Perris Raceway
Perris, California

California Speedway
December 11, 2010 - Perris Raceway
By: Ryan Evans

National Champion Billy "The Kid" Janniro won a dramatic runoff to take the overall victory in front of a standing-room-only crowd at Perris Raceway.

Janniro and Tyson Burmeister were tied with 13 points each after five rounds of competition thus forcing a runoff to determine the overall winner. Burmeister won the coin toss and selected the inside gate which left Janniro with the outside. Janniro made the better start but a hole in turn one sent him toward the fence and only a remarkable save kept him out of the fence, but his wayward journey allowed Burmeister to take the lead. Janniro chased after Burmeister and was planted on his back tire at the end of the first lap. The Champion's pressure paid off when he charged up the inside of the National runner-up on the back straight and secured the lead before they entered turn three. Janniro stretched his lead all the way to the finish and pulled a celebratory wheelie as he took the checkered flag.

The five-round traditional championship format kicked off with Janniro blazing to victory over Michael Raines. Burmeister passed former National Champion "Flyin" Mike Faria to win the second heat. Ryan Fisher, making his first domestic appearance in several years, adapted quickly to the track to win event three. 2009 National Champion Ricky Wells beat Tommy Hedden to end round one.

Fisher trapped from the outside and defeated Hedden to begin round two. Janniro comfortably beat Burmeister for his second straight win. John Marquez was leading the next heat before lifting and then collecting the fence in turn four. The race was restarted without Marquez and "Battling" Buck Blair beat Russell Green for his first victory. Novratil got the best start in event 10 but Wells squeezed between a small gap between the leader and the fence on the back straight to take the lead. Novratil went down in the next corner and Wells pulled away to his second consecutive win.

Burmeister started third round by beating Wells to turn one, but the "Kiwi Kid" used a deft cutback move to take the lead on the back straight and never looked back en route to his third straight victory. Janniro was well on his way to matching Wells in the next race but suffered an engine failure exiting turn two on the final lap which allowed Faria and Steve Russell to finish ahead of him. Janniro was able to coast to the finish line for third for what would prove to be a very valuable point. Fisher kept pace with Wells by beating Castro for his third win in a row. Blair beat Hedden to finish round three with his second straight win.

Round four opened with Blair taking the lead before he lifted in turn four and allowed Castro to take the lead and his first win. Janniro was a man on a mission in event 20 as he ran away with his third win. Wells looked like he was going to suffer his first defeat, but he used the outside to pass Gino Manzares on the final lap to remain perfect. Fisher and Starks went down forcing a restart of event 22. Fisher made the best start on the second attempt but Burmeister passed him on the inside on the back straight and Fisher's attempt to reclaim the lead evaporated when he suffered an engine failure. Burmeister cruised to his second victory to end the fourth round.

Wells entered the final round as the only rider with a perfect 12 points; Janniro and Burmeister each had 10 points; Fisher and Blair had nine points apiece; and Hedden had eight points.

The final round commenced with a great side-by-side battle between Under 21 National Champion Bryce Starks and Michael Raines. Raines found enough grip on the outside to secure the lead and the victory on the final lap.

Event 26 brought the top four racers to the tapes with a myriad of scenarios. The least complicated scenario was that Wells could claim the overall victory by winning or finishing second. Blair added to the suspense when he touched the tapes and was penalized. The second time the riders staged Wells made the best start out of gate four but his perfect score wasn't a foregone conclusion because Janniro was determined to catch the leader. Wells remained in front for two laps but Janniro sliced underneath as they exited turn two. Just as Janniro was taking the lead Wells found too much traction and went over backwards. The referee was forced to halt when the prone rider was unable to get up right away. A frustrated Wells eventually walked off the track, but was excluded from the restart. Janniro jumped into the lead on the restart and sped away with the victory to guarantee at least a runoff for the overall win.

Burmeister, needing a victory to force the runoff, did not squander his opportunity and defeated Manzares in event 27 to set up the meeting's dramatic conclusion. Castro defeated Faria in the final heat for his second win of the evening.

Nick Varner jumped out to the lead in the Youth 200cc First Division Main Event and opened up a comfortable lead after two laps. Broc Nicol steadily chipped away at the lead and was within striking distance as they entered the final corner. Nicol went to the outside, made a bold pass, and was able to beat Varner to the finish line. Kurtis Hamill finished third and Hayley Perrault was fourth.

Gino Scopellite won two of his three heats and then kept Michael Wells at bay to win the Youth 200cc Second Division Main Event.

