Controlled Chaos - The Ides of March Standings

Will Thompson (4th, 1st, 4th, -, 5th) and Darryl Lozier (-, 3rd, 1st, 6th, 4th) continue to set the pace with four finals each and Will Murphy and Ben Hadsell manage to hang onto third and fourth spot respectively despite failing to qualify out of the consolation heat or, in the case of Hadsell, a non-appearance in St. Paul.

Jamie Eilers' second runner-up finish (Frostbite) sees him in the hunt for a top three spot with Joe Ramage and Ides of March winner John Ruiz leading the rest.

Name	Pts
Will Thompson	55
Darryl Lozier	46
Will Murphy	35
Ben Hadsell	33
Jamie Eilers	31
Joe Ramage	24
John Ruiz	23
Rob Remaley	19
Randy Corson	18
Lynne Higgins	17
Steven Redden	17
Sam Harbin	15
Tom Gariepy	12
Darrell Andresen	10
Scott Hutchens	10
Leo May	9
Bob Alexander	8
Bobby Gallagher	5
Randy Tondreau	5
Danny Krol	5
Dick Garrett	5
Charlie Clayton	4
Andy Bing	4
Jess Yates	3
Don Davis	2
John McCrory	2
Philip Ruffin	2

Controlled Chaos - The Ides of March Final

The Ides of March - St. Paul, Minnesota
Final
Danny Krol, Sam Harbin, Jamie Eilers, Kenny Rose, John Ruiz, Will Thompson, Darryl Lozier, Joe Ramage, Leo May, Phillip Ruffin, Rob Remaley, Dick Garrett

The first two drivers to fall by the wayside were both out of the consolation heat without any points: Kenny Rose was hounded by Jamie Eilers, and Sam Harbin came off second best in collisions with Eilers and Darryl Lozier before Phillip Ruffin finished the job.

Leo May takes a second top ten finish of the year (7th, Tampa Open) in addition to his two heat wins, his exit today coming at the hands of Lozier and Dick Garrett as he was on a mission to go after Joe Ramage, and it was Ramage who took out first time finalist Phillip Ruffin in ninth place, earning him his first points of the year, as the latter went hard at a very resilient Rob Remaley.

Danny Krol beats his ninth place at Frostbite after stalling out and Joe Ramage finally succumbs to the damage he was taking backing up his VDM win with a seventh place finish here. Dick Garrett was not concerned with who he hit as he targeted four different cars throughout his first final appearance but it was a driver he had not hit, Rob Remaley, who took him out with a pair of big shots.

Standings leader Will Thompson has finished in the top five in all his finals so far (4th, 1st, 4th, -, 5th) as he and second place man Darryl Lozier went head-to-head throughout in a hard hitting contest that has obvious implications in the title race; Lozier would finish one place better off closing the points gap on Thompson by one.

After battering Garrett into submission and helping to finish off Lozier with John Ruiz, Rob Remaley stalled out for his best finish of the year (10th, 7th, 8th, -, 3rd) leaving Ruiz and Jamie Eilers to go at it. Eliers had started the final fully committed to taking down Rose before he got a head start on his remaining opponent. For his part Ruiz was instrumental in the eliminations of both Thompson and Lozier but he was able to conserve just enough to defeat Eilers and make it five winning drivers in five events.

Race Result
1. John Ruiz
2. Jamie Eilers
3. Rob Remaley
4. Darryl Lozier
5. Will Thompson
6. Dick Garrett
7. Joe Ramage
8. Danny Krol
9. Phillip Ruffin
10. Leo May
11. Sam Harbin
12. Kenny Rose

Controlled Chaos - The Ides of March Consolation Heat

The Ides of March - St. Paul, Minnesota
Consolation Heat
Matt Welliver, Ricky Grimes, Charlie Clayton, Bob Alexander, Will Murphy, Bambi Rogers, Jason Ingle, Norm Gibson, Sam Harbin, Kenny Rose, Darrell Andresen, Joe Ramage

Three time finalist Matt Welliver was ganged up on by four other competitors to quickly take him out but the remaining cars lasted a few minutes before they started to drop like flies. There were several stalls in the early going with Bob Alexander coming to a halt either side his battle with Will Murphy to put him down in eleventh, and Norm Gibson made contact with Bambi Rogers stalling himself and being counted out in tenth.

