Controlled Chaos - Lobster Nationals Standings

Darryl Lozier's joint fifth place with Jason Ingle leaves him looking comfortable at the top of the standings but things are closing up for second spot. After failing to pick up a point for a fourth straight final Joe Ramage is just a point ahead of Scott Hucthins and three ahead of Will Murphy. Norm Gibson becomes the tenth different driver to win a derby through the first twelve events and his victory in Bangor propels him right into the middle of the standings, and third place finisher Bob Alexander also gets a nice boost.

Name	Pts	Derby Wins	Heat Wins
Darryl Lozier	108.5	3	2
Joe Ramage	84	1
Scott Hutchens	83	1	2
Will Murphy	81		2
Will Thompson	74	1	3
Tom Gariepy	68.5	1
Andy Bing	45	1
Leo May	44		3
Ben Hadsell	43	1	3
Jamie Eilers	37		1
Steven Redden	34.5		1
Rob Remaley	34		1
Lynne Higgins	30		1
John Ruiz	29	1	2
Chris Henton	27	1	1
Bobby Gallagher	25		1
Norm Gibson	24	1
Randy Corson	23		2
Dick Garrett	23		1
Bob Alexander	20		2
Sam Harbin	20
Don Davis	17		1
Danny Krol	16		1
Darrell Andresen	13		2
John McCrory	12
Timmy Barnes	11		1
Ricky Grimes	10
Jess Yates	9		1
Jason Ingle	8.5
Matt Welliver	7		1
Randy Tondreau	6
Charlie Clayton	5
Philip Ruffin	5
Kenny Rose	0

Controlled Chaos - Lobster Nationals Final

Lobster Nationals - Bangor, ME
Final
Will Murphy, Jason Ingle, Darryl Lozier, Ben Hadsell, Scott Hucthins, Bob Alexander, Darrell Andresen, Rob Remaley, Joe Ramage, Norm Gibson, Kenny Rose, Will Thompson

Kenny Rose in his second ever final matched his previous result of last when fellow consolation heat qualifier Norm Gibson laid a pair of rough hits on him, and Joe Ramage's return to the final was short lived when his vehicle stalled at the start and would not re-fire.

Will Thompson extended his record of finishing inside the top ten in all nine of his finals, but it could have been much more for the heat two winner after he was disqualified for his hit on Ben Hadsell who was next to go in ninth thanks to that tough hit.

Darrell Andresen, in just his second final over the past eight events, picks up a couple of points as he took a kamikaze approach with six hits on five drivers - Scott Hutchins the repeat victim - and ended with as much damage to himself as those he struck, and Rob Remaley rode hits from six different opponents before he survived a long stall only to have his seventh final end at the wheels of Will Murphy.

Darryl Lozier and Jason Ingle are poles apart in their season performance but the judges ruled their eliminations equal after Ingle rammed his opponent to end their conflict and their race. This, along with Ramage's early exit, allow Will Murphy close the gap on the top two with a seventh top five finish in eight finals (6th Jersey Derby) and is now just three points second place. After going to town on Ingle early on, Murphy became locked up with Bob Alexander bumper to bumper. A hit from Norm Gibson freed the pair before he returned to finish the job on Murphy.

That left Bob Alexander in his third final taking on Scott Hutchins in his seventh and Norm Gibson in his second. The veteran was all over Alexander to eliminate him in third place while Gibson was focusing his attacks on Hutchins. After Alexander's exit, Hutchins turned into another Gibson hit to finish the event. A second runner-up spot in as many races, and a third top two finish in the last four, boost the standing of Scott Hutchins to third place. Norm Gibson's debut win shoots him up the middle of the pack.

Race Result
1. Norm Gibson
2. Scott Hutchins
3. Bob Alexander
4. Will Murphy
5. Jason Ingle
5. Darryl Lozier
7. Rob Remaley
8. Darrell Andresen
9. Ben Hadsell
10. Will Thompson
11. Joe Ramage
12. Kenny Rose

Controlled Chaos - Lobster Nationals, Consolation Heat

Lobster Nationals - Bangor, ME
Consolation Heat
Steven Redden, Jess Yates, Reggie Banks, Rob Remaley, Norm Gibson, Phillip Ruffin, Jamie Eilers, Kenny Rose, Chris Henton, Leo May, John Ruiz

With Timmy Barnes suffering from a slight knock the field for the consolation heat would be made of eleven drivers. Jess Yates (8th Arizona, 7th Jersey) was quickly put down by six hits, three of them coming from Reggie Banks. Leo May misses his third final in a row after appearing in five out of seven. Currently eighth in the standings, May was eager to get at John Ruiz, with a hit on Yates in between, but he too suffered six hits with a hat-trick from Chris Henton causing a lot of damage, and Banks remains part of a group of six drivers who have yet to feature in a final; a double shot from Norm Gibson doing the job.

Winner of the Spring Fling Derby Chris Henton's abuse of Leo May was not enough to see him through to a fourth final as the shrinking pack descended upon him, and five time finalist Steven Redden's (T-2nd Valentine's Day Massacre) tactic of circling the track failed when Rob Remaley avenged an earlier hit with a blindside shot of his own.

