Controlled Chaos - Tampa Open, Standings

Will Thompson and Ben Hadsell remain at the top but Tampa Open winner Darryl Lozier is now up with them in third spot. Murphy and Corson move on into the top five but Jamie Eilers, Sam Harbin and Scott Hutchins are still in the top ten thanks to their earlier top three finishes and not even three-time finalist Rob Remaley can dislodge them.

Name	Pts
Will Thompson	45
Ben Hadsell	33
Darryl Lozier	32
Will Murphy	26
Randy Corson	18
Jamie Eilers	15
Sam Harbin	15
Scott Hutchens	10
Rob Remaley	9
Lynne Higgins	9
Darrell Andresen	8
Leo May	6
Bob Alexander	5
Steven Redden	5
Randy Tondreau	5
Charlie Clayton	4
Jess Yates	3
Danny Krol	2
John Ruiz	2
John McCrory	2

Controlled Chaos - Tampa Open, Final

Tampa Open - Tampa, Florida
Final
John McCrory, Lynne Higgins, Rob Remaley, Matt Welliver, Darryl Lozier, Will Thompson, Randy Corson, Will Murphy, Leo May, Randy Tondreau, Ben Hadsell, Andy Bing

Leo May, John McCrory and Randy Tondreau all make their debut in a final, the first two by virtue of winning heats with Tondreau qualifying through the consolation heat, and all three would pick up points unlike Andy Bing who threw his weight around too much ending his second straight final appearance in twelfth position. One of three drivers who have qualified for all the finals so far is Matt Welliver and after stalling on the start has finished in eleventh spot every time.

Lynne Higgins was unable to match her top five place in Arizona but takes a point for finishing in tenth taking hits first from Tondreau and then McCrory who ended up trapped as a result ending his debut in ninth. Heat two winner Leo May also found himself hang up on the barricades and was counted out soon after Rob Remaley who stalled out in his third final in three events.

Randy Tondreau attacked familiar faces in McCrory, Higgins and May, drivers he had gone head to head with earlier in the heat, but it was the two winners of the other heats, Ben Hadsell and Randy Corson, who took him down in sixth place before Corson picked up a second top five finish of the year.

Will Thompson is another competitor who has made it to all three finals with his fourth place finish here in Tampa matching his result in Edmonton either side of winning Arizona. His elimination came after a long hard battle with Darryl Lozier that only ended when flames were spotted coming out of Thompson's car.

The final five, including the surviving trio of Ben Hadsell, Darryl Lozier and Will Murphy, all picked up their second top five results of the season, third for Thompson. After going toe-to-toe against Thompson for the better part of ten minutes Darryl Lozier switched his attacks to Murphy who in turn was relentless in his assault on Hadsell.

After a third consecutive hit in quick succession Murphy finally had Hadsell's vehicle conceding defeat but a coming together with Lozier stalled the remaining two cars. Lozier, who finished fourth in his heat behind Murphy and had to go through the consolation race, refired his engine and took victory in Tampa.

Race Result
1. Darryl Lozier
2. Will Murphy
3. Ben Hadsell
4. Will Thompson
5. Randy Corson
6. Randy Tondreau
7. Leo May
8. Rob Remaley
9. John McCrory
10. Lynne Higgins
11. Matt Welliver
12. Andy Bing

Controlled Chaos - Tampa Open, Consolation Heat

Tampa Open - Tampa, Florida
Consolation Heat
Norm Gibson, Darryl Lozier, Darrell Andresen, Reggie Banks, Chris Henton, Dick Garrett, Lynne Higgins, Randy Tondreau, Ed Smith, Scott Hutchins, Tom Gariepy

With Joe Ramage receiving treatment for the injuries sustained in his heat there were eleven drivers at the start of the consolation heat, and it was Norm Gibson whose run was shortest as he came off second best in collisions with Smith and Garrett before his coming together with Lozier put him down for good.