Both Gibson and Bambi are still without a final appearance as Rogers also stalled out after a lot of attention from Ricky Grimes who himself has yet to get past this stage of a derby, moving on to focus entirely on Charlie Clayton before he was double-teamed by Kenny Rose and Joe Ramage.

Will Murphy came into the consolation heat as the highest ranked driver, currently third in the standings, but he is unable to make it four finals in a row (-, 4th, 2nd, 4th) as Jason Ingle was unrelenting in his pursuit, striking him three times and narrowly missing twice. Darrell Andresen was also looking for a fourth final appearance (8th, 10th, -, 9th) but a blindside hit from Ramage and a revenge strike by Sam Harbin saw him end up in sixth spot.

After the rabid attention from Gibson, Charlie Clayton found himself stuck and was counted out before Ingle was crunched by Ramage to get a race result. Valentiine's Day Massacre winner Joe Ramage makes it two finals in a row; Sam Harbin, runner-up in Arizona, also makes it to his second final, and Kenny Rose, the replacement driver for Billy Edgington, makes his final debut after stalling at the end but Ingle's exit prevented his count out.

Race Result
Q. Joe Ramage
Q. Sam Harbin
Q. Kenny Rose
4. Jason Ingle
5. Charlie Clayton
6. Darrell Andresen
7. Will Murphy
8. Ricky Grimes
9. Bambi Rogers
10. Norm Gibson
11. Bob Alexander
12. Matt Welliver

Controlled Chaos - The Ides of March, Heat 3

The Ides of March - St. Paul, Minnesota
Heat 3
Bill Malbrough, Randy Tondreau, Leo May, Tommy Miller, Danny Krol, Ricky Grimes, Chris Henton, Jason Ingle, Timmy Barnes, Darrell Andresen, Bambi Rogers, Phillip Ruffin

Tommy Miller was swiftly removed from the action by a blindside hit off Jason Ingle and Randy Tondreau suffered five hits in less than three minutes to end his time in Minnesota. Timmy Barnes proved a popular target, Ingle especially keen on making contact with a pair of solid shots, and Bill Malbrough was swarmed with hits after freeing himself from entanglement with Phillip Ruffin.

Chris Henton just misses out on the consolation heat despite avoiding a lot of trouble until he stalled and opened himself up to Bambi Rogers for the finisher. Ingle, who had Leo May for company, ended in seventh spot with a disqualified Darrell Andresen building on his take no prisoners reputation by unfairly hitting May in a vulnerable position.

Rogers had recent dealings with Andresen but Ricky Grimes was keenest of all to get close to her, and the final consolation place went to Grimes as his final shot on Bambi stalled him in the process allowing Danny Krol to make a couple of passes on him. The final trio were soon a duo when Ruffin was cleaned out by Krol during a stall but it's enough to put him into his first final, and Krol was unable to match the skill and ferocity displayed by Leo May as he sought out his second heat victory of the season.

Race Result
1. Leo May
2. Danny Krol
3. Phillip Ruffin
4. Ricky Grimes
5. Bambi Rogers
6. Darrell Andresen
7. Jason Ingle
8. Chris Henton
9. Bill Malbrough
10. Timmy Barnes
11. Randy Tondreau
12. Tommy Miller

Controlled Chaos - The Ides of March, Heat 2

The Ides of March - St. Paul, Minnesota
Heat 2
Bobby Gallagher, Joe Ramage, Steven Redden, Will Murphy, Scott Hutchins, Tom Gariepy, Matt Welliver, Dick Garrett, Will Thompson, Bob Alexander, Lynne Higgins, Darryl Lozier

Four of the top five drivers in the championship featured in the middle heat of the day, and there was early drama when third place finisher at Frostbite Scott Hutchins crunched heavily into Tom Gariepy. The hit was deemed excessive disqualifying Hutchins and started a fire in the car of the Valentine's Day Massacre joint runner-up. They were quickly joined on the sidelines by the other half of the runner-up spots at VDM Steven Redden after a big blindside hit from Dick Garrett.

