Controlled Chaos - Louisiana Invitational Standings

Scott Hutchins is Darryl Lozier's closest rival now, 23.5pts back, thanks to his third place finish, and Jamie Eilers is back among the top five with his fourth place in New Orleans moving him up three places. Norm Gibson continues to impress with 47.5pts taken out of a possible 60 through the last three events, and Louisiana Invitational winner Ricky Grimes will be hoping this is the start of his season, his victory moving him up ten places in the standings to thirteenth.

Name	Pts	Derby Wins	Heat Wins
Darryl Lozier	124.5	3	2
Scott Hutchens	101	1	2
Will Thompson	99.5	1	3
Jamie Eilers	88	2	2
Joe Ramage	84	1
Will Murphy	81		2
Andy Bing	78	2	1
Norm Gibson	74.5	2	1
Ben Hadsell	72.5	1	3
Tom Gariepy	70.5	1
Leo May	67		3
Steven Redden	57.5		1
Ricky Grimes	44	1	2
Lynne Higgins	38		1
Rob Remaley	37		2
Chris Henton	36	1	1
John Ruiz	29	1	2
Danny Krol	28		2
Dick Garrett	27		1
Bobby Gallagher	25		1
John McCrory	25
Darrell Andresen	24		3
Randy Corson	23		2
Don Davis	23		2
Bob Alexander	22		2
Jess Yates	20		2
Sam Harbin	20
Charlie Clayton	18		1
Jason Ingle	16.5		1
Matt Welliver	11.5		2
Timmy Barnes	11		1
Randy Tondreau	6
Philip Ruffin	5
Kenny Rose	2		1
Ed Smith	2		1

Controlled Chaos - Louisiana Invitational Final

Louisiana Derby - New Orleans, LA
Final
Steven Redden, Jason Ingle, Ricky Grimes, Leo May, Jamie Eilers, Charlie Clayton, Scott Hutchins, Norm Gibson

With only eight qualifiers there would be points available to all finalists but no-one would be eliminated until after the six minute mark of a highly competitive final where it would all kick off. Ricky Grimes and Scott Hutchins would face the brunt of attacks with a combined seventeen hits on them, but they would outlast many including heat three winner Charlie Clayton (7th Frostbite, 10th Spring Fling, 5th Texas) as the six-time finalist ends his third final in a row after nine collisions; only four of which were against him.

That started a mass exodus where five of the drivers would be evicted from the race. Next to go was seven-time finalist and heat one victor Jason Ingle (9th Spring Fling, tied-5th Lobster, 9th Summer National) who only took three hits but his battered vehicle just could not take anymore.

Steven Redden (tied-2nd Valentine's Day Massacre, 3rd Indy) ends his fourth final in five weeks with a sixth place finish. His early assault on Scott Hutchins was cut short on two blindside hits from Ingle and Grimes that crippled his car, and Leo May (4th Wisconsin, 4th Idaho, 2nd Indy) has reached the top five for the fourth time this year, three of them coming in invitational events. May's comeuppance came with a miss either side of his double attack on Jamie Eilers.

Rounding up the quickfire eliminations at the six minute mark is the last man standings in heat two Eilers who, after taking two runner-up spots (Frostbite, Ides of March) went on to win back-to-back derbies at the Summer Sizzler and Summer National Derby. Now he adds a fourth place finish to climb further up the standings but, if not for a blindside hit from Leo May slowing him right down, could have been a real threat to the final three.

A fifth podium finish for Scott Hutchins (1st Seattle, 2nd Big Apple Smash Up, 2nd Lobster) moves him up into second place in the the championship standings; his first final in three weeks ending with his involvement in fourteen collisions, six of which he instigated on as many different opponents.

One of the recent big moves finishes in runner-up spot for the second time and in the top two for a fourth final. Norm Gibson did not feature in a final this season until the eleventh event and since then has gone on to qualify for six of the last seven rounds where he won the Lobster Nationals and Texas Nationals. A pair of blindside hits from Redden merely disturbed the flow of heat four's winner until a cruel stall at the very end left him wide open for his remaining opponent to pounce.

