Industry Hills Speedway
The Grand Arena
Industry Hills Expo Center
City of Industry, California
Gary Hicks AMA Speedway National Championship Series Qualifier
June 3, 2023 - Industry Hills Speedway
Results and Photo By Ryan Evans
The runoff for first overall of the Gary Hicks AMA Speedway National Championship Series Qualifier at the tapes:
Austin Novratil (inside) and Broc Nicol (outside). Novratil won the runoff.
2023 Gary Hicks AMA Speedway National Championship Qualifier - Industry Hills Speedway, CA, USA - June 3
Austin “All Throttle” Novratil defeated Broc Nicol in a dramatic runoff to win the 2023 Gary Hicks AMA Speedway National Championship Series Qualifier and ended a wild and extended evening as most thoughts were with Russell Green who left via ambulance after a near-calamitous crash in turn four at Industry Hills Speedway.
Green clipped the back wheel of another competitor in turn three and it sent him straight toward the fence. He was unable to dismount his bike and went through the safety fence and came to a stop against the bars behind it. He was conscious but it took some un-piling of his machine and plywood just to render aid to him. The medical personnel were deliberate and cautious as they worked on him. After approximately 30 minutes, Green was transported by ambulance to a nearby hospital. His wife, Jessica, reported on social media the following day that Green was released at 6:00 a.m. with “A broken clavicle, extreme charley horse in his right leg, and banged up beyond measure.” She also reported that he was experiencing a lot of pain and was very uncomfortable on their drive back to Northern California. Given how tragic his crash could’ve been, the entire speedway community is collectively breathing a sigh of relief as they simultaneously extend positive thoughts for Green to have a speedy recovery.
The top eight competitors from the National Championship Qualifier would join the six racers already seeded into this year’s National Championship Series. The event was run under the traditional 20-heat format without semis or a final. The scores after five rounds would determine the overall result. Runoffs would be held to determine first, second, third, or eighth place if necessary.
In perhaps what was a harbinger of things to come, the evening opened with event one requiring three starts to complete. Michael Wells led the third attempt for three laps before Novratil roared around the outside on the back straight to earn his first victory of the night. Nicol defeated “Fast” Eddie Castro in the second heat. Former Under 21 National Champion Slater Lightcap beat current Under 21 National Champion Alex Martin in the third heat. Tim Gomez passed Brad Sauer on the second lap to close the first round with a victory.
The second round began with Nicol well on his way to victory with Lightcap in second but a crash involving Wilbur Hancock and Greg Moore in the final corner brought out the red flag. The referee decided to hold the restart at the end of the round. Green cruised to victory in the next heat ahead of Timmy Dion. Dillon Ruml used the outside to take the lead and his first victory in event 13. Novratil earned his second victory ahead of Justin Almon in event 14. When event 11 rolled onto the track for the second time, it was Nicol who was victorious with Lightcap getting second to end round two.
Green made it two wins in a row in front of Gomez to open round three. Nicol defeated Wells in the next heat for his third straight win. Lightcap scored an impressive victory over Ruml in event 23. Novratil matched Nicol’s perfect score with a victory over Hancock to complete the third round.
The fourth round opened with Dion falling and bringing out the red flag. Castro won the restart with Greg Moore getting second. Hancock, Almon, and Wells were all desperate for points as they came to the starting line in event 28. Hancock made the best start and deftly fought off everything that Almon could muster for the victory. Ruml and Nicol had a great side-by-side battle before the former secured the lead and the victory while Nicol’s second place was his first defeat of the evening. Round four concluded with Lightcap making the best start before Novratil used the outside throughout the first lap the dropped in front of Lightcap entering turn one for the lead then raced away with his fourth straight win.
Prior to the final round of heats the individual scores were as follows: Novratil was the leader with 12 points; Nicol was next with 11; Lightcap sat third with 10 points; Ruml’s tally was nine; Green was next with eight; Castro had seven points; Gomez and Hancock each had six; Almon had five points; Sauer, Martin, Wells, and Moore had four points apiece. This meant that 13 of the 16 competitors had either secured their all-important top eight placing or had a realistic chance of doing so.
