Jersey Derby - Atlantic City, NJ
Heat Three
Chris Henton, John McCrory, Will Thompson, John Ruiz, Ricky Grimes, Bob Alexander, Will Murphy, Tom Gariepy, Jamie Eilers, Charlie Clayton, Timmy Barnes, Phillip Ruffin,
The opening five minutes were largely made up of hits on Charlie Clayton (6), Chris Henton (5) and John Ruiz (9) but it was John McCrory, 3rd in the recent Seattle Derby, who re-fired a stall off the start only to earn a disqualification for his hit on Jamie Eilers.
Will Thompson is second in the championship standings but ends his heat in eleventh forcing him to miss just his second final of the year (Wisconsin Invitational), and Clayton succumbed to the attention he received in tenth place.
Bob Alexander has not made a final since the Valentine's Day Massacre where he finished in tenth and that streak continues with heavy contact involving both Eilers and Tom Gariepy taking him down, and Spring Fling Derby winner Chris Henton sees his consecutive final streak end at three when Phillip Ruffin finished him off after strong support from Eilers.
Despite all the hits he took, three of which came from a frustrated Henton, Ides of March champion and four time finalist John Ruiz limps into the consolation heat while trying to take out Ricky Grimes. Timmy Barnes will join him and he helps Ruffin on his way into the second chance race as well. The other consolation heat qualifier is Jamie Eilers who started on Henton before shifting his attacks onto Gariepy before he found himself sandwiched between Ruffinand Will Murphy.
Ricky Grimes will feature in his second final of the year but is still looking for his first point after only finishing in eleventh at Spring Fling. He was blindsided twice early on by Alexander and Barnes but managed to survive deep into the heat before Gariepy finished the job. With championship leaders Joe Ramage and Will Thompson out of the derby Tom Gariepy puts himself in a great position to make a move from third in the standings, but he misses out on the two bonus points to fifth place Will Murphy who was unmerciful in his approach for the final one-on-one battle to take a second heat victory of the year.
Race Result
1. Will Murphy
2. Tom Gariepy
3. Ricky Grimes
4. Phillip Ruffin
5. Jamie Eilers
6. Timmy Barnes
7. John Ruiz
8. Chris Henton
9. Bob Alexander
10. Charlie Clayton
11. Will Thompson
12. John McCrory
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