Costa Mesa Speedway

Orange County Fairgrounds
Costa Mesa, California

John Matherson Cup
September 23, 2017 - Costa Mesa
Report by Ryan Evans

2017 John Matherson Cup - Costa Mesa, CA, USA - September 23, 2017

Joe Jones and Tom Summers completed their perfect evening by winning the John Matherson Cup at the world famous Costa Mesa Speedway.

Jones and Summers surprised absolutely no one when they selected gate one after earning first choice of starting position for the Final. They jumped to the front and held the lead through lap one. Jeff Rowe and Josh Bennett were in second and hoping to chase down the leaders. Jones and Summers were in no mood to make the main event interesting. They increased their lead with each lap and cruised to the finish line first. Jeff Rowe and Bennett settled for second, Dillon Osborne and Ashley Gibbons were third, and Bryan Motis and Johnny Bach finished fourth.

The evening commenced with Robert Curry and Johnny Glover beating Jeff Rowe and Bennett. Motis and Bach defeated James “Smylie” Kinne and David Bernardo in event two. Jones and Summers ended round one by beating Osborne and Gibbons.

Round two started with Jones and Summers defeating Osborne and Gibbons again. Motis and Bach beat Curry and Glover for their second straight victory. Kinne and Bernardo finished the second round with victory over Jeff Medberry and Niki Davis.

The third round opened with Curry and Glover earning their second win. Jones and Summers defeated Jeff Rowe and Josh Bennett for their third win in a row. Osborne and Gibbons closed out the eats by beating Heather Rowe and Heather Gledhill.

In the first semi Osborne and Gibbons led Jeff Rowe and Josh Bennett across the finish line and into the Final. Jones and Summers remained perfect by winning the second semi with Motis and Bach finishing second to get the other transfer to the Final.

The Scratch Main Event would serve as the final tune-up for next week’s United States National Championship. The race came to an abrupt halt when Dillon Ruml fell and brought out the red flag. He wasn’t hurt but he was excluded from the restart. “Mad” Max Ruml made the best start from gate two and was the early leader of the race. Two-time and defending National Champion Aaron Fox and Tyson Burmeister set out after the leader. Max Ruml didn’t turn a wheel wrong though and led all the way to the finish. Fox finished second and Burmeister was third.

The first round of heats began with Gage Geist defeating Max Ruml. Fox beat Shawn “Mad Dog” McConnell in the second speedway heat. Burmeister ended round one by beating Nicol.

Round two opened with Gino Manzares defeating Max Ruml. Austin “All Throttle” Novratil beat Fox in the next heat. Dillon Ruml finished the second round with a win ahead of Geist.

The third round started with Max Ruml beating Geist. Manzares made it two wins in a row by defeating Nicol. Burmeister ended the heats by defeating McConnell.

Fox and Dillon Ruml finished one-two in the first semi and transferred to the main event. Max Ruml and Burmeister followed suit with first and second, respectively, in the second semi.

“Spiderman” Mike Bloom kept Michael “Scooter” Wells at bay for the second week in a row and won the Support Main Event. Wells was the runner up for the second straight week, Chet Kohler finished third, Rohn Zellner was fourth, and Rudy Laurer finished fifth.

Junior 250 Main Event National Champion Sebastian “Big Daddy” Palmese won both of his heats and completed his perfect night by winning the Junior 250 Main Event. Sara Cords was second, Aidan McNutt finished third while his Team SOS teammate Sammy Tetrault was fourth.

Slater Lightcap led from start to finish and claimed the victory in the Mini 150 First Division Main Event. “Lightning” Luke Whitcomb was second, Travis Horn finished third, and Colton Nelson was fourth.

Jose “Nitro” Navarrete put together four smooth laps en route to the win in the Mini 150 Second Division Main Event. Andrew Russell finished second, Owen Williams was third, Levi “Cowboy” Leutz finished fourth, and Justin Almon was fifth.

