Perris Raceway
1205 Burton Road
Perris, California
Winter Invitational
Perris Raceway December 9, 2017
By: Steve Evans dreamteamspeedway@sbcglobal.net
RC Jones Photos
YouTube Video - by Anthony Bernardi
You Tube Video - by Low Budget Productions
Results from Perris and are Continued Below...
AMERICAN SPEEDWAY THE WINNER IN WINTER INVITATIONAL!
Edinburgh Monarchs star and Team USA captain Ricky Wells was victorious in a Battle-Royale with the cream of American Speedway in front of a jam packed house at Perris Raceway, California on December 9th.
The event ran on the full Grand Prix format and whilst Wells took the victory, the depth of the field meant that it was no easy ride. Perhaps the biggest story of the night aside was the stunning 500cc debut of 15 year old Colton Hicks, who scored 9 points and made it to the semi finals. Hicks hit the ground running and in only his second 500cc race tasted victory with a sensational defeat of both current National Champions.
The depth of the field meant that several star riders did not make the semi finals despite good displays. Heat 1 saw the 'King of Perris' Luke Becker storm away to a win over Tyson Burmeister, with late call up Redmond Bohannon from Colorado scoring a point in third. Heat two was the first blockbuster of the evening, Max Ruml showing speed and intention by overcoming 8 time AMA champ Billy Janniro, with new Scunthorpe signing Gino Manzares in third over Austin Novratil. US National Champ Broc Nicol took heat 3 from Aaron Fox and Dillon Ruml. Wells stormed to victory in heat 4, but it was the pace of Hicks close behind in second that stunned the crowd.
Max Ruml won his second race in heat 5 over Fox. Becker missed the gate in heat 6 but showed his usual Perris pace by getting back to second, meantime Novratil got an excellent win after his initial last place. Heat 7 was the stunner where Hicks gated and held off the line of superstars behind him, Nicol coming in second ahead of Janniro and Burmeister. Wells headed home Manzares in heat 8.
Wells won heat 9 in his back to back ride with Nicol and Novratil behind. Heat 10 had Dillon Ruml make a stunning start ahead of Hicks. Meantime Becker and Max Ruml were charging from the back. Hicks slid off the bike in the battle with Becker coming in second place. Burmeister won heat 11 from Manzares and Fox. Janniro finally got his first win on the board in heat 12 from Bryan Yarrow.
Janniro, on a back to back suddenly let notice he should not be counted out with a win in heat 13 from Dillon Ruml. Becker led home Manzares and Nicol in a close heat 14. Wells stayed perfect leading home former Wolverhampton team mate Tyson Burmeister in heat 15, with Max Ruml third. Novratil notched his second win in heat 16 with Hicks getting second and moving onto 7 points ahead of Fox.
The final round had much to play for with eleven riders still in contention for semi final spots. Manzares got his first win of the night in heat 17 ahead of Hicks to secure his place in the semis. Heat 18 was a blockbuster on paper and it lived up to such. Becker trapped ahead of Janniro with Wells in last place. Wells first went by Fox and then pulled off a magnificent inside pass of Janniro. He was however unable to catch Becker and dropped his first point of the night. Wells on 14 and Becker on 13 would be top two in points from the heats. Novratil won his third race from Burmeister in heat 19. Max Ruml got back to winning ways in a close and intense battle with Broc Nicol in heat 20.
Semi final 1 had Wells charging into the lead passing Manzares into turn 3. Manzares, who also made a good start took the second transfer spot, leaving Novratil and Nicol eliminated. Semi final 2 was won by Luke Becker ahead of Max Ruml, with Janniro and Hicks losing out. The depth of the line up was proven not only by the four remaining riders, but the long list of stats who did not make the final.
The final saw Wells get his expected fast start but he was chased hard by Becker until an engine failure took his 18 year old Team USA team mate out of the chase. This left Max Ruml and Gino Manzares to take up the chase. They finished in this order much to the appreciation of the crowd.
The supporting act of divisions did not disappoint. The Clubman Division featured 19 riders. Heats were won by Chet Kohler, Jeremy Estes, Shawn Eldridge and Chance Grove. The third through fifth placed riders went to Last Chance races, with only the winners, William McCloskey and Brad Moreau, making it to the semi finals. Estes and Grove continued their dominance by winning the semis and the two had an epic battle in the Main, with newcomer Grove passing Estes, who slowed and dropped to fourth. With William McCloskey and Shawn Eldridge taking second and third, it was still a NorCal clean sweep!
Support Class saw heats go to Dennis Osmer and Brent Smith. Smith led he final until the very end when a mistake let by Osmer for the win. Osmer also won the prize for the most festive Christmas decorated pit.
Junior 250cc saw two heats go to National Champion Sebastian Palmese, one to Cameron Krezman and the last Chance to Jake Isaac. Palmese inexplicably missed the start in the Main, with Isaac out front. Palmese reeled in the opposition and a last gasp pass on Isaac saw a fantastic last to first charge.
Travis Horn and Wilbur Hancock took a heat each in 150 Mini Division 1, with Horn victorious in the Main. In Division 2 Chad Williams and Justin Almon split the heats with Almon taking the main in three very close duels between the two. Dakota Black took a clean sweep in Pee Wee.
The event kicked off the 2017-2018 Winter season at Perris which fills the void of an otherwise 7 month off season in American Speedway. There will be monthly races through April, the next three being the much anticipated team racing series, beginning January 13th.
Official Results:
Winter Invitational (Top 4 decided by Main Event standings)
1st Ricky Wells (20)
2nd Max Ruml (15)
3rd Gino Manzares (13)
4th Luke Becker (16)
Austin Novratil 11, Billy Janniro 11, Broc Nicol 10, Colton Hicks 9, Tyson Burmeister 9, Dillon Ruml 8, Aaron Fox 6, Bryan Yarrow 3, Redmond Bohannon 3, Eddie Castro 2, Kurtis Hamill 2, Rick Richards 0.
Clubman Main
168 Chance Grove
150n William McCloskey
357 Shawn Eldridge
136 Jeremy Estes
118 Rohn Zellner (20)
275 Lawrence McNutt (20)
Support Class
303 Dennis Osmer
211 Steve Brown
103 Brent Smith
292 Justin Schultz
132 Bronson Pearce (non starter) (Engine let go on first lap.)
250 Junior
1 Sebastian Palmese
16 Jake Isaac
26 Cameron Krezman
115 Landon Norton
Last Chance
16 Jake Isaac
115 Landon Norton
14 Sara Cords
96 Andrew Russell
150 Mini Division 1
25 Travis Horn
117 Wilbur Hancock
48 Jose Navarrete
150 Mini Division 2
7 Justin Almon
04 Owen Williams
9 Levi Leutz
16 Cole Ayers
42 Czane Dunbar
Pee Wee
503 Dakota Black
05 Ryder Schultz
33 Shane Smith
92 Max Rose
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