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Perris RacewayPerris, CaliforniaAMA Under 21 Speedway National Championship NICOL, HANCOCK AND LEUTZ TAKE AMA NATIONAL TITLES AT PERRIS The Young Guns took center stage at Perris Raceway on Saturday 16th November 2019 with AMA #1 titles up for grabs in Under 21 and Junior Long Track Championships. The Under 21 Division was a hugely anticipated showdown with Luke Becker and Broc Nicol’s returning to the States after superlative campaigns in Europe this Summer. Thrown into the mix was the return of Dillon Ruml after a long lay from a broken arm and a host of other young stars. Unfortunately, the Under 21 Championship had fallen off the radar several years before but it makes a timely return to an appropriate host venue given that Perris is the home of Team USA, and with the current requirement of one Under 21 rider per country in the FIM Speedway of Nations. Eight riders were entered with four heats each. The top two progressed straight to the final with riders 3-6 going into a B Main for the last two final slots. Round 1 had a double dose of surprise. Becker made a poor start in heat 1, coming out of turn two in third with Sebastian Palmese leading and Jake Isaac in second. Becker quickly moved by Isaac but could not make an impression on Palmese. Becker struggled for pace, looking down at his motor several times as Palmese crossed the line with a deserved win. Sara Cords meantime moved by Isaac for third place. Heat two saw Dillon Ruml show hot pace on a GTR motor, leading home Nicol from Blake Borello. Heat 3 saw Ruml go two for two, leading home a very impressive Jake Isaac with Borello in third and Palmese in fourth. Heat four saw the only programmed heat with Becker and Nicol together. Nicol got the gate and initially led but Becker thundered inside going into turn 3 of lap two and got the win. Anthony Dion was third. Heat 5 saw Becker win comfortably from Borello and Isaac, Nicol taking heat 6 to inflict Ruml’s first defeat of the evening with Palmese third. To round out the heats Nicol was victorious in race 7 from Borello and Cords. Becker won his third in a row over Ruml and Palmese. Becker was straight to the Main on 11, though Nicol and Ruml, both on 10, could not be separated on count back, so a run off was needed. Nicol got the gate in this race and held off Ruml to join Becker in the Main. The B Main has Borello make a superb start followed by Palmese with Ruml in third place. Ruml did not have an easy time in getting a transfer spot but some hard work of the outside saw him young his 16-year-old rival Palmese to book his place in the Final, Borello taking the win. Becker electing gate 1 in the final but he lifted as the tapes rose, immediately putting Nicol in the lead and Ruml in second. Becker worked his lines to get by Ruml and then worked on Nicol. Though the gap closed some, it was never close enough to threaten Nicol and the newly signed 2020 Glasgow Tiger Nicol was a popular AMA Under 21 Champion in his last year of eligibility. Becker was second, Ruml third and Borello fourth. The 250cc Junior Long Track title was an epic itself and followed the same format as the Under 21s. The early pace was set by Wilbur Hancock and Timmy Dion who won both of their opening rides. They met in Round 3 and it was Hancock who came out on top. Slater Lightcap got the win in heat 6. Heat 7 saw disaster for Dion who fell and was excluded. Landon Norton, with a steady run of three second places so far, duly obliged with the win and bumped Dion from his automatic transfer spot. Hancock, meantime, won his fourth on the bounce in heat 8 from Alex Martin. More disaster hit Dion in the B Main with a damaged bike in a first turn incident putting him on a back up for the re run. Quite simply the back up did not have the pace with Lightcap leading home Martin for the transfer spots with Greg Moore in third. The final saw Hancock round out a perfect night with a five-ride maximum and a first AMA National title. Landon Norton, in his last ever 250cc ride, same second with Lightcap getting by Martin for third. The 150 Mini AMA Long Track National had 6 entries and was run over 6 five-man races, each rider missing one round. Total points determined the winner. Levi Leutz and Jose Navarrete took the first two heats but both had the race they skipped in these two rounds so they did not meet until round 3. Navarrete got first blood with the Round 3 win to put pressure on Leutz but the ‘Cowboy’ responded with winning rounds 4,5 and 6 and taking his second AMA title of the year. Kensei Matsudaira was a consistent third place on the night with Ryder Schultz showing huge improvement with fourth overall. Divisions 2 and 3 had an extended program with West Coast Championships up for grabs. Each rider had three heats with the top 5 per class going to the final. Division 2 saw Derek Denzin top the charts on 11 points and two wins. Kayle LeoGrande won two heats with a fall in the middle, whilst Mike Miller and Brad Moreau took the others. The Main event had Denzin lead from flag to flag, LeoGrande was second but fell when challenged by Miller, who inherited the spot. Hayley Perrault came third. Division Three had Rees Todd top the scores with 14 points and two wins. Mark Fillebrown also scored two wins but had bike failure in his third heat. David Newsham and Andy Dix were also heat winners. Fillebrown got back to winning ways in the Main, leading home Todd and Dix. The popular Upright Class had four riders. Chris Mistretta won both heats but was sent to the penalty line in the Main. Mike Reed got the holeshot with Mike Lupo in hot pursuit, but as they battled it allowed Mistretta to close and work his way back to victory. Russell Green defeated Brad Sauer in all three of their match races, a feat matched by Jose Navarrete in the Pee Wees. Two Mini Bike Classes featured once more. The 125cc class saw Sterling Martin win the heat with brother Alex taking the Main. Former Under 21 Speedway Champion Justin Boyle won heat and Main in the 150cc class. The Under 21 and Junior Long Track event had a guest co-promoter in its eventual 250cc Champ Wilbur Hancock. Hancock, along with Chris Ackerman, choreographed a rider parade which included intro music for each rider. Hancock also got several top international riders including World Champion Bartosz Zmarzlik, Freddie Lindgren, Hans Andersen and Oliver Bertzon to promote the event on social media. The Perris winter season is in full swing with this event leading into the biggest race on the American calendar, the 2019 AMA FIM American Final on December 7th, which qualifies riders for the 2020 World Championship rounds in Europe next May. The combination of the best domestic and overseas American racers will make it once more the best line up of the year. The American Final is at 7pm with a limited program for other classes at 4pm. Results AMA Under 21 Speedway National Championship B Final Heat Points: Becker 11, Nicol 10, Ruml 10, Borello 6, Palmese 5, Isaac 3, Sara Cords 2, Anthony Dion 1 AMA Youth 250cc Speedway Long Track National Championship B Final Heat Points: Hancock 12, Norton 9, Dion 8, Lightcap 7, Martin 6, Moore 3, Justin Almon 3, Andrew Russell 0. AMA 150cc Mini Speedway Long Track National Championship. Division 2 West Coast Championship Division 3 West Coast Championship Upright Vintage Main Division 1 Match races Pee Wee Mini Bike 125 Main Mini Bike 150 Main
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