Costa Mesa Speedway

Orange County Fairgrounds
Costa Mesa, California

Harley Night #2
August 19, 2017 - Costa Mesa
Report by Ryan Evans
Photos RC Jones and Clark Oden

Harley Night - Costa Mesa Speedway, CA, USA - August 19, 2017

Former Junior 250 National Champion Dillon “Pickle” Ruml overcame a slow start to his evening and was victorious in the Scratch Main Event in front of a standing-room-only crowd on Harley Night at the world famous Costa Mesa Speedway.

Austin Novratil trapped the field from gate four and led through turns one and two. He was leading through lap one but Dillon Ruml was closing in on him. Novratil continued to lead through the second lap but Dillon Ruml was applying the pressure. Novratil drifted off the precious inside line exiting turn two and Dillon Ruml stormed up the inside on the back straight. Dillon Ruml secured the lead as they entered turn three and was at the front as they took the white flag. Novratil tried to repay the favor on the final lap but the leader made no mistakes. Dillon Ruml crossed the finish line first, Novratil was second, Tyson Burmeister finished third, and Gino Manzares was fourth.

The evening began with “Mad” Max Ruml defeating National Champion Aaron Fox. Broc Nicol beat Manzares in event two. “Fast” Eddie Castro beat Burmeister in the next heat. Shawn “Mad Dog” McConnell ended round one with a victory ahead of Samuel Ramirez.

Burmeister started round two with a victory over former World Team Cup Champion Bobby “Boogaloo” Schwartz. Manzares defeated Broc Nicol in the next event. Burmeister was victorious over Fox in event 14. Nicol finished the second round with a win ahead of McConnell.

The third round opened with Dillon Ruml defeating his brother Max. Manzares scored his second straight win by beating Nicol. Burmeister made it two wins in a row with a win ahead of Fox. Novratil beat Richards to close out the heats.

Only four racers automatically qualified for the semis because there was a five-racer tie for the remaining places and a runoff would have to take place to eliminate just one racer. Fox started in gate give and won the pressure-packed runoff. Novratil, McConnell, and Dillon Ruml also got through while Castro finished fifth and was eliminated.

Novratil and Manzares finished one-two in the first semi and transferred to the main. Burmeister won the second semi with Dillon Ruml finishing second to join him in the main.

Brad “Ironman” Moreau was the initial leader in the Support Main Event. His lead didn’t last long because Harold Hartke slipped past him for the lead at the end of the first lap. He was at the front through lap two but he succumbed to the pressure of Michael “Scooter” Wells. Wells took the white flag with the lead but Chet Kohler crashed and brought out the red flag. The race was deemed to be over and Wells was awarded the victory. Hartke was second, Moreau finished third, Steve “Rattlesnake” Bowen was fourth, and Kohler was credited with fifth place.

Dillon Osborne and Ashley Gibbons led all four laps en route to victory in the Sidecar Main Event. Joe Jones and Tom Summers were second, Stuart Glass and Jack Straw finished third, and Josh Heenan and Josh Bennett were credited with fourth.

RESULTS

Scratch Main Event (restarted)
3 - Dillon Ruml
7 - Austin Novratil
26 - Tyson Burmeister
24 - Gino Manzares (penalty line)

Scratch Semi 1
7 - Austin Novratil
24 - Gino Manzares
6 - Shawn McConnell
5 - Max Ruml

Scratch Semi 2
26 - Tyson Burmeister
3 - Dillon Ruml
1 - Aaron Fox
4 - Broc Nicol

Support Main Event (awarded)
214 - Michael Wells
290 - Harold Hartke
153 - Brad Moreau
177 - Steve Bowen
202 - Chet Kohler (excluded)

Sidecar Main Event
64 - Dillon Osborne/Ashley Gibbons
1 - Joe Jones/Tom Summers
911 - Stuart Glass/Jack Straw
17i - Josh Heenan/Josh Bennett

Sidecar Consolation
1965 – Jeff Rowe/Josh Bennett
11 – Kevin Holman/Blake Cronkrite
4 – Bryan Motis/Johnny Bach (non starter)
21 – Heather Rowe/Heather Gledhill (non starter)

First Division Heat Scoring 1 2 3 T
1 – Aaron Fox 2 1 2 5
3 – Dillon Ruml 1 1 3 5
4 – Broc Nicol 3 3 2 8
5 – Max Ruml 3 3 2 8
6 – Shawn McConnell 3 2 0 5
7 – Austin Novratil N 2 3 5
11 – Bobby Schwartz 1 2 0 3
14 – Eddie Castro 3 2 F 5
22 – Mike Bloom 1 0 1 2
24 – Gino Manzares 2 3 3 8
26 – Tyson Burmeister 2 3 3 8
27n – Blake Borello 0 0 1 1
37 – Joey Donaldson 0 0 1 1
182 – Rudy Laurer 1 0 0 1
199 – Samuel Ramirez 2 1 1 4
345 – Ricky Richards 0 1 2 3

First Division Race Results
1: M. Ruml, Fox, Schwartz, Donaldson
2: Nicol, Manzares, Bloom, Richards
3: Castro, Burmeister, D. Ruml, Borello (fell, remounted)
4: McConnell, Ramirez, Laurer, Novratil (non starter)
8: Burmeister, Schwartz, Ramirez, Bloom
9: Manzares, Novratil, Fox, Borello
10: M. Ruml, Castro, Richards, Laurer
11: Nicol, McConnell, D. Ruml, Donaldson
12: D. Ruml, M. Ruml, Borello, Schwartz
13: Manzares, Nicol, Ramirez, Laurer
14: Burmeister, Fox, Donaldson, Castro (fell)
15: Novratil, Richards, Bloom, McConnell
Runoff: Fox, Novratil, McConnell, D. Ruml, Castro

Ryan Evans

Congratulations #214 Michael Wells!
His first Support class race at Costa Mesa, and he takes home the victory!
Clark Oden Photo