Industry Hills Speedway
The Grand Arena
Industry Hills Expo Center
City of Industry, California
Connor Penhall Memorial Cup
June 10, 2023 - Industry Hills Speedway
Results and Photo By Ryan Evans
The two starts of the Connor Penhall Memorial Cup Final at the tapes (inside - outside):
Dillon Ruml, Billy Janniro, Slater Lightcap (not in the second picture), Broc Nicol.
After a restart the finish was Ruml, Nicol, Janniro, Lightcap (fell, excluded).
2023 Connor Penhall Memorial Cup Champion Dillon Ruml
Promoter Kelly Inman, Grand Marshal Bill Cody and World Champion Bruce Penhall
Connor Penhall Memorial Cup - City of Industry, CA, USA - June 10
Dillon Ruml added a major piece of hardware to his trophy collection by winning the Connor Penhall Memorial Cup to cap an evening filled with fantastic racing in front of a large crowd at Industry Hills Speedway.
Dillon Ruml walked out to select his starting position in the Final having only been defeated once throughout the evening. He looked over several gates before picking gate one. Broc Nicol, the only racer to defeat Dillon Ruml at this point, selected gate four. Billy Janniro, seeking his fifth Connor Penhall Memorial Cup victory and the only rider in the Final to have won the event at all, chose gate two. 17-year-old Slater Lightcap, following up his third place in the previous week’s National Championship Qualifier with a place in the Final, was left with gate three.
Drama unfolded just as the racers were about to stage when Nicol had an issue with his chain but the problem was resolved and he took his place at the starting line. When the tapes went up it was Janniro and Nicol leaving the starting line together. Janniro drifted up the track to prevent an outside charge by Nicol, who bounced of the fence but stayed upright as they battled into the next corner. Janniro was so preoccupied with Nicol’s outside line that the seas parted on the inside for Lightcap who was followed by Dillon Ruml. Lightcap and Janniro entered turn one together with Dillon Ruml closely behind. There was contact with Lightcap and Janniro which left the teenager on the ground and forcing Nicol to lay his bike down. The red light came on and Lightcap was excluded as the cause of the stoppage.
The three remaining racers staged with Dillon Ruml and Nicol entering turn one evenly. They battled side-by-side before Dillon Ruml surged ahead to secure the lead. Once he was in front, Dillon Ruml, made the most of his second chance and cruised to the checkered flag. Nicol was second, Janniro finished third, and Lightcap was credited with fourth. The victory gave Dillon Ruml the prestigious trophy, a custom-painted Troy Lee Designs helmet mounted on a pedestal, as well as the largest chunk of a purse that exceeded $15,000.
Nicol raised the curtain on the evening by trapping from gate four and racing to his first victory ahead of Tim Gomez. Dillon Ruml then defeated Lightcap in event two. Janniro led fellow Northern Californian Louie Mersaroli all the way to victory in event three. Max Ruml led the final race of round one through the first bend but Austin Novratil, winner of this event in 2019, blasted up the inside on the back straight for the lead and pulled away for his first win.
Janniro began round two by trapping from the outside and defeating Gomez for his second consecutive win. Louie Mersaroli got the better of Max Ruml at the start of the next event then adroitly kept him at bay for the win. Dillon Ruml matched Janniro’s two wins by beating Michael Wells in event nine.
The last race of the second round featured a trio of former National Under 21 Champions with Nicol and Novratil, who’ve had a recent history of on-track clashes, along with Lightcap. Nicol and Novratil were side-by-side through turns one and two then collided on the back straight and brought out the red flag. A full restart was ordered which could potentially mean more fireworks. Nicol led through the first two bends but Novratil used the outside dirt to propel him into the lead on the back straight. He only provided a view of his back as he scored his second win in a row with Lightcap getting second and Nicol coming in third.
Novratil started round three with a great start but the action was frantic behind him on the back straight. Former Junior National Champion Wilbur Hancock lifted which created a scramble between himself, Gomez, and Wells going into turn three. Hancock righted himself the quickest and exited turn four in second but Novratil was well on his way to his third straight win.
Justin Almon and Greg Moore, who clashed in turn one multiple times the previous week, must’ve felt like magnets as they found each other again and Almon went down in turn one and the race was halted. Almon had mechanical issues that wouldn’t be solved in two minutes, borrowed a bike from Wells for the restart. Moore led all four laps for an easy victory with Bobby “Boogaloo” Schwartz passing Mark Fillebrown for second.