Ricky Grimes gains nine places in the standings with his debut victory in his third straight final to become the twelfth driver to win an event. Grimes, who previously had a pair of eleventh place finishes (Spring Fling, Summer National) and two thirds (Jersey, Texas) started out his fifth final forced against a barrier where he was able to free himself and start laying out his five hits. Hitting Gibson twice earlier on was surely a big reason why Grimes took the win as, after being blindsided by the runner-up, he kept on moving and took full advantage of a stalled competitor.

Race Result
1. Ricky Grimes
2. Norm Gibson
3. Scott Hutchins
4. Jamie Eilers
5. Leo May
6. Steven Redden
7. Jason Ingle
8. Charlie Clayton

Controlled Chaos - Louisiana Invitational, Heat Four

Louisiana Invitational - New Orleans, LA
Heat Four
John McCrory, Darrell Andresen, Norm Gibson, John Ruiz, Scott Hutchins, John Ruiz, Randy Corson, Will Murphy,

It was something of a free-for-all on three of the starting drivers in the final heat. Darrell Andresen taking a pair of hits in the first and John McCrory was hit three times in the opening two minutes, but the big victim was Ides of March winner John Ruiz. Ruiz tried his best to survive five brutal minutes where he took no less than nine shots with Andresen laying on a pair, Scott Hutchins and Norm Gibson both bringing the pain on three occasions.

But before his eventual exit there were two other competitors who fell by the wayside in a rather meek fashion as, after qualifying for eight finals in the first eleven weeks where ended up no worse than sixth with four podiums to his credit, Will Murphy fails in his fifth straight attempt to reach another as he stalled out. Right behind was John McCrory, the five-time finalist with a career best third place at the Seattle Derby avoiding a hit only to crash into the wall where he would remain.

Ruiz then goes a seventh consecutive week without a final, and six-time finalist Darrell Andresen, who managed a career high fourth place in his most recent appearance in Indy, did not pick his hits on two hits each on Ruiz and Murphy which resulted in his exit.

Randy Corson, who managed a pair of fifth place finishes to start the season at Frostbite and Tampa, misses his eleventh final in the next fourteen events as, after joining the gang attack on Ruiz, took back-to-back-to-back hits on his blindside - Hutchins, Joe Ramage, Gibson - to end his day in fourth place.

To start the season Joe Ramage missed out on finals through the first three events, but he followed that up with five in a row winning the Valentine's Day Massacre and, after a seventh at the Ides of March, three straight runner-up spots. Since then Ramage has made it to one final (11th Lobster Nationals) in the next nine weeks; his dismissal in New Orleans occurring after he battered Clayton three times before a pair of costly misses led to his demise.

That means Scott Hutchins' eyes will be wide open in his tenth final as the third place man in the standings will be eager to gain ground on the pair above him. Hutchins led the assault on Ruiz, survived a stall scare midway through the heat, and then went Mano-a-Mano for some time with Norm Gibson who, also was all out on Ruiz but also had a couple of minor scares with stalls and a situation where he became stuck, only to survive all of this and win his first heat of the year. It's a sixth final in seven weeks for Gibson who has two wins in that time and a runner-up finish.

Race Result
1. Norm Gibson
2. Scott Hutchins
3. Joe Ramage
4. Randy Corson
5. Darrell Andresen
6. John Ruiz
7. John McCrory
8. Will Muprhy

Controlled Chaos - Louisiana Invitational, Heat Three

Louisiana Invitational - New Orleans, LA
Heat Three
Bobby Gallagher, Leo May, Charlie Clayton, Danny Krol, Will Thompson, Darryl Lozier, Don Davis, Bob Alexander

Two of the four alternate drivers were thrown together in the penultimate heat of the day but their exits were sadly swift with Bobby Gallagher, who has history in invitationals with a third place finish in Wisconsin, stalling out at the very start and Don Davis, managing a runner-up spot in his limited time at the Jersey Derby, damaging his car as much as any of the vehicles he was attacking.

