Golden Gate Invitational - San Francisco, CA
Final
Scott Hutchins, Ben Hadsell, John Ruiz, Joe Ramage, Chris Henton, Norm Gibson, Tom Gariepy, Jamie Eilers, Andy Bing, Will Thompson, Ricky Grimes, Reggie Banks, Matt Welliver, Darryl Lozier
With a combined twenty-four event wins under their belts all fourteen entrants started the twelve minute derby without trouble except for
Will Thompson whose car suffered a small fire after he was sandwiched by
John Ruiz and
Reggie Banks.
While
Thompson was relieved to continue, and
Tom Gariepy happy to take a deep breathe after riding three very early hits, it was not a successful restart for all as
Joe Ramage (
Valentine's Day Massacre,
The Bryan Family Open) suffered a fatal stall, and
Ben Hadsell (
Frostbite Winter Nationals) was caught on the hop to allow
Scott Hutchins to catch him unawares and impale his vehicle into the barriers.
There was a flurry of activity around championship leader
Darryl Lozier (
Tampa Open,
Jersey Derby,
Big Apple Smash Up,
Alamo Derby) as he took nine hits in the space of six minutes, while he chased hard after
Thompson with a triple-attack of his own, knocking the leader out without a point in eleventh place, but prior to his elimination was the exit of
Reggie Banks (
Firecracker Open) after
Jamie Eilers fnished him off; this despite
Banks' car looking the best prepared for the event.
After his fire and a bad miss into the wall
Will Thompson (
Arizona Derby) took nine hits from five opponents -
Lozier (3),
Hutchins (2), and
Bing (2)
bringing it repeatedly - and still managed to leave San Francisco with a point to ever so slightly close the gap on
Lozier at the top of the standings.
John Ruiz (
The Ides of March Open) picks up points for the first time in fifteen events by delivering six hits on five cars, with
Henton taking two including a savage blindside attack, but his day came to an end at the hands of
Scott Hutchins who returned to finish the job he started in the opening seconds.
Delivering eight shots but only taking six in return
Tom Gariepy (
Wisconsin Invitational,
Arkansas Derby,
Mile High Open) is another contender who makes small inroads on
Lozier's lead, but now sits just two points back of second place
Thompson. Steaming through the pack, tapping
Matt Welliver twice,
Gariepy was undone by his last victim when
Norm Gibson retaliated with aplomb.
Outside of a few distractions where he hit
Lozier,
Banks, and
Welliver in quick succession
Jamie Eilers (
Summer Sizzler,
Summer National Derby) was in a huge war with
Andy Bing; their cars coming together six times in a back-and-forth battle. Starting the conflict with a hit either side of a brief stall,
Eilers then went for other opposition until
Bing stormed in with a hit to his blindside. A second surprise hit from his nemesis set him up nicely for a double-tap by
Norm Gibson to finish the job.
In his first final since winning his debut event
Ricky Grimes (
Louisiana Invitational) only took one hit in the first four minutes as he double-tapped
Reggie Banks as part of his own eight attacks. A brief stall seemed to take him off his stride as he then suffered five attacks in a short span, ending his own quest for glory by misjudging his second hit on
Welliver.
An eighth finish in the top five keeps
Scott Hutchins (
Seattle Derby) in the running for the championship, but he too was the master of his own demise when, after a short stall, he crashed into
Henton and would not move again.
Ruiz,
Thompson,
Hadsell,
Gibson and
Gariepy were all targets of
Hutchins before the first trio were visited by
Hutchins once again. A hit on
Ricky Grimes led his engine troubles, and then his aforementioned attack on
Henton placed him in fifth position.
Chris Henton (
Spring Fling Derby) lasted a few valuable seconds before he too wiped out on contact he initiated. The late assault on
Gibson resulted in
Henton's own elimination but it extends his point streak to six weeks as
Andy Bing also suffered his wrath twice, and
John Ruiz was able to catch him off guard as he wa re-firing the engine.
It's a hat trick of third-place finishes in five events for
Norm Gibson (
Lobster Nationals,
Texas Nationals) as he claims his eighth podium finish on the back of a ten hit day.
Banks,
Lozier and
Ruiz all fnoticed his presence early on but it was the return trips to
Hutchins and
Eilers that really set him on his way as he took out the latter and set up
Hutchins for his own exit. And all this while only taking five hits against; the final two off of
Henton ultimately doing the damage.
That brought the event down to two men:
Matt Welliver (
SidelineStrategy.com Derby) and
Andy Bing (
Idaho Invitational, Indy Nationals,
The Ohio Derby) Throughout the whole derby, even at the end, there was no interaction between them as an earlier hit and a stall created a rather anti-climatic finale to the Night of Champions.
While
Andy Bing was warring with
Jamie Eilers, striking him thrice, he was also running through the pack with
Grimes and
Thompson suffering two hits each;
Gariepy,
Lozier and
Gibson one each.
Matt Welliver was responsible for eight hits with
Grimes and
Lozier taking a pair each, and he delivered one a piece to
Ruiz,
Eilers,
Hutchins and
Henton.
The end came with
Andy Bing stranded on a stall and
Matt Welliver creeping around the track in an attempt to strike his final foe. A large hit from
Ricky Grimes minutes earlier, the eighth he rode, all but crippled him and he slowed to a dead stop twenty feet away from
Bing who matches
Lozier with a fourth event victory with his second win three weeks, propelling himself up to second place in the standings.
Race Result
1. Andy Bing
2. Matt Welliver
3. Norm Gibson
4. Chris Henton
5. Scott Hutchins
6. Ricky Grimes
7. Jamie Eilers
8. Tom Gariepy
9. John Ruiz
10. Will Thompson
11. Darryl Lozier
12. Reggie Banks
13. Ben Hadsell
14. Joe Ramage
