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Industry Racing
The Grand Arena
Industry Hills Expo Center
City of Industry, California
Connor Penhall Memorial Cup
May 29, 2019 - Industry Racing
By Ryan Evans
Austin “All Throttle” Novratil endured a roller coaster evening and ended Billy Janniro’s four-year stranglehold on the Connor Penhall Memorial Cup with stunning victory at Industry Racing.
Janniro, having dropped only a single point in his opening race, earned first choice of starting position and picked gate one. “Mad” Max Ruml selected gate two. Dillon Ruml chose gate four and left Novratil with the dreaded gate three.
Janniro made the best start and drifted up the track in turn two in order to protect from an outside pass. Novratil exploited the gap left underneath and stormed up the inside on the back straight. Max Ruml also slipped by and took over second. Janniro wasn’t going to give up that easy and he took over second at the end of lap two and turned his attention toward the leader. Novratil fell victim to a last-turn pass by Janniro in last year’s National Round but there was no such result this time. The former U.S. Under 21 National Champion held on for the prestigious victory. Janniro was second, Max Ruml finished third, and Dillon Ruml was fourth.
Max Ruml opened the Grand Prix-format evening by defeating Russell Green for his first victory. Dillon Ruml imitated his brother by scoring a win in event two over Sebastian “Big Daddy” Palmese, who was making his debut in California’s top division. Former Under 21 National Champion Gino Manzares was victorious over Janniro in event three. Bob Hicks completed round one by defeating fellow Northern California racer Blake Borello while Novratil was last with a mechanical issue.
Novratil righted his ship by defeating former Junior 250 National Champion Colton Hicks to start round two. Max Ruml beat Manzares for his second straight win. Dillon Ruml defeated Tommy Hedden for his second win in a row. Janniro romped to victory over Tim Gomez to end the second round with a victory.
Russell Green began the third round by passing former Junior 250 National Champion Sebastian Palmese and taking the victory. Janniro defeated Max Ruml in event 14 for his second consecutive win. Gomez beat Hedden in the next event. The end of the round was action-packed as Novratil, Dillon Ruml, and Manzares were set for battle. Novratil took the lead and Dillon Ruml fell as they entered turn three. Manzares chased down Novratil and passed him on lap two and held on for the win.
Round four started with Dillon Ruml getting the drop on Janniro. The nine-time National Champion was undeterred, however, and charged underneath for the lead as they entered turn three. He didn’t look back from there and took his third victory in a row. Novratil held off Max Ruml in event 20 for his second win. Borello was awarded the victory after Manzares had a spectacular crash that ended his evening prematurely. Colton Hicks and Palmese renewed their rivalry from their Junior 250 days with Colton Hicks scoring the victory to finish the penultimate round.
Green kicked off the final round of heats with his second win and booked his place in the semis. Max Ruml scored his third victory ahead of his brother and Colton Hicks with all three moving on to the semis. Janniro used the outside to pass Hedden for the win while a controversial exclusion left Novratil scoreless in his last heat but still able to make the semis. Bobby “Boogaloo” Schwartz closed out the heats by bringing the crowd to its feet with a very popular victory.
Janniro romped to his fifth straight victory in the first semi while Novratil finished second to join him in the main event. The second semi was a virtual Ruml Brothers 5-1 with Max leading Dillon across the finish line and into the Final.
Former Mini 150 National Champion Slater Lightcap led from start to finish and claimed victory in the Junior 250 Main Event. Greg Moore finished second, Dylan Wagner was third, and Justin Almon was credited with fourth.
Owen Williams was victorious in the Mini 150 Main Event with Jose “Nitro” Navarrete getting second, Levi Leutz finishing third, and Ken Matsudaira coming in fourth.
The event was held in remembrance of Connor Penhall who was tragically killed by a drunk driver in 2012 while he was working construction on a local freeway. Connor, the son of speedway icon Bruce Penhall, briefly raced junior speedway a decade ago. The Penhall family was in attendance and presented an amazing trophy that is topped by a custom painted Troy Lee Designs helmet. The purse for the evening was $14,000 and the event has become one of the biggest on the American Speedway calendar in its five years of existence.