The next exit came five minutes in and it led to yet another stoppage, this time it was Reggie Banks who needed medical staff to help him and will certainly miss significant time with a leg injury. Ed Smith was the one who put the final hit on Banks before he too was taken out by a blindside hit from Tom Gariepy.

Chris Henton's hit on Garrett stalled the pair of them but Henton refired only to be eliminated by Darrell Andresen just prior to Garrett being counted out, and Gariepy's early assault on Scott Hutchins, who became a later target for Randy Tondreau, was for naught and both men were finished in sixth and fifth places respectively.

The final driver to miss out on the Tampa Open final was Andresen who put in six hits on five cars before stalling, opening himself up for the coup de grace by Darryl Lozier who makes his second final after finishing third in the Arizona Derby. He will be joined by fellow Canadian Randy Tondreau for his first final appearance and Lynne HIggins who once again was very quiet but made herself known with some hits to help Andresen on his way out, also finishing off Gariepy.

Race Result
Q. Darryl Lozier
Q. Lynne Higgins
Q. Randy Tondreau
4. Darrell Andresen
5. Scott Hutchins
6. Tom Garipey
7. Dick Garrett
8. Chris Henton
9. Ed Smith
10. Reggie Banks
11. Norm Gibson
12. Joe Ramage (DNS)

Controlled Chaos - Tampa Open, Heat 3

Tampa Open - Tampa, Florida
Heat 3
Dick Garrett, Joe Ramage, John McCrory, Scott Hutchins, Phillip Ruffin, Lynne Higgins, Will Thompson, John Ruiz, Jess Yates, Danny Krol, Randy Corson, Rickey Grimes

Lynne Higgins was a popular girl at the start of heat number three as five drivers went straight at her, including Ricky Grimes who mistimed his hit on Higgins and left himself vulnerable to Danny Krol's vicious attack that took Grimes out in the opening minute.

John Ruiz was the next to break down as he hounded a stuck Jess Yates only to be crushed by a series of hits from the pack, and the derby had to be stopped so Danny Krol could be helped from his car after Scott Hutchins rolled him over. Only minor injuries were sustained and Krol should return for the next event.

Another stoppage for potential injury occurred soon after the eliminations of Yates who was successfully targeted eight times, Phillip Ruffin who managed to refire after a long stall but misses out on the consolation heat, and Lynne Higgins who performed quite poorly with two hits in over six minutes, suffering eleven hits against her. The action was then called to a halt when Joe Ramage was hurt on a big hit by Scott Hutchins, where the latter's car went up and over the top, and required medical assistance. Early indications are the injury is quite serious and Ramage will certainly play no part in the consolation heat.

Dick Garrett was a catalyst in the exits of Yates, targeting the ninth place man twice, but he also made heavy contact with Will Thompson on two occasions causing a big stall. Yet it was Arizona Derby winner Thompson who would continue while Garrett charged through as many cars as he could before his fifth place finish.

Another incident brought events to a halt when Scott Hutchins' vehicle caught on fire after he too tried to get at Thompson leaving the final three fighting it out. Thompson finally fell when John McCrory took advantage of him stalling for a second time before Randy Corson did the same to McCrory to take his first heat win of the season.

Race Result
1. Randy Corson
2. John McCrory
3. Will Thompson
4. Scott Hutchins
5. Dick Garrett
6. Joe Ramage (inj)
7. Lynne Higgins
8. Phillip Ruffin
9. Jess Yates
10. Danny Krol
11. John Ruiz
12. Ricky Grimes

Controlled Chaos - Tampa Open, Heat 2

Tampa Open - Tampa, Florida
Heat 2
Jamie Eilers, Tom Gariepy, Bob Alexander, Jason Ingle, Leo May, Ed Smith, Randy Tondreau, Darryl Lozier, Will Murphy, Sam Harbin, Rob Remaley, Kenny Rose

Like the previous heat the second heat also had a large pack fighting long and hard for the best part of ten minutes after Sam Harbin and Bob Alexander were the only drivers eliminated during the opening six minutes. Harbin, runner-up in the Arizona Derby, had Jason Ingle and Darryl Lozier as regular dance partners, and Alexander was too eager in his pursuit of Ingle and Tom Gariepy who he blindsided three times, to last the distance.

