Industry Hills Speedway

The Grand Arena
Industry Hills Expo Center
City of Industry, California

Laidlaws Harley Night / Carol Perez Memorial
September 7, 2022 - Industry Hills Speedway
Results and Photo By Ryan Evans

The Carol Perez Main Event at the tapes (inside - outside):
Max Ruml, Gino Manzares, Broc Nicol, Aaron Fox.
The finishing order was Ruml, Manzares, Nicol, Fox.

Harley Night - Industry Hills Speedway, CA, USA - September 7

The 2022 Industry Hills Speedway Season ended just as it began and many nights in between, with a “Mad” Max Ruml victory in the main event.

The Carol Perez Main Event lineup across the grid was Ruml in gate one, Gino Manzares in gate two, Broc Nicol in gate three, and Aaron Fox in gate four. Ruml was off the line first when the tapes went up but Nicol was close as they entered turn one. Ruml was determined to prevent Nicol from making an outside run so he drifted into the dirt. Manzares charged up the inside and was alongside Ruml on the back straight with Nicol right behind. Ruml went deep into the cushion in turn three and found enough traction to propel himself into the lead. He dropped down to the inside line in front of Manzares entering turn one the second time while Nicol remained on the outside. The trio remained in that tight formation on the back straight but Ruml went back to the outside in turn three. Nicol went outside but parked a bit and lost his momentum while Ruml kept his lead at the end of lap two. Ruml strategically chose his lines to protect from attacks from both Manzares and Nicol but neither rider threatened him for the balance of the race. Ruml collected his ninth main event victory of the season at the track, Manzares was second, Nicol finished third, and Fox was fourth.

The main event, and the trophy, were named for Carol Perez who was very instrumental in allowing speedway to be held at the Industry Hills Expo Center and was quite a fan of the sport. Her leadership and guidance has not only brought regular speedway events, but has also brought some big events to the venue since 2004. These events have included the Monster Energy World Invitational, National Championship Rounds, the Gumball Rally, the Youth Silver Cup, the Connor Penhall Memorial Cup, and National Under 21 Championships. She passed away in 2016 and will always be missed.

Ruml kicked off the evening with a victory over Nicol. Tim Gomez led Austin Novratil throughout event two but the latter would not be denied and snatched the victory at the finish line. Under 21 National Champion Slater Lightcap defeated Fox in event three. Manzares ended round one by beating Shawn “Mad Dog” McConnell.

Lightcap started round two with a defeat of McConnell. Novratil and Nicol battled side-by-side for two laps before Nicol took the lead and the victory. Ruml defeated Gomez in the next event. Manzares beat Fox to finish the second round with his second straight victory.

Nicol, who won the U.S. Open in New York just three nights earlier, made it two wins in a row by beating Gomez and McConnell. Lightcap remained undefeated with a win ahead of Johnny Oakden. Fox and Ruml were battling for the lead in the penultimate heat when Bobby “Boogaloo” Schwartz had to lay his machine down to avoid disaster with a fallen Archie Perez. The red flag came out and the victory was awarded to Fox for being the leader at the end of the previous lap. Novratil defeated Manzares to close out the heats.

Fox trapped from the outside in the first semi and led on the back straight with Lightcap and Manzares in tow. Manzares took second entering turn three but Lightcap took in back exiting turn four. Just as they have several times this season, the two came together it turn two. Lightcap went down but the race continued without him. Fox and Manzares booked their places in the main and a frustrated Lightcap would join Gomez in the Consolation. Ruml was victorious in the second semi with Nicol fending off Novratil to join the National Champion in the main event.
Gomez led the Scratch Consolation from start to finish with Lightcap finishing second and McConnell getting third.

Harold Hartke led the first two laps of the Second Division Main Event with Rudy Laurer stalking him the entire way. Hartke led as they took the white flag but Jordan Vanderham went down behind them in turn four. Vanderham was still on the track but the red light had not come one when Hartke and Laurer slid through the final corner. Hartke slowed as a precaution but Laurer kept the throttle on and was first to the checkered flag. The result stood which left a frustrated Hartke to settle for second. Luke Whitcomb finished third in his debut in Second Division.

