Costa Mesa Speedway
Orange County Fairgrounds
Costa Mesa, California
Harley Night 2
August 27, 2022 - Costa Mesa
Photo and results by Ryan Evans
The Costa Mesa Scratch Main Event at the tapes (inside - outside):
Billy Janniro, Max Ruml, Austin Novratil, Charles Ermolenko.
he finishing order was Novratil, Ruml, Janniro, Ermolenko.
“All Throttle” Austin Novratil extended his winning streak to four with his Scratch Main Event victory in front of a packed house at the world famous Costa Mesa Speedway.
National Champion “The Kid” Billy Janniro had the first choice of starting position and chose gate one. After a few moments of pondering, “Mad” Max Ruml picked gate two. Novratil, who has been successful from gate four, surprisingly took gate three. This left “Dukie” Charles Ermolenko, who recently returned racing, with gate four.
Janniro and Ruml were even as they entered turn one. Janniro pushed up the track to gain an advantage on Ruml but this left the inside line exposed. Novratil deftly cut back and charged into the lead on the back straight. Janniro and Ruml were handlebar-to-handlebar as they chased the former Under 21 National Champion. Novratil led through lap one while Janniro and Ruml were preoccupied with fighting with second. They swapped places several times before Ruml gained control on the final lap. He desperately sought out after the leader but it was too late. Novratil kept his winning streak alive with his victory, Ruml finished second, Janniro was third, and Ermolenko finished fourth.
Ruml greeted the large crowd with an opening race victory ahead of “Fast” Eddie Castro. Janniro defeated Ermolenko in the second event. Novratil ended the first round with a victory over Michael Wells.
The second round started with Ruml gaining his second victory ahead of Under 21 National Champion Slater Lightcap. Janniro made it two-for-two by defeating “Mad Dog” Shawn McConnell. Novratil kept pace with Ruml and Janniro by beating Ermolenko to finish round two.
Ruml remained perfect with a win ahead of Ermolenko to start round three. Janniro took his third straight victory by beating Castro. Novratil closed out the heats with his third victory ahead of Lightcap.
The first semi brought Ruml and Novratil to the tapes with perfect scores with something having to give. Ruml made the best start from gate two and went on to victory with Novratil getting second to join him. Janniro roared to victory in the second semi while Ermolenko held off Castro for the other transfer to the main.
Castro was leading the Consolation into turn three when a broken chain spoiled his chances. This handed the lead and the victory to Lightcap. Wells finished second and McConnell was third.
The Second Division Main Event featured three racers who were undefeated on the evening. Rudy Laurer, Brad Moreau, and Philip Harmatiuk, making his return to racing on the eve of the twelfth anniversary of his suffering a severe injury at this race track.
Laurer made the best start and got across Harmatiuk to take control through turns one and two. Harmatiuk was planted on Laurer’s back tire through lap one but the leader was unfazed. Harmatiuk was relentless with his pressure on Laurer but couldn’t find a way past. Laurer was first to the checkered flag, Harmatiuk settled for second, Moreau finished third, and Ron Davis was fourth.
The Third Division Main was a spirited battle with the lead changing hands several times. Jim Sanders led initially before Alan Bernklau took over entering turn three. Sanders went by as they entered turn one the second time. Bernklau took it back exiting turn four the second time. Sanders reclaimed the lead in turn two. That would prove to be the final pass as Sanders led to the finish. Bernklau was second and Dan Wensloff finished third.
Many in attendance were wondering if the Sidecar Main Event would ever be completed as several wild incidents created three restarts. The fourth staging saw National Champions Joe Jones and Tom Summers taking the lead at the start and leading all the way for the victory. Dillon Osborne and Jamie Morabito finished second and Kevin Holman and Weston Farnsworth were third.
The second Harley Night of Costa Mesa’s season attracted a large crowd once again. In addition to speedway and sidecars, there were two rounds of races that included bikes of all kinds competing on the race track, including street-legal Harleys.
There won’t be racing at Costa Mesa this Saturday due to the Labor Day Holiday Weekend. The next event at the venue will be Knobby Night on Saturday, September 10. This event will have speedway, sidecars, and junior speedway. It will also have events in which racers compete on standard dirt bikes. It typically attracts some top racers from other disciplines of motorcycle racing.
RESULTS
Scratch Main Event
7 - Austin Novratil
5 - Max Ruml
1 - Billy Janniro
15 - Dukie Ermolenko
Scratch Consolation
28 - Slater Lightcap
214 - Michael Wells
6 - Shawn McConnell (fell, remounted)
14 - Eddie Castro (engine failure)
Semi #1: Ruml, Novratil, Lightcap, Castro
Semi #2: Janniro, Ermolenko, Castro, Wells
Second Division Main Event
182 - Rudy Laurer
149 - Philip Harmatiuk
153 - Brad Moreau
163 - Ron Davis
Second Division Consolation
296 - Andrew Russell
327 - Tyler Moszer
168 - Mark Fillebrown
290 - Harold Hartke (fell, remounted)
Third Division Main Event
138 - Jim Sanders
69e - Alan Bernklau
169 - Dan Wensloff
Sidecar Main Event (restarted thrice)
1 - Joe Jones/Tom Summers
64 - Dillon Osborne/Jamie Morabito
11 - Kevin Holman/Weston Farnsworth
First Division Heat Scoring 1 2 3 T
1 – Billy Janniro 3 3 3 9
5 – Max Ruml 3 3 3 9
6 – Shawn McConnell 1 2 1 4
7 – Austin Novratil 3 3 3 9
11 – Bobby Schwartz 1 1 1 3
14 – Eddie Castro 2 1 2 5
15 – Charles Ermolenko 2 2 2 6
28 – Slater Lightcap 1 2 2 5
37 – Joey Donaldson 0 0 0 0
137 – Justin Almon 0 0 M 0
214 – Michael Wells 2 1 1 4
309 – Jonny Oakden E 0 0 0
Heat Results
1: Ruml, Castro, McConnell, Oakden (engine failure)
2: Janniro, Ermolenko, Lightcap, Donaldson
3: Novratil, Wells, Schwartz, Almon
8: Ruml, Lightcap, Schwartz, Oakden
9: Janniro, McConnell, Wells, Donaldson
10: Novratil, Ermolenko, Castro, Almon
15: Ruml, Ermolenko, Wells, Almon (two-minute exclusion)
16: Janniro, Castro, Schwartz, Oakden
17: Novratil, Lightcap, McConnell, Donaldson
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