The action settled into something resembling normality and it wasn't until five minutes in that Lynne Higgins departed the scene thanks to a stall, and Bobby Gallagher who blindsided both Higgins and Darryl Lozier before becoming the favoured target of Bob Alexander.

Joe Ramage creeps into the consolation heat with sixth place man Will Murphy helping him on his way before becoming stuck on a safety barrier. Matt Welliver came out on top in his mini battle against Ramage with an interlude against Alexander who in turn would go hard after Lozier but end up in fourth.

It was Lozier's turn next after spending a couple of minutes targeting specific drivers. He started out against Will Thompson before Joe Ramage took his eye, but it was the battering he took, in addition to Garrett's final blow, that sealed his fate in third.

While Garrett hit Thompson twice before they were the only men standing, the latter of the final two was very focused upon removing Higgins from contention before he finally turned on the heat runner-up.

Race Result
1. Will Thompson
2. Dick Garrett
3. Darryl Lozer
4. Bob Alexander
5. Matt Welliver
6. Will Murphy
7. Joe Ramage
8. Bobby Gallagher
9. Lynne Higgins
10. Steven Redden
11. Tom Gariepy
12. Scott Hutchins

Controlled Chaos - The Ides of March, Heat 1

The Ides of March - St. Paul, Minnesota
Heat 1
Kenny Rose, Andy Bing, John McCrory, Sam Harbin, John Ruiz, Jess Yates, Charlie Clayton, Norm Gibson, Rob Remaley, Randy Corson, Jamie Eilers, Ed Smith

Randy Corson was the highest ranked driver in the first heat, currently siting sixth in the standings, but he would fail to improve upon his position after an early exit. An unceremonious miss led to a stall which allowed Norm Gibson a free hit. Ed Smith was also quickly removed from the derby after stalling at the start.

There would be a lengthy battle between the remaining cars before Jess Yates also stalled out moments before Andy Bing and John McCrory were eliminated. Bing requiring a check in at the medical station and McCrory losing his private war against Kenny Rose who, after taking out both Bing and McCrory, was taken out himself by Gibson.

The runner-up in Arizona Sam Harbin made eight hits on seven opponents, McCrory the recipient of a double shot, as he searches for a second final appearance of the season. He will have to go through the consolation heat along with Rose, Gibson who survived a stall scare after chasing down Yates, and Charlie Clayton who enjoyed hitting a frequently-stalled Rob Remaley.

Despite a pair of long stalls Remaley makes it four finals in five events eventually succumbing to his misbehaving engine, and the two who join him share a point each as joint winners of the heat; John Ruiz and Jamie Eilers reaching their second final after going at each other for much of the race.

Race Result
1. John Ruiz
1. Jamie Eilers
3. Rob Remaley
4. Charlie Clayton
5. Norm Gibson
6. Sam Harbin
7. Kenny Rose
8. John McCrory
9. Andy Bing
10. Jess Yates
11. Randy Corson
12. Ed Smith

Controlled Chaos - The Ides of March Open Preview

The Ides of March Open - St. Paul, Minnesota
One money situation is resolved as Dick Garrett returns to action in place of Don Davis, but Tommy Miller's services are required to make up the numbers with fourth place Ben Hadsell missing the trip to Minnesota.

The Ides of March derby is an important one as it marks the last event before we head to Wisconsin for the first of five invitationals this year where only the top drivers will compete, sometimes for double points.