Jake Myers led all four laps en route to victory in the Third Division Main Event. Steve “Beach Ball” Brown finished second, Alan Bernklau was third, Tim McGrath, in his first race after moving to Texas several years ago, finished fourth, and Greg Willis was fifth.

Morgan Myers matched her dad’s success by winning the Mini 150 Main Event. Kayd Fiore finished second, Maddux Myers was third, and Brandon Soto finished fourth.
Jett Ferré led the Pee Wee Main Event through turns one and two before Lambert Su took the lead as they entered turn three. Braxton McKeown, who started 20 yards back, weaved through the field and was chasing after Su. Braxton McKeown took the lead as they went into turn three the third time. Braxton McKeown never looked back from there and raced away with the victory. Su held on to second, Ferré finished third, Brinleigh McKeown was fourth, and Finley Romaine finished fifth.

Harley Night brought a healthy-sized crowd for the Wednesday night event. It also brought the curtain down on a successful 2022 season at Industry Hills Speedway. The calendar year began without any certainty of speedway being held at the venue. Promoter Kelly Inman worked many hours to make sure that the season not only came to fruition but provided big events and fantastic action on the track. The off-season will not only be spent planning for the 2023 season but there could very well be some events during the winter. Keep your eyes open for some forthcoming announcements.

Carol Perez Main Event
1 - Max Ruml
24 - Gino Manzares
98 - Broc Nicol
46 - Aaron Fox

Scratch Consolation
30 - Tim Gomez
28 - Slater Lightcap
6 - Shawn McConnell
7 - Austin Novratil (non starter)

Semi #1: Fox, Manzares, Gomez, Lightcap (fell)
Semi #2: Ruml, Nicol, Novratil, McConnell (fell)

Second Division Main Event
182 - Rudy Laurer
290 - Harold Hartke
227 - Luke Whitcomb
123 - Jordan Vanderham (fell, remounted)

Third Division Main Event
175 - Jake Myers
211 - Steve Brown
69e - Alan Bernklau
186 - Tim McGrath
215 - Greg Willis

Mini 150 Main Event
175 - Morgan Myers
169 - Kayd Fiore
175x - Maddux Myers
5 - Brandon Soto

Pee Wee Main Event
226 - Braxton McKeown
67 - Lambert Su
25 - Jett Ferré
219 - Brinleigh McKeown
619 - Finley Romaine

First Division Main Event 1 2 3 T
1 – Max Ruml 3 3 2 8
6 – Shawn McConnell 2 2 1 5
7 – Austin Novratil 3 2 3 8
11 – Bobby Schwartz 1 F 1 2
14 – Eddie Castro 1 1 1 3
24 – Gino Manzares 3 3 2 8
28 – Slater Lightcap 3 3 3 9
30 – Tim Gomez 2 2 2 6
34 – Archie Perez 0 1 Fx 1
37 – Joey Donaldson 1 1 0 2
46 – Aaron Fox 2 2 3 7
98 – Broc Nicol 2 3 3 8
168 – Mark Fillebrown F 1 1 2
309 – Johnny Oakden 1 0 2 3

Race Results
1: Ruml, Nicol, Donaldson
2: Novratil, Gomez, Schwartz, Fillebrown (fell)
3: Lightcap, Fox, Castro
4: Manzares, McConnell, Oakden, Perez
10: Lightcap, McConnell, Donaldson, Schwartz (fell)
11: Nicol, Novratil, Perez (tape penalty)
12: Ruml, Gomez, Castro, Oakden
13: Manzares, Fox, Fillebrown
19: Nicol, Gomez, McConnell
20: Lightcap, Oakden, Fillebrown (tape penalty)
21: (awarded) Fox, Ruml, Schwartz (tape penalty), Perez (fell, excluded)
22: Novratil, Manzares, Castro, Oakden