One of Davis' prime targets was Danny Krol, he misses out on a sixth final appearance as he took nine hits with three of them coming from Charlie Clayton, and in fifth place after eight minutes was Bob Alexander, the four-time finalist hitting Gallagher twice and Leo May thrice before losing a rough n tumble battle with Will Thompson.

It wasn't until the twelfth minute that the final four became two as the championship leaders exit the stage without picking up any points. Darryl Lozier misses just his fourth final in seventeen weeks of action, the three-time champion (Tampa Open, Jersey Derby, Big Apple Smash Up) has not had the best luck with invitational events with a fifteenth place finish in Idaho and no final at all in Wisconsin. His day started out with a blindside hit from Davis and his rhythm was continually disrupted by brief stalls before the big one hit him and he could not re-fire the engine.

Will Thompson, who was unsurprisingly keen to get at his title rival with four hits, also tangled with Alexander for another four shots, but his joy of seeing Lozier stranded was short-lived as two hits from his opponent started a job that was finished by Clayton and May in short order.

Both finalists had been locked together in the opening five minutes when Clayton initiated contact, but it wasn't long until Bob Alexander came storming through to break them apart. After this incident Leo May, heading into his seventh final but just his second in the last eight weeks, went at Thompson before he and his remaining enemy went at it.

Charlie Clayton started out the heat pummeling Krol into submission before the lock up occurred. AFter they were freed Clayton mixed it up with both Lozier and Thompson and then, despite taking a 2-1 hit deficit at the very end of the heat, Clayton's hit on May was a powerful shot that earned him his first heat victory of the season and his fifth final appearance with a third in a row.

Race Result
1. Charlie Clayton
2. Leo May
3. Will Thompson
4. Darryl Lozier
5. Bob Alexander
6. Danny Krol
7. Don Davis
8. Bobby Gallagher

Controlled Chaos - Louisiana Invitational, Heat Two

Louisiana Invitational - New Orleans, LA
Jess Yates, Rob Remaley, Jamie Eilers, Timmy Barnes, Sam Harbin, Ben Hadsell, Andy Bing, Ricky Grimes,

No early disqualifications in the second heat of the day, just full-on action for four minutes before the first two eliminations. With little room to manoeuvre  Ben Hadsell, who has five finals in six events with a pair of runner-up spots in his last two, found himself bouncing from one car to another before Andy Bing, laying on the eighth hit against Hadsell, finally put him out of his misery.

Jess Yates found a little more freedom, allowing him to avoid a blindside from Rob Remaley who had succeeded in sneaking up on Hadsell earlier, but two hard collisions with Ricky Grimes ended the three-times finalists day.

Remaley - two finals in seven after six in nine - was looking pretty good before Bing was involved yet again as his strike resulted in a catastrophic stall, and Sam Harbin, who now has one final in his last eight, quickly joined him as a spectator after a second shot from Grimes took him out in the sixth minute.

Double event winner Andy Bing, who had forced himself to the pointy end of the heat, had Timmy Barnes to thank for stalling his engine and putting him out of the race, but it was for naught when Barnes, who has two finals all year, was rambunctiously removed by the tag team of Jamie Eilers and Ricky Grimes.

Grimes makes it three finals in a row where he hopes to make it a third podium finish this season rather than a third eleventh spot. His focus was on Barnes, Harbin and Yates throughout the eleven minute heat, only going up against his final opponent once near the end.

After winning back-to-back events Eilers missed out on the final in Texas but finds his way to the big stage again but a lengthy stall midway through the heat almost cost him any chance of that. Prior to his stoppage the attention was on Hadsell but, after barely avoiding a hit on his blindside, skidded to a halt before re-firing and taking out first Barnes and then Grimes for his second heat win of the year.