Jamie Eilers finished in second place at Frostbite but will miss the final for a second derby running after taking eight hits, three of which came from Ed Smith as they had a good old battle between them before Eilers caught Kenny Rose off guard twice in quick succession.

Ingle was next to fall in ninth as after surviving the early onslaught from Alexander he had a pack of four cars closing in with several hard shots within the space of a minute, and the eighth spot went to Kenny Rose who suffered the wrath of Rob Remaley throughout before he and Tom Gariepy finished the job.

Gariepy would end up in sixth, the early damage done by numerous Bob Alexander blindsides taking their toll, but not before the elimination of Ed Smith in seventh place as his sneak attack on Leo May was ill-timed, resulting in his car giving up the ghost.

The final two consolation heat places went to the Canadians Randy Tondreau and Darryl Lozier, the former working over Eilers before he stalled and became stuck to leave him a sitting duck, and the latter chasing both Murphy and Remaley before he was forced to call it a race.

Both Murphy and Remaley were giving joint second place as a final big hit from Murphy finished them both off. This left Leo May to win his first heat of the season hitting seven of the twelve entrants with Kenny Rose and Jamie Eilers, both of whom caught him with blindsides, the more common victims.

Race Result
1. Leo May
2. Rob Remaley
2. Will Murphy
4. Darryl Lozier
5. Randy Tondreau
6. Tom Gariepy
7. Ed Smith
8. Kenny Rose
9. Jason Ingle
10. Jamie Eilers
11. Bob Alexander
12. Sam Harbin

Controlled Chaos - Tampa Open, Heat 1

Tampa Open - Tampa , Florida
Heat 1
Bill Malbrough, Chris Henton, Timmy Barnes, Andy Bing, Bambi Rogers, Reggie Banks, Ben Hadsell, Norm Gibson, Matt Welliver, Darrell Andresen, Steven Redden, Charlie Clayton

There were early exits for Bambi Rogers and Charlie Clayton as they both sandwiched Andresen prior to stalling themselves out of the derby. The rest of the pack survived past the eight minute mark when Bill Malbrough was also counted out thanks to a stall.

Timmy Barnes, Reggie Banks and Steven Redden were swapping a lot of paint between themselves, Barnes in particular would focus on one of his opponents only to be blindsided by the other. Chris Henton tried to get involved but only entangled his vehicle with that of Redden and they both had to wait for contact with Andresen to set them free again.

Steven Redden was next to go in ninth, a lack of attention his biggest enemy, and he was swiftly followed by Redden and Henton; the latter another stall victim but enough to earn him a second chance in the consolation heat. He would be joined by Banks, Norm Gibson and Darrell Andresen, all three just finishing before the dismissal of Andy Bing who took third place.

Matt Welliver will be hoping to improve upon his two eleventh place finishes as he makes it three finals out of three after coming out second best in a real hard-hitting battle against Frostbite winner Ben Hadsell.

Race Result
1. Ben Hadsell
2. Matt Welliver
3. Andy Bing
4. Darrell Andresen
5. Norm Gibson
6. Reggie Banks
7. Chris Henton
8. Steven Redden
9. Timmy Barnes
10. Bill Malbrough
11. Charlie Clayton
12. Bambi Rogers

Controlled Chaos - Tampa Open Preview

The cavalcade of carnage moves to Florida in early February and both Scott Hutchins and Danny Krol have secured sponsorship deals that should see them financially stable for the remainder of the season, but other drivers are expected to hit hard times with so much travel throughout the year. This leaves Tommy Miller and Don Davis back on the sidelines awaiting another opportunity to impress, and one more change sees a swap of alternate drivers: Kenny Rose makes his season debut in place of Bobby Gallagher due to the latter not getting his documentation in order.