Santa Maria Raceway

1900 Hutton Rd.
Nipomo, CA 93444
Information Line: (805) 922-2232

AMA Speedway National Championship Series Round 2
Santa Maria Raceway - July 29, 2017
Results by: Steve Evans

Broc Nicol Takes First AMA Speedway National Series Win At Santa Maria

Broc Nicol continued where he left off after his impressive Speedway World Cup campaign by winning Round 2 of the AMA Speedway National Championship Series at Santa Maria.

The heats begun with Austin Novratil, who had previously put on some fantastic displays at the Central Californian track, leading home series leader Luke Becker and Nicol in heat 1. Gino Manzares made a fantastic gate and outside charge in turns one and turn two to lead home Max Ruml in heat 2. Billy Janniro, three points down going into round 2, immediately cut the gap to two points by winning heat 3 from Gage Geist and Aaron Fox. Eddie Castro made use of the outside starting spot to win heat 4 from Dan Faria.

Heat 5 saw Max Ruml lead home Novratil and Castro. Becker made a charge from the back to win heat 6 from Geist. Janniro responded with a heat seven win over Russell Green. Nicol showed signs of what was to come with a heat 8 victory over Manzares.

Janniro won heat 9 from Novratil to be the only unbeaten rider, Becker responded to maintain his series lead with victory over Max Ruml in heat 10. Manzares moved up to 8 points with a heat 11 victory over Tommy Hedden. Nicol was the heat 12 winner with Geist once more impressing with his third second place of the night, moving him up to 6 points and already a step away from the semi finals.

Novratil got back to winning ways and a very good ten point haul so far with a heat 13 victory from Dillon Ruml. Heat 14 brought out the big guns, Janniro once more coming home ahead and with Manzares in second and Becker third, the 7 time champion now taking over the series lead. Max Ruml was the winner of heat 15 with Geist again getting the job done in second place. Nicol won his third straight in heat 16 from Dan Faria.

Getting down to the final round of heats, it was Manzares who was the heat 17 victor from Novratil. Dillon Ruml after a slow night by his current standards pulled out a crucial win over Becker in heat 18 which secured him a semi final spot. Castro after a lull in rounds 2-4 ended on a high in heat 19 with victory over Green. Heat 20 was another battle of the giants with Janniro ending the heats perfectly with the win over Max Ruml and Broc Nicol.

Semi final 1 had Janniro winning his 6th straight from Becker and Dillon Ruml. Novratil after a fantastic night was excluded after falling on the exit of turn two, Semi final two saw Manzares fall in the same spot as Novratil and get excluded. Nicol won the restart from Becker with Geist ending his best ever National performance in third.

Janniro was leading the Main and looked like he was headed to another National perfect night when disaster stuck for Becker in turn 4 with his bike lifting and the young star falling from the bike. It was later found that Becker had suffered a broken ankle from the crash. The restart saw Nicol make a stunning start and after a couple of laps of chase from Janniro it was clear there would be a new winner tonight. Max Ruml was in third place but fell in turn 3 and was excluded for leaving the track boundary.

The pre show and between rounds featured Divisions 2, 3, Vintage and Sidecar. Blake Borello impressed on his big track debut winning Division 2. Sean McDougall was unbeaten in the heats. Kevin Fiore won D3, while Dan Waller won vintage, heat 2 being an epic duel between Waller and friend / rival Malcolm Roe. Dillon Osborne and Ashley Gibbons won the Sidecar divisions.

A big crowd with many new fans turned out for the event. Grand Marshal Phil Collins from local Grove Beach was received with huge cheers from the fans and led a rider parade on his Weslake. Conditions were tricky but the track owners, speedway crew and a number of riders are already working hard together to improve this for future events and the 2018 AMA Series round.

AMA Speedway National Championship Series moves to Industry Racing on August 12th with the FIM Youth Silver Cup the next day.

Bike action at Santa Maria resumes on August 26th with the CFTA Flat Track Series. Vintage, Clubman Speedway And Sidecars will also feature.

AMA National Speedway Round 2 Main Event
4 Broc Nicol (17 points)
1 Billy Janniro (20 points)
5 Max Ruml (fell, exc) (14 points)
22 Luke Becker (fell exc) (13 points)

Gino Manzares 13, Austin Novratil 12, Dillon Ruml 9, Gage Geist 9, Eddie Castro 7, Russell Green 6, Dan Faria 6, Tommy Hedden 4, Tyson Talkington 3, Robbie Sauer 1, Aaron Fox 1, Hayley Perrault 0. Reserves: Blake Borello 1, Rick Shafer 1, River McDougall 0.

Standings
Billy Janniro 36
Luke Becker 32
Max Ruml 30
Broc Nicol 24
Gino Manzares 24
Dillon Ruml 21
Austin Novratil 20
Eddie Castro 19
Gage Geist 15
Ryan Fisher 11
Russell Green 11
Dan Faria 10
Aaron Fox 9
Tommy Hedden 4
Robbie Sauer 3
Hayley Perrault 1
Blake Borello 1
Rick Shafer 1

Support Class Main
271 Blake Borello
170 Hayley Perrault
17n Rick Shafer
243 Sean McDougall
342 River McDougall
Heat winners: S McDougall (2), Borello, R McDougall.

LCQ
170 Hayley Perrault
214 Michael Wells
150n William McCloskey

Division 3 Main
159 Kevin Fiore
294 Peter Pecorilla
353 Ray Holt Jr.
303 Dennis Osmer
Heats: Pecorilla (2)

Vintage
240 Dan Waller
180 Malcolm Roe
63 Ken Thiebaud
27 Bob Waller
Heats: Waller, Roe

Sidecar
64 Dillon Osborne / Ashley Gibbons
4 Bryan Motis / John Bach
74 James Kinne / Laurie Curry
31 Robert Curry / Lauren Suerez
Heats: Teams 31, 4 and 64 win one each.