Phillip Ruffin (9th Ides of March, 8th Big Apple Smash Up) goes down in sixth place when Kenny Rose kicks off the heat with a pair of hits before he and Gibson laid another five between upon Ruffin. The five-car battle continued for several minutes before Jamie Eilers (2nd Frostbite, 2nd Ides), hanging on to a top ten place in the standings, bounced off Gibson and embedded himself onto a barrier.

With four drivers remaining and only three final places up for grabs it was a cycle of destruction with Remaley boucning between Ruiz and Gibson while Kenny Rose hammered John Ruiz (1st Ides) into submission to cost him his fourth final appearance in five events.

That leaves Rob Remaley moving on into his seventh final of the season where he has two top five finishes so far: third at the Ides of March event and a fourth place in Seattle. He is joined by Norm Gibson, who makes it back-to-back finals (7th Big Apple Smash Up) after failing to qualify in any of the previous ten events, and Kenny Rose whose limited time as an alternate driver has seen him reach one final, the Ides of March, where he ended up in twelfth spot.

Race Result
Q. Rob Remaley
Q. Norm Gibson
Q. Kenny Rose
4. John Ruiz
5. Jamie Eilers
6. Phillip Ruffin
7. Steven Redden
8. Chris Henton
9. Reggie Banks
10. Leo May
11. Jess Yates
12. Timmy Barnes (DNS)

Controlled Chaos - Lobster Nationals, Heat Three

Lobster Nationals - Bangor, ME
Heat Three
Billy Edgington, Jason Ingle, Bill Malbrough, Rob Remaley, John McCrory, John Ruiz, Randy Tondreau, Joe Ramage, Bob Alexander, Reggie Banks, Chris Henton, Ricky Grimes

As in the first heat this one went deep before the eliminations began with Bill Malbrough, Billy Edgington, John Ruiz and Rob Remaley very popular drivers through the opening six minutes. The third heat also featured a lot of repeat custom starting with Malbrough laying a pair of hits on Remaley before the former took his fifth shot while stalled to become the first out of the contest, and Ricky Grimes (3rd Jersey) was next when he was counted out after becoming embedded onto the scenery.

The flies kept dropping with Billy Edgington trying to get at Jason Ingle before Ingle turned around and paid the Brit back with interest, and Randy Tondreau unable to make it three finals in four events even as he led the charge on Joe Ramage with three hits but was doubled-tapped by Bob Alexander for a ninth place finish.

With back-to-back finals at Tampa (9th) and the Valentine's Day Massacre (11th), John McCrory has gone on to reach just one other final (3rd Seattle) in the next eight rounds upto and including the Lobster Nationals. He suffered a pair of brief stalls but it was his war with John Ruiz that led into an all out assault from five different drivers to end his race in eighth, and Reggie Banks will have another shot at breaking his final duck by finishing in seventh after taking a savage attack from Chris Henton with three hits, two of them blindsiding Banks.

The other consolation heat entrants are six time finalist Rob Remaley who hit McCrory no less than four times before Henton made him his new favourite; Ides of March winner John Ruiz who was eager to get stuck in with ten hits on seven drivers with Tondreau and Ramage his repeat victims; and Spring Fling Derby champion Chris Henton rampaging over Remaley, Banks and Ramage with three hits each before the latter joined forces with Bob Alexander to end the one man carnage.

It's a first final in four events for the Valentine's Day Massacre winner and five time finalist Joe Ramage. He somehow stayed on the move after a series of situations where he stalled, became stuck or missed his target leaving him open to ten hits; six of which came from Henton and Tondreau.

After finishing off Ramage with a pair of shots, Jason Ingle makes his way into a fifth final of the year, but he has only scored points in one when he finished ninth at Spring Fling. Managing to avoid a lot of attention, Ingle ended up losing a head-to-head battle with Bob Alexander who was relentless with thirteen hits on eight cars, Henton and Ingle earning three shots each, to give him a second heat victory of the year and a place in his third final (6th Arizona, 10th VDM)

Race Result
1. Bob Alexander
2. Jason Ingle
3. Joe Ramage
4. Chris Henton
5. John Ruiz
6. Rob Remaley
7. Reggie Banks
8. John McCrory
9. Randy Tondreau
10. Billy Edgington
11. Ricky Grimes
12. Bill Malbrough

Controlled Chaos - Lobster Nationals, Heat Two

Lobster Nationals - Bangor, ME
Heat Two
Will Thompson, Randy Corson, Timmy Barnes, Norm Gibson, Lynne Higgins, Sam Harbin, Will Murphy, Jess Yates, Leo May, Tom Gariepy, Bambi Rogers, Darrell Andresen

With no stall outs in the opening heat both Tom Gariepy, who misses back-to-back finals for the first time since the first three events of the season, and Bambi Rogers, still waiting for her final debut, both failed to move from their starting positions and were counted out.