RESULTS

John Matherson Cup Sidecar Main Event
1 - Joe Jones/Tom Summers
1965 - Jeff Rowe/Josh Bennett
64 - Dillon Osborne/Ashley Gibbons
4 - Bryan Motis/Johnny Bach (retired)

Sidecar Consolation
31 - Robert Curry/Johnny Glover
11 - Kevin Holman/Blake Cronkrite
74 - James Kinne/David Bernardo
44 - Jeff Medberry/Niki Davis (non-starter)

Scratch Main Event (restarted)
5 - Max Ruml
1 - Aaron Fox
26 - Tyson Burmeister
3 - Dillon Ruml (fell, excluded)

Scratch Consolation
24 - Gino Manzares
4 - Broc Nicol
6 - Shawn McConnell
10 - Gage Geist

Support Main Event
22 - Mike Bloom
214 - Michael Wells
202 - Chet Kohler
118 - Rohn Zellner
182 - Rudy Laurer

Support Consolation
275 - Lawrence McNutt
163 - Ron Davis
242 - Bruce Marteney
290 - Harold Hartke

Junior 250 Main Event
1 - Sebastian Palmese
14 - Sara Cords
28 - Aidan McNutt
42 - Sammy Tetrault

Junior 250 Consolation
22 - Enzo Sorani
30 - Alex Martin
16 - Jake Isaac (non-starter)

Mini 150 First Division Main Event
2 - Slater Lightcap
27 - Luke Whitcomb
25 - Travis Horn
45 - Colton Nelson

Mini 150 Second Division Main Event
48 - Jose Navarrete
96 - Andrew Russell
04 - Owen Williams
9 - Levi Leutz
7 - Justin Almon

Sidecar Heat Scoring 1 2 3 T
1 – Joe Jones/Tom Summers 3 3 3 9
4 – Bryan Motis/Johnny Bach 3 3 T 6
11 – Kevin Holman/Blake Cronkrite 1 1 2 4
21 – Heather Rowe/Heather Gledhill 1 T 2 3
31 – Robert Curry/Johnny Glover 3 2 3 8
44 – Jeff Medberry/Niki Davis 1 2 1 4
64 – Dillon Osborne/Ashley Gibbons 2 2 3 7
74 – James Kinne/David Bernardo 2 3 1 6
1965 – Jeff Rowe/Josh Bennett 2 X 2 4

Sidecar Race Results
1: Curry/Glover, J. Rowe/Bennett, Holman/Cronkrite
2: Motis/Bach, Kinne/Bernardo, H. Rowe/Gledhill
3: Jones/Summers, Osborne/Gibbons
10: (restarted) Jones/Summers, Osborne/Gibbons, H. Rowe/Gledhill (tape exclusion)
11: Motis/Bach, Curry/Glover, Holman/Cronkrite
12: (restarted) Kinne/Bernardo, Medberry/Davis, J. Rowe/Bennett (excluded)
19: Curry/Glover, Holman/Cronkrite, Medberry/Davis
20: Jones/Summers, J. Rowe/Bennett, Kinne/Bernardo
21: Osborne/Gibbons, H. Rowe/Gledhill, Motis/Bach (tape exclusion)
Semi #1: Osborne/Gibbons, J. Rowe/Bennett, Curry/Glover, Holman/Bennett
Semi #2: Jones/Summers, Motis/Bach, Kinne/Bernardo, Medberry/Davis (non starter)

First Division Heat Scoring 1 2 3 T
1 – Aaron Fox 3 2 1 6
3 – Dillon Ruml 1 3 1 5
4 – Broc Nicol 2 1 2 5
5 – Max Ruml 2 2 3 7
6 – Shawn McConnell 2 1 2 5
7 – Austin Novratil 1 3 1 5
10 – Gage Geist 3 2 2 7
11 – Bobby Schwartz 1 0 0 1
24 – Gino Manzares 0 3 3 6
26 – Tyson Burmeister 3 F 3 6
48 – Tyson Talkington 0 1 F 1
199 – Sammy Ramirez 0 0 0 0

First Division Race Results
4: (restarted) Geist, M. Ruml, Novratil, Talkington
5: Fox, McConnell, Schwartz, Manzares (fell, remounted)
6: Burmeister, Nicol, D. Ruml, Ramirez
13: Manzares, M. Ruml, Nicol, Ramirez
14: Novratil, Fox, Talkington, Burmeister (fell)
15: D. Ruml, Geist, McConnell, Schwartz
22: M. Ruml, Geist, Fox, Schwartz
23: Manzares, Nicol, D. Ruml, Ramirez
24: (restarted) Burmeister, McConnell, Novratil, Talkington (fell)
Semi #1: Fox, D. Ruml, Nicol, Geist
Semi #2: M. Ruml, Burmeister, Manzares, McConnell

Ryan Evans