The first race of the final round had no less than four starts as the desperation of all four racers became very evident. The first attempt ended when Moore and Almon both went down in turn one. The referee ordered a full restart. The second time of asking had Almon on the ground in turn one but the race continued without him. The red light then came on when Almon was unable to safely leave the track. He was excluded from the restart. Sauer led the third start but the battle behind him was fierce between Moore on the inside and Martin on the outside. They remained wheel-to-wheel before they came together on the front straight and Martin getting the worst of it and falling off. The referee determined that Martin was the cause of the red flag and he was excluded. Sauer, the only racer to not have sampled the dirt during this heat, led all four laps for the win and brought his point total to seven while Moore’s second place gave him six. Sauer would have to wait to know what his fate would be.
Lightcap scored his third victory in the next event for a total of 13 points and guaranteed himself a podium place for the evening. Castro was second and his nine points secured his place in the National Championship Series. Gomez was third and his total of seven left him in the same position as Sauer.
The penultimate heat turned out to be the most memorable and for very unfortunate reasons. Ruml led from the start and was followed by Hancock and Green. Hancock hugged the inside line while Green searched inside and outside for a path into second. If Hancock could hold on to second, then he would finish in the top eight but third would put him in a three-rider runoff for the final two places in the National Series. The third time they entered turn three Green contacted Hancock’s rear wheel and the aforementioned sequence of events were set into motion. After the long delay the referee stated that Hancock had parked and his bike encroached into Green’s line, caused the stoppage, and Hancock was excluded. This left two racers for the restart. Ruml cruised to victory and fourth overall with two-time World Pairs Champion Bobby “Boogaloo” Schwartz getting second.
Nicol and Novratil lined up in the final heat knowing that a Novratil victory would win him the meeting, but a win for Nicol could force a runoff. Nicol launched from gate one while Novratil was unable to trap from gate four. Nicol remained on the inside line while Novratil desperately chased the dirt. Nicol was victorious while Novratil finished second knowing he would get another chance in just a few minutes.
Novratil won the toss to determine starting position and he chose the inside while Nicol would have to start from the outside. Novratil was first off the line when the tapes went up and led into turn one. Nicol chased the leader throughout lap one but Novratil was unmoved. Nicol valiantly tried to force a mistake but Novratil wasn’t offering any openings. Novratil was first to the checkered flag and clinched the overall victory with Nicol settling for second. They were joined on the podium by Lightcap, who finished third overall.
The other racers who qualified were Ruml with 12 points; Castro with nine points; Green’s eight points were enough to get him through; and Sauer and Gomez took the final two spots with their seven point tallies.
The Support Main Event seemingly went along with the rest of the evening as it ended with a stoppage as well. Mark Fillebrown led the opening lap but Rudy Laurer was right on his back tire. Laurer chased the leader for the next two laps and knew he had to make a move. Laurer got into Fillebrown in turn two which put the leader on the ground and put himself into the fence on the back straight. Laurer was deemed the cause of the red flag and Fillebrown was awarded the victory. Tyler Moszer was second, Rayson Normandin was third, and Laurer was relegated to fourth.
Ryder Schultz won both of his heats and claimed victory in the Mini 150 Main Event with a dominant performance. Morgan Myers finished second, Hudson Jones was third, Maddux Myers finished fourth, and Kayd Fiore was credited with fifth.
Ace Kale and Brent Smith fought off every challenge that Joe Jones and Tom Summers could throw their way and took home the win in the Sidecar Main Event. Jones and Summers made a mistake in the final corner that allowed Kevin Kale and Kevin Fiore to sneak by for second at the finish line.
The event was dedicated to Gary Hicks Sr., who passed away last month. Hicks had been a speedway competitor in the early years of its rebirth in Southern California. He eventually became an integral part of the success of the Costa Mesa Speedway promotion and has also lent his knowledge and labor to many of the tracks that have operated in Southern California in the past five decades. He was always willing to share his vast wisdom with people whether it was about racing, promoting, or aspects of off-track life. He also built and repaired speedway bikes for the racers too. His wife, Sandy, was in attendance for the event.
The many hours of work that promoter Kelly Inman spent during the off season paid off as a large crowd attended the opening evening of the Industry Hills Speedway season. There will be a large crowd at this week’s event too because the venue will host one of its biggest nights of the season.