Lynne Higgins picked up yet another disqualification as she bounced between Will Murphy and Sam Harbin and it was her second hit on the latter that was judged to be unfair. Harbin was also keen to take on two at once with the prone Gariepy taking two hits, Will Thompson the other two, but a double-team from Murphy and Jess Yates ended the Arizona Derby runner-up's day in ninth place.

Randy Corson and Timmy Barnes had an almighty battle going - Will Thompson throwing his efforts in on both for good measure - with Corson (5th Frostbite, 5th Tampa) the first to go causing him to miss out on the consolation heat, but Barnes (4th Smash Up) would also lose out on a second chance as a huge blindside hit from Norm Gibson gave him an injury that would keep him out of the rest of the day's action.

That big hit caused Gibson's car to stall out but he will move on into the consolation heat as he tries to make it two finals in a row. There was a gap of around two minutes between the sixth and fifth place finishers and it was Jess Yates and Leo May all over Darrell Andresen with four hits between them, but as the heat headed towards it's climax they started on each other and put themselves into the second chance race.

After qualifying for three of the first four finals this season, where his best result was eighth at Frostbite, Darrell Andresen makes it to his second in the last eight events. Outside of the aforementioned double-teaming he had to endure, Andresen did a good job in avoiding trouble and he gave as good as he got from Yates before Will Murphy came in and crushed him out of the running.

That left the two Will's, Murphy and Thompson, who sit in third and fourth in the championship standings, Thompson one point behind his rival. They were happy to be regular partners with six of their seventeen total shots hitting each other, but in the end it was Frostbite winner and now nine time finalist Will Thompson who takes his second heat win of the year, leapfrogging eight time finalist Murphy for third place.

Race Result
1. Will Thompson
2. Will Murphy
3. Darrell Andresen
4. Leo May
5. Jess Yates
6. Norm Gibson
7. Timmy Barnes
8. Randy Corson
9. Sam Harbin
10. Lynne Higgins
11. Bambi Rogers
12. Tom Gariepy

Controlled Chaos - Lobster Nationals, Heat One

Lobster Nationals - Bangor, ME
Heat One
Steven Redden, Kenny Rose, Dick Garrett, Ben Hadsell, Charlie Clayton, Scott Hutchins, Jamie Eilers, Phillip Ruffin, Darryl Lozier, Tommy Miller, Danny Krol, Matt Welliver

All twelve cars survived the first five minutes with Darryl Lozier taking the heat of leading the championship with five hits against him, but the first two to be eliminated were Danny Krol who took eight hits and Tommy Miller who needed six to bring him down.

After a sixth place finish in the Big Apple Smash Up, Matt Welliver hotly pursued Lozier but was unaware of his surroundings as he became entangled on a barrier and was counted out in tenth, and four time finalist Dick Garrett hit both Krol and Charlie Clayton twice each before Kenny Rose returned from an earlier attack to remove Garrett from the derby.

Clayton misses out on a final for the ninth time in twelve events, ending in the unlucky eighth place as Ben Hadsell led the charge against him, and Phillip Ruffin (8th Smash Up) sneaks into the consolation heat after Steven Redden took full advantage of a stall before he took his eighth hit of the heat, Lozier providing the finisher.

Jamie Eilers will try and reach his fifth final of the year by way of the consolation heat after laying seven hits on six cars and taking seven in return, Scott Hutchins with two hard shots in quick succession to avenge Eilers assault, and he will be joined by Kenny Rose (12th Ides of March) as the alternate driver was rushed by his three remaining rivals after striking Garrett, Hutchins, Redden and Hadsell twice each.

After the attention he had garnered early on, Darryl Lozier survived long enough to reach his tenth final of the season and a sixth in a row, his final hit on Rose forcing him to limp into third place. That left Scott Hutchins trying to re-fire his stalled engine and Ben Hadsell hounding the stricken driver with a pair of hard hits, taking his total attacks on Hutchins to four for the day and claim his third heat victory of the year. This will be Hadsell's fifth final appearance while Hutchins makes it seven finals on the year, his fifth in a row.

Race Result
1. Ben Hadsell
2. Scott Hutchins
3. Darryl Lozier
4. Kenny Rose
5. Jamie Eilers
6. Steven Redden
7. Phillip Ruffin
8. Charlie Clayton
9. Dick Garrett
10. Matt Welliver
11. Tommy Miller
12. Danny Krol

Controlled Chaos - Lobster Nationals Preview

Winner of the last two events and championship leader Darryl Lozier goes in the first heat at the Lobster nationals in Bangor, Maine. His nearest rival in the heat is Scott Hutchins, the last driver outside of Lozier to win a final (Seattle), who sits sixth in the standings, with Will Thompson Will Murphy and Tom Gariepy all in heat two, with Joe Ramage the lone contender in heat three as he looks to get back on track after missing three straight finals.

Andy Bing's injury keeps him out of action for another week where Kenny Rose continues to be his substitute, and he is joined on the sidelines by Ed Smith who is replaced for this event by Tommy Miller. Both alternates go head to head in the first heat.