Event 14 had Lightcap, Janniro, and Max Ruml taking to the track. Lightcap and Janniro were wheel-to-wheel on the back straight with Max Ruml tightly behind Janniro’s wide line. Janniro dropped in front of Lightcap entering turn three but couldn’t hold tight to the inside so they completed lap one simultaneously. They remained in close quarters on the back straight but Janniro found some ill-timed traction that sent him very wide into turn three. Lightcap slipped by on the inside but Max Ruml was unable to exploit the mistake. Lightcap led the final two laps and earned the victory and a huge ovation from the crowd while Janniro suffered his first defeat and Max Ruml was third.
Nicol led the first two laps of event 15 but Dillon Ruml was searching for traction in the plentiful outside dirt. Nicol went wide on the back straight and Dillon Ruml switched his attack to the inside and edged ahead in the next corner. Nicol put his back tire in the cushion and retook the lead entering turn one by chopping in front of Dillon Ruml. He led the last lap for his second win while handing Dillon Ruml what would turn out to be his only defeat of the evening.
Dillon Ruml recovered quickly and defeated his brother, Max, to open the fourth round with a victory. Brad Sauer led event 19 around turns one and two but Lightcap bolted up the inside and romped to his second win in a row with Sauer hanging on for second. Novratil maintained his perfect score by defeating Mersaroli in the next event.
The last event of round four had Janniro and Nicol going handlebar-to-handlebar on the first lap. Janniro drifted into Nicol’s line on the back straight and opened a slight gap. Nicol stayed in the dirt and slowly chipped away at the deficit and was in striking distance entering the final corner. He found plenty of traction on the outside and brought the house down when he defeated Janniro by inches.
With eight slots in the semis at stake the scores of the contenders with one round of heats left were as follows: Austin Novratil was the lone racer with a perfect 12 points; Dillon Ruml followed him with 11 points; Janniro, Lightcap, and Nicol each tallied 10; Mersaroli had 8 points; Max Ruml was next with 7 points; Tim Gomez had 6 points; Wilbur Hancock remained in contention with 5 points.
The final round began with Schwartz on the ground. The 66-year-old twice former World Pairs Champion showed his toughness and took his place in the restart. Gomez led the second attempt from start to finish, despite a valiant outside attack by Mersaroli, to earn a spot in the semis with Mersaroli and Lightcap getting second and third, respectively to join him.
Event 24 brought Novratil, Dillon Ruml, and Janniro onto the track sitting in the top three positions. Their places in the semis were secure but momentum and priority of gate selection going forward made this an important race. Novratil held a slight lead into turn one and was making the deep outside work but lifted coming out of turn two. His wheel came down but he hadn’t completely righted his machine and it bucked him off the back leaving him skidding on his backside. Dillon Ruml used all his skill to safely avoid the fallen rider by cutting through the infield. The race came to a halt and the restart would occur without him. Janniro led the second time of asking and remained glued to the inside line while Dillon Ruml searched for traction on the outside. He would gain ground in turns one and two but had to take an extremely wide line in turns three and four to find the dirt. Upon taking the white flag Dillon Ruml found himself closer to the front than on the previous laps. He took one last sweep around the outside and they drag raced toward the finish line with Dillon Ruml stealing a narrow victory with Janniro feeling like lightning had struck twice.
“Fast” Eddie Castro won the penultimate heat ahead of Hancock, but neither would have enough points to move onto the semis. Max Ruml defeated Broc Nicol to close out the heats and fans would’ve won a lot of bets had they wagered that it would be the 2021 AMA National Champion’s only victory.
Dillon Ruml was untroubled on his way to victory in the first semi but the action behind him was intense. Janniro and Mersaroli were slugging it out for the other transfer to the Final. Janniro’s inside line proved superior and he held off Mersaroli for second.
The second semi would begin with Novratil and Nicol slotted right next to each other. Nicol made gate two work better and he led through the first lap. Novratil tried to force his way through on the inside but Nicol didn’t budge. Meanwhile, Lightcap was trying to make the outside work. They stayed this way until they exited turn four the third time. Lightcap had a run along the boards while Novratil drifted up the track and they both tumbled into turn one. Novratil’s night went from perfection to disaster in just two races as the referee ruled that he caused the collision and was credited with fourth and denied the transfer to the Final. Since the leader had completed three laps the race was awarded to Nicol with Lightcap joining him in the semis.
Levi “Cowboy” Leutz won both of his heats and defeated Owen Williams to win the Junior 250 Main Event.
Morgan Myers put together four smooth laps and claimed victory in the Mini 150 Main Event. Kayd Fiore finished second and Maddux Myers was third.
Braxtin McKeown was victorious in the first Pee Wee Main Event of Industry Hills’s 2023 season. Ezra Armbruster was second, Brayden Mosley finished third, Jett Ferré was fourth, Brinleigh McKeown finished fifth, Tanner Evans was sixth, and Addie Summers finished seventh.