This Saturday will be the seventh annual Connor Penhall Memorial Cup. The event is 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 two decades ago. The winner of the event is presented a large trophy topped by a custom painted Troy Lee Designs helmet and has annually paid the largest purse in American Speedway. The event has quickly become one of the biggest on the American Speedway calendar and attracts many American speedway dignitaries as well.
RESULTS
Qualified Racers for the AMA Speedway National Championship Series
7 - Austin Novratil 14 (won runoff)
98 - Broc Nicol 14 (2nd runoff)
28 - Slater Lightcap 13
3 - Dillon Ruml 12
14 - Eddie Castro 9
321 - Russell Green 8
30 - Tim Gomez 7
21 - Brad Sauer 7
Runoff for First Overall
7 – Austin Novratil
98 – Broc Nicol
National Qualifier Scoring 1 2 3 4 5 T
3 – Dillon Ruml 1 3 2 3 3 12
7 – Austin Novratil 3 3 3 3 2 14
11 – Bobby Schwartz 0 1 0 1 2 4
14 – Eddie Castro 2 2 0 3 2 9
21 – Brad Sauer 2 1 1 0 3 7
28 – Slater Lightcap 3 2 3 2 3 13
30 – Tim Gomez 3 N 2 1 1 7
30n – Alex Martin 2 1 1 0 Fx 4
98 – Broc Nicol 3 3 3 2 3 14
117 – Wilbur Hancock 1 Fx 2 3 Fx 6
137 – Justin Almon 0 2 1 2 Fx 5
173 – Rees Todd 1 0 0 1 1 3
214 – Michael Wells 2 0 2 0 0 4
217 – Timmy Dion T 2 0 Fx 0 2
251 – Greg Moore R 1 1 2 2 6
321 – Russell Green 1 3 3 1 Nr 8
168 – Mark Fillebrown (R) 0 0 - - - 0
Race Results
1: (restarted twice) Novratil, Wells, Ruml, Moore (retired)
2: Nicol, Castro, Green, Almon
3: Lightcap, Martin, Todd, Schwartz
4: Gomez, Sauer, Hancock, Fillebrown, Dion (tape exclusion)
11: (restarted) Nicol, Lightcap, Moore, Hancock (fell, excluded)
12: Green, Dion, Martin, Wells
13: Ruml, Castro, Sauer, Todd
14: Novratil, Almon, Schwartz, Fillebrown, Gomez (non-starter)
21: Green, Gomez, Moore, Todd
22: Nicol, Wells, Sauer, Schwartz
23: Lightcap, Ruml, Almon, Dion (fell, remounted)
24: Novratil, Hancock, Martin, Castro
27: (restarted) Castro, Moore, Schwartz, Dion (fell, excluded)
28: Hancock, Almon, Todd, Wells
29: Ruml, Nicol, Gomez, Martin
30: Novratil, Lightcap, Green, Sauer
36: (restarted thrice) Sauer, Moore, Martin (fell, excluded), Almon (fell, excluded)
37: Lightcap, Castro, Gomez, Wells
38: (restarted twice) Ruml, Schwartz, Green (non-starter, restart), Hancock (fell, excluded)
39: Nicol, Novratil, Todd, Dion
Support Main Event (awarded)
168 - Mark Fillebrown
327 - Tyler Moszer
299 - Rayson Normandin (fell, remounted)
182 - Rudy Laurer (fell, excluded)
Support Consolation (awarded)
159 – Kevin Fiore
106 – Isaiah Canales
178 – Eloy Medellin
242 – Bruce Marteney (fell, excluded)
Mini 150 Main Event
22 - Ryder Schultz
175 - Morgan Myers
15 - Hudson Jones
175x - Maddux Myers
169 - Kayd Fiore (fell)
Sidecar Main Event
357 - Ace Kale/Brent Smith
07 - Kevin Kale/Kevin Fiore
7 - Joe Jones/Tom Summers
The 14 qualified series riders are
1 (14n) - Billy Janniro
5 - Max Ruml
188 - Louie Mersaroli
87 - Bart Bast
27 - Blake Borello
399 - Rheten Todd
7 - Austin Novratil
98 - Broc Nicol
28 - Slater Lightcap
3 - Dillon Ruml
14 - Eddie Castro
321 - Russell Green
30 - Tim Gomez
21 -Brad Sauer
There will be two wild cards.
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