RESULTS
Connor Penhall Memorial Cup Final
7 – Austin Novratil
1 – Billy Janniro
5 – Max Ruml
3 – Dillon Ruml
Semi #1
1 – Billy Janniro
7 – Austin Novratil
321 – Russell Green
30 – Tim Gomez
Semi #2
5 – Max Ruml
3 – Dillon Ruml
24n – Colton Hicks
40 – Tommy Hedden
Junior 250 Main Event
28 - Slater Lightcap
51 - Greg Moore
14 - Dylan Wagner
7 - Justin Almon
Junior 250 Consolation
117 - Wilbur Hancock
27 - Luke Whitcomb
96 - Andrew Russell
Mini 150 Consolation
76 - Nick Dunn
32 - Harli Facchini
Mini 150 Main Event
04 - Owen Williams
48 - Jose Navarrete
9 - Levi Leutz
74 - Ken Matsudaira
Heat Scoring 1 2 3 4 5 T S T
1 – Billy Janniro 2 3 3 3 3 14 3 17
3 – Dillon Ruml 3 3 F 2 2 10 2 12
5 – Max Ruml 3 3 2 2 3 13 3 16
7 – Austin Novratil R 3 2 3 X 8 2 10
11 – Bobby Schwartz 1 1 Fx 1 3 6 - 6
24 – Gino Manzares 3 2 3 F - 8 - 8
24n – Colton Hicks 1 2 1 3 1 8 1 9
27n – Blake Borello 2 1 1 3 0 7 - 7
30 – Tim Gomez 1 2 3 1 1 8 0 8
40 – Tommy Hedden 1 2 2 2 2 9 0 9
116 – Jake Isaac 0 0 0 0 1 1 - 1
178 – Eloy Medellin 0 0 E 1 0 1 - 1
214 – Michael Wells 0 0 1 1 2 4 - 4
259 – Sebastian Palmese 2 0 2 2 1 7 - 7
321 – Russell Green 2 1 3 0 3 9 1 10
808n – Bob Hicks 3 1 1 0 2 7 - 7
323 – Mike Miller (Reserve) 0 - - - - 0 - 0
Race Results
1: M. Ruml, Green, Hedden, Wells
2: D. Ruml, Palmese, Gomez, Medellin
3: Manzares, Janniro, C. Hicks. Isaac
4: B. Hicks, Borello, Schwartz, Novratil (fell, remounted) (retired)
7: Novratil, C. Hicks, Green, Medellin
8: M. Ruml, Manzares, Schwartz, Palmese
9: D. Ruml, Hedden, B. Hicks, Isaac
10: Janniro, Gomez, Borello, Wells
13: Green, Palmese, Borello, Isaac
14: Janniro, M. Ruml, B. Hicks, Medellin (engine failure)
15: (restarted) Gomez, Hedden, C. Hicks, Schwartz (fell, excluded)
16: Manzares, Novratil, Wells, D. Ruml (fell)
19: Janniro, D. Ruml, Schwartz, Green (fell, remounted)
20: Novratil, M. Ruml, Gomez, Isaac
21: (restarted twice) Borello, Hedden, Medellin, Manzares (fell)
22: C. Hicks, Palmese, Wells, B. Hicks
25: Green, B. Hicks, Gomez, Miller
26: M. Ruml, D. Ruml, C. Hicks, Borello
27: Janniro, Hedden, Palmese, Novratil (excluded)
28: Schwartz, Wells, Isaac, Medellin
Past Connor Penhall Memorial Cup Winners
2015 – Billy Janniro
2016 – Billy Janniro
2017 – Billy Janniro
2018 – Billy Janniro
Quick Results from the Connor Penhall Memorial Cup.
RESULTS
Connor Penhall Memorial Cup Final
7 - Austin Novratil
1 - Billy Janniro
5 - Max Ruml
3 - Dillon Ruml (fell, remounted)
Semi #1
1 - Billy Janniro
7 - Austin Novratil
321 - Russell Green
30 - Tim Gomez
Semi #2
5 - Max Ruml
3 - Dillon Ruml
24n - Colton Hicks
40 - Tommy Hedden
Junior 250 Main Event
28 - Slater Lightcap
51 - Greg Moore
14 - Dylan Wagner
7 - Justin Almon
Mini 150 Main Event
04 - Owen Williams
48 - Jose Navarrete
9 - Levi Leutz
74 - Ken Matsudaira
Junior 250 Consolation
117 - Wilbur Hancock
27 - Luke Whitcomb
96 - Andrew Russell
Mini 150 Consolation
76 - Nick Dunn
32 - Harli Facchini
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