Not sure about this year, but the past couple of years it seems the 'weaker' pieces are a little bit better.  With it being older wood surface the new big flaring pieces just haven't rolled very well for me. 

First time in years that our crew of 20+ isn't going. They wanted all the money too early. Our squad leader could not and would not front entry fees for 20 people so we skipped the Derby.

 Typically, stronger balls worked for a lot of us. Couple of years ago when Jake Peters bowled with us he used a Brunswick Wild Card and slaughtered brackets to the tune of close to $5k. So mild/weak pieces wasn't in play when we bowled, unless you have low ball speed.