Industry Hills Speedway
The Grand Arena
Industry Hills Expo Center
City of Industry, California
Military Appreciation Night
June 29, 2022 - Industry Hills Speedway
Report, Results and Photo By Ryan Evans
The Industry Hills Speedway Scratch Main Event
At the tapes (inside - outside): Austin Novratil, Max Ruml, Gino Manzares, and Slater Lightcap
AMA Speedway National Champion “Mad” Max Ruml went home with the main event victory for the second consecutive week on Military Appreciation Night at Industry Hills Speedway.
Ruml lined up in gate two with Austin “All Throttle” Novratil on his inside and Gino Manzares and Slater Lightcap outside of him. Ruml was first from the tapes and led the field into turn one. Novratil led the charge after the leader with Lightcap and Manzares battling for third. That third-place battle ended when Manzares slid off in turn three. The race continued but Ruml left little doubt. He stretched his lead with every lap and cruised to the victory. Novratil was second, Lightcap finished third, and Manzares was credited with fourth.
Novratil opened the evening with a win ahead of Michael Wells while Manzares had an inauspicious start when he lifted and fell. Lightcap defeated Tim Gomez in the second heat. Ruml ended round one with a victory over Shawn “Mad Dog” McConnell.
Manzares began round two and righted his evening with a victory over Aaron Fox. Novratil led Ruml for nearly two laps before Ruml cutback exiting turn four to take the lead and the victory. McConnell got the best start in event ten but 16-year-old Lightcap slipped by the sexagenarian on the back straight for the lead and held him off for the victory.
Novratil defeated Lightcap to start the final round of heats with his second win. Fox defeated Gomez and McConnell in the next heat. Ruml was leading the final heat when he coasted to a halt with an engine failure. His misfortune handed Manzares his second victory.
Novratil was victorious in the first semi with Manzares getting second to join him in the main event. Ruml was forced to switch machines for the second semi but that didn’t derail him as he blazed to victory while Lightcap got second and the other transfer to the main.
Gomez held off the fierce challenge of McConnell to win the Scratch Consolation. Michael Wells was third and Fox was credited with fourth after pulling to the infield with mechanical problems.
A spur-of-the-moment five-lap challenge race was put together at the behest of star of the television show “Storage Wars,” Barry Weiss. Weiss has been a longtime weekly attendee of Industry Hills Speedway. He typically pays cash to the youth racers but this evening he changed things up and offered a $500 cash prize to a quartet of the top First Division racers. As has been the case in the early part of this 2022 season, it was Ruml who led the challenge from start to finish. Fox finished second, Manzares was third, and Novratil finished fourth.
The Second Division Main Event required a restart when the first attempt ended up in a pile in turn one. Mark Fillebrown led the restart from the start but was hounded by Rudy Laurer. Fillebrown led as they took the white flag, but Laurer’s persistence paid off when he charged under Fillebrown for the lead in turn two. Fillebrown didn’t give up and he snatched the lead back in the final corner. Fillebrown was first to the checkered flag, Laurer had to settle for second, Ron Davis finished third, and Kevin Fiore was fourth.
David Newsham was victorious in the Third Division Main Event for the second consecutive week. Jim Sanders was second and Steve “Beach Ball” Brown finished third.
“Speedway” Charlie Trana led all four laps and took the victory in the Junior 250 Main Event. Levi Leutz finished second and Nick Dunn was third.
“King” Karl Hancock defeated Hudson Jones in the Pee Wee Main Event when the latter fell while trying to make up for a half-lap handicap.
National Sidecar Champions Joe Jones and Tom Summers won the Sidecar Main Event for the second straight week. Ace Kale and Thomas Yergler finished second, Kevin Holman and Brent Smith were third, and Kevin Kale and Tracy Gallagher were credited with fourth.
Scratch Main Event
1 - Max Ruml
7 - Austin Novratil
28 - Slater Lightcap
24 - Gino Manzares (fell)
Scratch Consolation
30 - Tim Gomez
6 - Shawn McConnell
214 - Michael Wells
46 - Aaron Fox (engine failure)
Semi 1: Novratil, Manzares, Gomez, McConnell (fell, remounted)
Semi 2: Ruml, Lightcap, Fox (tape penalty), Wells
Barry Weiss 5-Lap Challenge
1 - Max Ruml
46 - Aaron Fox
24 - Gino Manzares
7 - Austin Novratil
Second Division Main Event (restarted)
168 - Mark Fillebrown
182 - Rudy Laurer
163 - Ron Davis
159 - Kevin Fiore
Second Division Consolation
242 - Bruce Marteney
296 - Andrew Russell
103 - Brent Smith (non starter)
Third Division Main Event
111 - David Newsham
138 - Jim Sanders
211 - Steve Brown
Junior 250 Main Event
66 - Charlie Trana
226 - Levi Leutz
76 - Nick Dunn
Mini 150 Main Event
22 - Ryder Schultz
Pee Wee Main Event
45 - Karl Hancock
15 - Hudson Jones (fell, remounted)
Sidecar Main Event
1 - Joe Jones/Tom Summers
357 - Ace Kale/Thomas Yergler
11 - Kevin Holman/Brent Smith
07 - Kevin Kale/Tracy Gallagher
First Division Scoring 1 2 3 T
1 – Max Ruml 3 3 E 6
6 – Shawn McConnell 2 2 1 5
7 – Austin Novratil 3 2 3 8
14 – Eddie Castro 1 0 1 2
24 – Gino Manzares F 3 3 6
28 – Slater Lightcap 3 3 2 8
30 – Tim Gomez 2 1 2 5
37 – Joey Donaldson 1 0 2 3
46 – Aaron Fox N 2 3 5
178 – Eloy Medellin 1 1 1 3
214 – Michael Wells 2 1 0 3
Heat Results
1: Novratil, Wells, Donaldson, Manzares (fell)
2: Lightcap, Gomez, Medellin, Fox (non starter)
3: Ruml, McConnell, Castro
8: Manzares, Fox, Medellin, Castro (fell, remounted)
9: Ruml, Novratil, Gomez, Donaldson
10: Lightcap, McConnell, Wells
15: Novratil, Lightcap, Castro
16: Fox, Gomez, McConnell, Wells
17: Manzares, Donaldson, Medellin, Ruml (engine failure)
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