Race Result
1. Jamie Eilers
2. Ricky Grimes
3. Timmy Barnes
4. Andy Bing
5. Sam Harbin
6. Rob Remaley
7. Jess Yates
8. Ben Hadsell

Controlled Chaos - Louisiana Invitational, Heat One

Louisiana Invitational - New Orleans, LA
Heat One
Phillip Ruffin, Randy Tondreau, Jason Ingle, Chris Henton, Lynne Higgins, Steven Redden, Dick Garrett, Tom Gariepy

The day started out with a disqualification after Lynne Higgins' hit on Steven Redden was judged harshly by derby officials, possibly based on Higgins' reputation for DQ exits - and the four time fifth place finisher has just one final appearance in her last nine events - but that was the only dismissal in the opening five minutes.

The smaller arena was making for some frantic action where someone was always in another driver's way. After Redden and Randy Tondreau being hit a combined five times in the opening minute there was a lull in the action as four different cars all stalled at the same time: Jason Ingle and Chris Henton re-fired almost immediately but the two popular targets from the first minute were close to ending their days counted out.

Chris Henton, winner of the Spring Fling Derby, was only hit once by Ingle but what a hit it was, crippling his vehicle after his attacks on Tondreau, Tom Gariepy and Dick Garrett, and the latter of his hit-list was next to go in sixth place. Five-time finalist Garrett, who has now made it through the qualification process just once in the last eight events, was sandwiched by Henton and Ingle before his second hit on Tondreau proved to be his undoing.

After gaining his invitation at the expense of an injured Matt Welliver, Phillip Ruffin was unable to make his big break count and add a third final to his resume, elimination coming from a rabid Gariepy while he continued to hound three-time finalist Tondreau who was by far the biggest target out there with ten hits against him to eventually wear him down in fourth place.

Out of the final three only Tom Gariepy could call himself a champion, but the winner of the first invitational this season in Wisconsin ended up suffering for his trio of shots against Ruffin, leaving Ingle and Redden making their way to their sixth and ninth final respectively but not before they decided who would win the heat.

Jason Ingle had been all over Redden for over five minutes, with a quick stopover in Tondreau's personal space breaking up the habit, and Steven Redden, who after surviving his big stall had then gone on to double up on Henton and lay hits on both Ruffin and Gariepy, but when his attention was turned to his remaining opponent he found himself second best.

Race Result
1. Jason Ingle
2. Steven Redden
3. Tom Gariepy
4. Randy Tondreau
5. Phillip Ruffin
6. Dick Garrett
7. Chris Henton
8. Lynne Higgins

Controlled Chaos - Louisiana Invitational Preview

The top thirty-two, minus a slightly injured Matt Welliver, make their way to New Orleans for the third invitational event of the year. The venue provides a lot of good views for the spectators as they tower over a smaller battleground. This change in size provides a slightly new look for this week as there will be no consolation heat, instead there are four heats of eight cars with the top two from each qualifying for the final.

With Welliver out of action it is a gift for Phillip Ruffin as the man who has two finals all year rounds out the thirty-two entrants in heat one along with Tom Gariepy who currently sits ninth in the standings despite one final (11th Indy Nationals) in the last six events.

Heat two features the sixth, seventh and eighth place men in Jamie Eilers, Ben Hadsell, and Andy Bing. Eilers and Bing have won in recent weeks, the former taking back-to-back events, while Hadsell finished the last two rounds in second place. Sam Harbin also makes his return from a three week layoff in this group.

The third heat is where the title race could go one way or another with Darryl Lozier and Will Thompson, the top two in the drivers standings, meet again. They are joined by Leo May who props up the top ten with just one final (2nd Indy Nationals) in the last seven events.

Finally heat four. With a second win under his belt Texas Nationals victor Norm Gibson is mixing it with the big guns and will have to be on form again in Louisiana against the remaining three members of the top five: Scott Hutchins, Joe Ramage and Will Murphy