The event was 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 two-time World Speedway Champion and racing icon Bruce Penhall, briefly raced junior speedway two decades ago. The Penhall family was in attendance and presented the trophy to Dillon Ruml. This event has become one of the biggest on the American Speedway calendar and attracted many American speedway dignitaries. “Wild” Bill Cody, a pioneer of the rebirth of American Speedway and the primary speedway engine and parts supplier in the United States, was the grand marshal of the event. Among the many in attendance were 1996 World Champion Billy “The Bullet” Hamill, seven-time National Champion Mike Bast, former World Finalist Rick Miller, 1979 Under 21 Champion Ron Preston, and legendary Ascot promoters Chris Agajanian and J.C. Agajanian Jr.
The action returns very quickly to Industry Hills Speedway with the next event scheduled for this Wednesday, June 14. All divisions of speedway will be on the track as wells as juniors, pee wees, sidecars, and an exhibition featuring dwarf cars.
RESULTS
Connor Penhall Memorial Cup Final (restarted)
3 - Dillon Ruml
98 - Broc Nicol
1 - Billy Janniro
28 - Slater Lightcap (fell, excluded)
Connor Penhall Semi Final 1
3 - Dillon Ruml
1 - Billy Janniro
188 - Louie Mersaroli
5 - Max Ruml
Connor Penhall Semi Final 2 (awarded)
98 - Broc Nicol
28 - Slater Lightcap
30 - Tim Gomez
7 - Austin Novratil (fell, excluded)
Junior 250 Main Event
226 - Levi Leutz
04 - Owen Williams
Mini 150 Main Event
175 - Morgan Myers
169 - Kayd Fiore
175x - Maddux Myers
Pee Wee Main Event
226 - Braxtin McKeown
297 - Ezra Armbruster
523 - Brayden Mosley
25 - Jett Ferré
218 - Brinleigh McKeown
177 - Tanner Evans
164 - Addie Summers
Connor Penhall Cup Scoring 1 2 3 4 5 T 6 T
1 – Billy Janniro 3 3 2 2 2 10 2 14
3 – Dillon Ruml 3 3 2 3 3 14 3 17
5 – Max Ruml 2 2 1 2 3 10 0 10
7 – Austin Novratil 3 3 3 3 Fx 12 Fx 12
11 – Bobby Schwartz 0 0 2 0 0 2 - 2
14 – Eddie Castro 1 1 0 1 3 6 - 6
21 – Brad Sauer 1 0 0 2 1 4 - 4
28 – Slater Lightcap 2 2 3 3 1 11 2 13
30 – Tim Gomez 2 2 1 1 3 9 1 10
98 – Broc Nicol 3 1 3 3 2 12 3 15
117 – Wilbur Hancock 1 1 2 1 2 7 - 7
168 – Mark Fillebrown 0 0 1 0 1 2 - 2
188 – Louie Mersaroli 2 3 1 2 2 10 1 11
214 – Michael Wells 1 2 0 1 1 5 - 5
251 – Greg Moore E 1 3 0 0 4 - 4
178 – Eloy Medellin (R) Did Not Ride
Race Results
1: Nicol, Gomez, Castro, Fillebrown
2: D.Ruml, Lightcap, Hancock, Moore (engine failure)
3: Janniro, Mersaroli, Wells, Almon
4: Novratil, M.Ruml, Sauer, Schwartz
7: Janniro, Gomez, Moore, Sauer (fell, remounted)
8: Mersaroli, M.Ruml, Hancock, Fillebrown
9: D.Ruml, Wells, Castro, Schwartz
10: (restarted) Novratil, Lightcap, Nicol, Sauer
12: Novratil, Hancock, Gomez, Wells
13: (restarted) Moore, Schwartz, Fillebrown, Almon (fell, remounted)
14: Lightcap, Janniro, M.Ruml, Castro
15: Nicol, D.Ruml, Mersaroli, Sauer
18: D.Ruml, M.Ruml, Gomez, Almon
19: Lightcap, Sauer, Wells, Fillebrown
20: Novratil, Mersaroli, Castro, Moore
21: Nicol, Janniro, Hancock, Schwartz
23: (restarted) Gomez, Mersaroli, Lightcap, Schwartz
24: (restarted) D.Ruml, Janniro, Fillebrown, Novratil (fell, excluded)
25: Castro, Hancock, Sauer, Almon (excluded)
26: M.Ruml, Nicol, Wells, Moore
Past Connor Penhall Memorial Cup Winners
2023 - Dillon Ruml
2022 - Max Ruml
2019 – Austin Novratil
2018 – Billy Janniro
2017 – Billy Janniro
2016 – Billy Janniro
2015 – Billy Janniro
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