Industry Hills Speedway

The Grand Arena
Industry Hills Expo Center
City of Industry, California

AMA Speedway National Championship Round 2
August 13, 2022 - Industry Hills Speedway
Results and Photo By Ryan Evans

The AMA Speedway National Championship Round 2 Final at the tapes (inside - outside):
Billy Janniro, Gino Manzares, Austin Novratil, Max Ruml.

Hugh Randolph AMA Speedway National Championship Round 2 - Industry Hills Speedway, CA, USA - August 13

AMA Speedway National Champion “Mad” Max Ruml took another step closer to successfully defending his title by winning the Hugh Randolph AMA Speedway National Championship Round 2 at Industry Hills Speedway.

Ruml won all of his heat races but found himself picking his starting position third after losing his semi-final. Ten-times National Champion and current series leader Billy “The Kid” Janniro was first to pick where he wanted to start. After mulling over gate four, he chose gate one. Gino Manzares then picked gage two. Ruml decided on gate four which left Austin Novratil with gate three.

Janniro was first off the line when the tapes went up. He hugged the inside line and led on the back straight. Ruml went to the outside through the first corner and found his path unimpeded which gave him momentum on the back straight. He added to that with some grip from the dirt against the fence which through him into turn three with lots of speed. Janniro and Ruml ran the same lines and Ruml’s line proved superior as he took the lead at the end of lap one. Janniro didn’t give up, though, and remained within striking distance of the new leader. Ruml made no mistakes and was first to the finish line. Janniro was second, Manzares finished third, and Novratil fell while running fourth.

Despite Ruml’s victory, Janniro sat on top of the Series standings with 37 points. Ruml is just a point back with 36. Manzares is third with 29 points, Aaron Fox is fourth with 26, Louie Mersaroli’s 19 points place him fifth, Novratil sits sixth with 17 points, Rheten Todd is seventh with 15 points, and Blake Borello rounds out the top eight with 14.

The evening kicked off with a heavy lineup in event one with Ruml, Novratil, Fox, and Tim Gomez at the tapes. Fox was the early leader but Ruml passed him on the exit of turn four. They were still running in that order when Novratil went over backward just as Ruml was taking the white flag. The win was awarded to Ruml with Fox earning second. Manzares defeated Russell Green in the second heat. Janniro beat fellow Northern California competitor Louie Mersaroli in event three. Blake Borello was victorious in event four ahead of Alex Martin.

Round two started with Manzares defeating Bart “Simpson” Bast for his second straight win. Borello led the next race for a lap before Janniro charged up the inside for his second straight win. Ruml kept pace with Manzares and Janniro with a win over Green. Novratil recovered from his mishap in the previous round and beat Under 21 National Champion Slater Lightcap to end the second round.

After struggling in the first two rounds Tyler Warren began the third round with a victory over Gomez. Manzares and Fox waged an excellent inside-outside battle the first two laps of event 14 before Fox’s outside line gave him the lead and his first victory. Lightcap was leading event 15 but Ruml used the cushion to pass him and take his third straight victory. Novratil made it two wins in a row while also handing Janniro his first defeat to finish round three.
Green opened round four by leading all four laps to earn the victory ahead of Rheten Todd. Fox won his second consecutive race with Lightcap using the outside to get a hard-earned second. Event 21 was a pivotal race for the evening and the Series with Ruml, Janniro, and Manzares lining up. Ruml scored a comfortable fourth straight victory with Janniro second and Manzares third. The end of the fourth round saw Mersaroli and Novratil wage an epic battle for three laps before Novratil secured the lead with an outside pass on the last lap.

Ruml sat atop the standings with a perfect 12 points; Janniro was next with 10; Novratil, Manzares, and Fox had 9 points apiece; Lightcap and Green were next with 7 points each and Borello and Mersaroli had 6 each.

Janniro started the final round of heats with a win ahead of Gomez. Fox scored his third straight win in the next heat and Green booked his place in the semis with second. Ruml remained perfect by winning the penultimate heat ahead of Rheten Todd. Manzares closed out the heats with heats with his third victory and Borello’s second gave him the final place in the semis.

Ruml led the first semi through the first corner but Manzares boldly charged up the inside on the back straight to take the lead. Ruml chased the leader the rest of the way but couldn’t find a way past him. Both racers moved on the Final.

Fox led the second semi before Janniro blasted by for the lead on the back straight. Fox next found himself under fire from Novratil. Novratil went to the outside on the second lap, took a slight lead on the back straight then tried to drop in ahead of Fox in turn three. Fox went down and Lightcap laid his machine down which brought out the red flag. The referee deemed Fox the cause of the stoppage and he was excluded from the restart. The second start wasn’t as eventful as Janniro won comfortably with Novratil getting second and also transferring to the Final.

