The Bryan Family Open
Consolation Heat
Jess Yates, Matt Welliver, Lynne Higgins, Andy Bing, Will Thompson, Leo May, John Ruiz, Scott Hutchins, Jason Ingle, Phillip Ruffin, Ton Gariepy
An eight minute dash began with just eleven drivers thanks to the tie for third place in heat three, and it started with a bang when Will Thompson's car caught fire but he was allowed to continue.
The first elimination came when Phillip Ruffin (9th Ides of March, 8th Big Apple Smash Up) was slammed around by four opponents inside the opening two minutes, and Jess Yates (8th Arizona Derby, 7th Jersey Derby, 4th Summer Sizzler) also took four shots from different drivers; Tom Gariepy with the finishing blow.
Leo May (4th Wisconsin Invitational, 4th Idaho Invitational, 2nd Indy Nationals) misses a sixth final out of the last eight events after Andy Bing's hit caused a stall, and Tom Gariepy (tied-2nd Valentine's Day Massacre, 1st Wisconsin Invitational) cannot follow up his victory in Little Rock, Arkansas as six of the pack went out of their way to take him out in eighth place.
Jason Ingle (tied-5th Lobster Nationals, 7th Louisiana Invitational) has not missed atthree finals in a row since before he qualified seven times in twelve weeks, but his five hits in the heat, two of which struck Hutchins, were not enough to see him through here.
The ending went from six competitors to three in the space of a minute starting with the elimination of SidelineStrategy.com Derby winner Matt Welliver (6th Big Apple Smash Up, tied-7th Texas Nationals) who only took four hits but it was the final two from Ruiz and Hutchins that did the lion's share of damage.
Then quick as a flash Andy Bing (1st Idaho Invitational, 1st Indy Nationals) was eliminated by two hits from Lynne Higgins, and then Scott Hutchins shambles along after his own encounter with Higgins until he stopped altogether.
That puts Lynne Higgins into back-to-back finals for the third time this year, her eighth final overall, after finishing a season-high fourth in Arkansas, her progress coming in Milwaukee came at a minimal cost as she was only struck twice, both times by Will Thompson who also moves on.
Thompson makes it sixteen finals on the year and with second place Scott Hutchins out in fourth place it is the ideal time to retake second place while he attempts to catch up on Darryl Lozier at the top of the standings. Once the officials gave him the green light to continue from his fire a brief stall nearly took him out anyway, but he went on to strike Higgins twice and Ruiz four times as all three go through.
John Ruiz has missed ten finals in a row after qualifying for three straight and he had to fight through not just Thompson's rampancy but also a long stall midway through that would have taken him out long ago in order to reach his sixth final this season.
Race Result
Q. Lynne Higgins
Q. Will Thompson
Q. John Ruiz
4. Scott Hutchins
5. Andy Bing
6. Matt Welliver
7. Jason Ingle
8. Tom Gariepy
9. Leo May
10. Jess Yates
11. Phillip Ruffin
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