless appearance through the first twenty-two rounds. With eight hits for and only three against he was a repeat visitor to Bing, Welliver and May with two hits each as Hadsell, Lozier and May failed in their attempts to cause enough damage.

Jamie Eilers qualifies for his first final in five as he threw all of his efforts into striking Timmy Barnes, Andy Bing and Don Davis multiple shots on each. Avoiding much of the trouble he eventually ran out of places to hide and the pack descended upon him with Sam Harbin laying on the final hit.

Harbin's ninth final appearance, and first in six weeks, comes after taking his second heat victory this season. Another keen attacker of Andy Bing with three early shots which briefly locked them together Sam Harbin went through Lozier, Davis, May and then Eilers for the win, taking just three hits in the ten minute heat.

Race Result
1. Sam Harbin
2. Jamie Eilers
3. Ed Smith
4. Don Davis
5. Leo May
6. Will Murphy
7. Andy Bing
8. Matt Welliver
9. Darryl Lozier
10. Timmy Barnes
11. Darrell Andresen
12. Ben Hadsell

Controlled Chaos - Indiana Open Preview

Don Davis continues as understudy with Billy Edgington still sidelined, but Darryl Lozier is back from the knock that kept him out of action last week; Kenny Rose making way.

Since winning the Ohio Derby and Golden Gate Invitational two weeks apart Andy Bing has qualified for just one final (11th Fall Nationals) in the past month and he goes against Lozier in heat one. Ben Hadsell, coming off back-to-back appearances with a win at the Fall Nationals and sixth last week, joins them along with Jamie Eilers who is final-less in five weeks.

After his win in Akron Will Thompson will look to take charge of the standings but he has Scott Hutchins with him in the second heat in Winslow, and he will certainly have the same idea. Tom Gariepy has only one final in five (4th Fall) and Norm Gibson one in four (10th Halloween Open), but they both go in this heat as well.

Joe Ramage and Chris Henton are the big names going into the third heat with the former not enjoying a points scoring final in nine weeks since he won the Bryan Family Open, and Henton missing two straight after an eight-week run that contained six top four finishes and three runner-up spots.