The future of American speedway was also on display as the Junior 250 and Mini 150 divisions also competed. “Speedway Charlie” Trana remained won all of his heats and remained unbeaten in Industry Hills Speedway mains this year with yet another victory. Jose “Nitro” Navarrete was second, Levi Leutz finished third, and Nick Dunn was credited with fourth.

Morgan Myers was also perfect in her heats and thrilled the crowd by scoring a runaway victory in the Mini 150 Main Event. Her brother, Maddux Myers, finished second, Brandon Soto was third, and Kayd Fiore was fourth.

The event also honored Hugh Randolph who was part of the promotion team for two years but also supported many ventures within American speedway. Randolph began racing at 72 years old and was a very popular racer with fans of all ages as well as his fellow racers. Industry Hills Speedway Race Director Kelly Inman often states that Randolph has been a very positive influence on his.

This was the second of three rounds of the AMA Speedway National Championship Series. The third and final round will be held at Fast Fridays Motorcycle Speedway in Auburn, California on Saturday, September 17. With Janniro and Ruml separated by a single point the championship could very well be decided in the very last race. Manzares and Fox are only three points apart in the battle for third overall.

AMA Speedway National Championship Round 2 Final
1 - Max Ruml
14n - Billy Janniro
24 - Gino Manzares
7 - Austin Novratil

Semi 1: Manzares, Ruml, Green, Borello
Semi 2: (restarted) Janniro, Novratil, Lightcap, Fox (fell, excluded)

Series Points Standings
1. Billy Janniro 37
2. Max Ruml 36
3. Gino Manzares 29
4. Aaron Fox 26
5. Louie Mersaroli 19
6. Austin Novratil 17
7. Rheten Todd 15
8. Blake Borello 14
9. Slater Lightcap 12
Alex Martin 12
Chris Kerr 12
12. Bart Bast 11
13. Russell Green 10
14. Tyler Warren 7
15. Danny Faria 5
16. Tim Gomez 4
Randy DiFrancesco 4
18. Johnny Oakden 3
19. Rees Todd 1
20. Eddie Castro 0
Shawn McConnell 0

Mini 150 Main Event
175 - Morgan Myers
175x - Maddux Myers
5 - Brandon Soto (fell)
169 - Kayd Fiore (retired)

Junior 250 Main Event (restarted)
66 - Charlie Trana
48 - Jose Navarrete
226 - Levi Leutz (penalty line) (retired)
76 - Nick Dunn (fell)

First Division Heat Scoring 1 2 3 4 5 T S F T
1 – Max Ruml 3 3 3 3 3 15 2 3 20
6 – Shawn McConnell F R - - - 0 - - 0
7 – Austin Novratil F 3 3 3 Fx 9 2 F 11
14n – Billy Janniro 3 3 2 2 3 13 3 2 18
24 – Gino Manzares 3 3 2 1 3 12 3 1 16
25n – Tyler Warren 0 0 3 1 0 4 - - 4
27 – Blake Borello 3 2 0 1 2 8 0 - 8
28 – Slater Lightcap 1 2 2 2 1 8 1 - 9
30 – Tim Gomez E 0 2 0 2 4 - - 4
30n – Alex Martin 2 0 1 0 0 3 - - 3
46 – Aaron Fox 2 1 3 3 3 12 Fx - 12
87 – Bart Bast F 2 1 1 1 5 - - 5
188 – Louie Mersaroli 2 1 1 2 1 7 - - 7
309 – Johnny Oakden 1 1 0 0 1 3 - - 3
321 – Russell Green 2 2 0 3 2 9 1 - 10
399 – Rheten Todd 0 1 1 2 2 6 - - 6
14 – Eddie Castro (R) T 0 - - - 0 - - 0
173 – Rees Todd (R) 0 0 - - - 0 - - 0

Heat Results
1: (awarded) Ruml, Fox, Novratil (fell), Gomez (engine failure)
2: Manzares, Green, Lightcap, Warren
3: Janniro, Mersaroli, Oakden, Rh.Todd
4: (restarted): Borello, Martin, Bast (fell), McConnell (fell, excluded)
7: Manzares, Bast, Mersaroli, Gomez
8: Janniro, Borello, Fox, Warren
9: Ruml, Green, Oakden, McConnell (retired)
10: (restarted twice) Novratil, Lightcap, Rh.Todd, Martin
13: Warren, Gomez, Martin, Oakden
14: Fox, Manzares, Rh.Todd, Re.Todd, Castro (tape exclusion)
15: Ruml, Lightcap, Mersaroli, Borello
16: Novratil, Janniro, Bast, Green
19: Green, Rh.Todd, Borello, Gomez
20: Fox, Lightcap, Bast, Oakden
21: Ruml, Janniro, Manzares, Martin
22: Novratil, Mersaroli, Warren, Castro
25: Janniro, Gomez, Lightcap, Re.Todd
26: Fox, Green, Mersaroli, Martin
27: Ruml, Rh.Todd, Bast, Warren
28: (restarted) Manzares, Borello, Oakden, Novratil (fell, excluded)