The evening was the third Carrie Hancock Speedway Promotions event to be held at Southern California's newest speedway facility and the first to feature a First Division-only field. The event brought out some of California's top racers and also beckoned the presence of many speedway racers from the past. The speedway alumni included two-time World Champion Bruce Penhall and former World Under 21 Champion Ron Preston. The next event at Perris Raceway will be a day race on Saturday, January 8 with all divisions competing.

RESULTS

Youth 200cc Second Division Main Event (restarted)
7 – Gino Scopellite
214 – Michael Wells
34 – Maverick Molloy (non starter – restart)

Youth 200cc First Division Main Event
146 – Broc Nicol
333 – Nick Varner
104 – Kurtis Hamill
0 – Hayley Perrault

First Division Scoring 1 2 3 4 5 T
1 – Billy Janniro 3 3 1 3 3 13
9 – Mike Faria 1 0 3 1 2 7
14 – Eddie Castro 0 1 2 3 3 9
23 – Steve Russell 0 1 2 0 1 4
24 – Gino Manzares 1 0 1 2 2 6
26 – Tyson Burmeister 3 2 2 3 3 13
36 – Ryan Fisher 3 3 3 E 2 11
39 – Buck Blair 2 3 3 1 1 10
40 – Tommy Hedden 2 2 2 2 F 8
41 – John Marquez 1 Fx 1 1 F 3
46 – Aaron Fox Fx 0 0 0 0 0
63 – Michael Raines 2 1 0 2 3 8
66 – Jason Ramirez 0 2 0 T 1 3
142 – Ricky Wells 3 3 3 3 F 12
181 – Austin Novratil 0 F 1 M N 1
245 – Bryce Starks 1 1 0 2 2 6
48 – Tyson Talkington 2 0 0 - - 2
321 – Russell Green 2 1 1 - - 4

Race Results
1: Janniro, Raines, Manzares, Novratil (fell, remounted)
2: Burmeister, Blair, Faria, Ramirez (fell, remounted)
3: (restarted) Fisher, Talkington, Marquez, Russell, Fox (fell, excluded)
4: Wells, Hedden, Starks, Castro
7: Fisher, Hedden, Raines, Faria
8: Janniro, Burmeister, Castro, Fox
9: Blair, Green, Starks, Manzares, Marquez (fell, excluded)
10: Wells, Ramirez, Russell, Novratil (fell)
13: Wells, Burmeister, Marquez, Raines (tape penalty)
14: Faria, Russell, Janniro (engine failure – finished race), Starks (fell, remounted)
15: Fisher, Castro, Manzares, Ramirez
16: Blair, Hedden, Novratil, Fox
19: Castro (tape penalty), Raines, Blair, Russell
20: Janniro, Hedden, Marquez, Talkington (fell), Ramirez (tape exclusion)
21: Wells, Manzares, Faria, Fox
22: (restarted) Burmeister, Starks, Green, Fisher (engine failure), Novratil (two-minute exclusion)
25: Raines, Starks, Ramirez, Fox
26: (restarted) Janniro, Fisher, Blair (tape penalty), Talkington, Wells (fell, excluded)
27: Burmeister, Manzares, Russell, Hedden (fell)
28: Castro, Faria, Novratil, Marquez (fell)

Runoff for 1st Overall
1 – Billy Janniro
26 – Tyson Burmeister

	SoCal sunset at Perris Speedway!
	Our Hostess with the Mostess. Carrie Hancock tends to the crowd. I had a $4.00 burger and no complaints!
	Excellent to see Philip Harmatiuk at the meet, here with his bro Shaun.
	#181 Austin Novratil was doing well against #142 Ricky Wells in Event 10 until his steel shoe departed, leaving him in turn four.
	200CC First Division rider #333 Nick Varner leads #146 Broc Nicol in Event 12.
	Youth 200cc Second Division  #34 Maverick Molloy,  #7 Gino Scopellite, and #214 Michael Wells pop the clutches in Event 17.
	Youth First Division rider #146 Broc Nicol takes the checkered flag.
	#142 Ricky Wells was perfect for the night until he lifted badly in Event 26, coming out of turn 2. Bent over #142 is #14 Billy Janniro; ref Joe Jones and J. Fishback III come running in from the infield, and Ryan Fisher rides up to lend assistance. Under the Championship rules for the evening, Ricky was excluded but was able to walk off the track.
	Tied for top honors, Janniro lost the coin toss to Tyson's call. In the Run Off, Janniro gates from four while Burmeister launches from two.
	Despite the intense competition from a couple of American stars of the British leagues - and the usual determined pack of First Division riders - it turned out to be *The Billy J Show*, once again!