Industry Hills Speedway
The Grand Arena
Industry Hills Expo Center
City of Industry, California
Bruce Flanders Ugly Hawaiian Shirt Night
July 12, 2023 - Industry Hills Speedway
Results, Report and Photo By Ryan Evans
The first and second start of the Industry Hills Speedway Scratch Main Event (inside - outside):
Broc Nicol, Max Ruml, Slater Lightcap, Austin Novratil.
The finish was Nicol, Ruml, Lightcap, Novratil (fell, excluded)
Broc Nicol took home his second Industry Hills Scratch Main Event of the season as the venue celebrated Bruce Flanders Ugly Hawaiian Shirt Night.
Austin “All Throttle” Novratil was undefeated entering the main and had first choice of starting position. After winning two heats and his semi from gate four, Novratil quickly chose that slot as his starting position. Nicol, who also won his semi from gate four, quickly turned to gate one as his choice. “Mad” Max Ruml picked gate two which left Slater Lightcap in gate three. Every racer lining up at the tapes for the main event was a former Under 21 National Champion.
Max Ruml was first off the line but Nicol was first out of turn two with Max Ruml, Lightcap, and Novratil three-wide behind him. Nicol led through the next two bends while Novratil went extremely wide which allowed Max Ruml to take second. Max Ruml moved to the high line and while Novratil dived down to the inside entering turn one. Nicol was comfortably in front when Novratil went over backward exiting turn four and brought out the red flag. Novratil was on his feet before his bike stopped tumbling but he was excluded from the restart. The second time the tapes went up Max Ruml led through the first two corners and on to the back straight with Nicol planted on his rear wheel. Max Ruml was slightly off the inside line entering turn three and the gap was wide enough for Nicol to take the lead. Max Ruml went wide into turn one and Lightcap slid past him for second. Lightcap made the same mistake Max Ruml had the previous lap and the 2021 AMA National Champion took second back. Meanwhile, Nicol was stretching his lead and he cruised to the finish to claim the victory. Max Ruml was second, Lightcap finished third, and Novratil was credited with fourth.
Max Ruml opened the evening with a victory over Lightcap. Nicol defeated Aaron Fox, making his 2023 debut, in the second heat. Novratil used the outside to take the lead and the victory ahead of Dillon Ruml to end round one.
Max Ruml held back Nicol to start round two with his second straight win. Dillon Ruml used the outside to get the lead and held off a fast-closing Lightcap for his first win. Novratil defeated Tim Gomez to finish the second round.
Lightcap began the third round by defeating Fox. Novratil maintained his perfect score with a victory over Nicol. Max Ruml defeated his brother to close out the heats and match Novratil’s perfect score.
The first semi saw Nicol use gate four and the outside to power to victory ahead of Max Ruml who suffered his first defeat. Both would transfer to the main. Novratil romped to victory in the second semi while Lightcap got the better of Dillon Ruml to get the other transfer to the main event.
Gomez and Dillon Ruml had a great side-by-side battle throughout the Scratch Consolation. Gomez, who once served as Dillon Ruml’s mechanic several years ago, got the better of the former Youth National Champion to earn the victory. Wilbur Hancock finished third and Fox was credited with fourth.
Rayson Normandin led the Second Division Main Event for nearly two laps before Harold Hartke went down in turn three which halted the race. Hartke was fine but would restart from the penalty line. On the restart, Normandin made the best start again but went wide in turn two. Eloy Medellin pounced through the opening and led entering turn three. Medellin had a hiccup in turn four and Normandin snatched the lead back from him. Normandin never looked back from there and led to the finish for the victory. Tyler Moszer finished second, Hartke was third, and Medellin faded back to fourth.
Kevin Fife, who is usually working for the Industry Hills Speedway promotion in the pits on race night, dusted off his bike and suit and signed up to race. Fife didn’t show a lot of rust as he won his heat, his semi, and completed his perfect evening by winning the Third Division Main Event. Jacob Wondolowski was second, Ryan Bacarella finished third, Greg Willis was fourth, Bob Peet finished fifth, and Kerry Sorensen was credited with sixth in his return to racing after several years away.
The pee wees provided the crowd with great entertainment in both of their heats and their main event. Max Maldonado and Addie Summers lined up at the tapes together but Maldonado would have to finish four laps before Summers finished three. Effectively, a one-lap handicap. In the main event Maldonado feverishly tried to make up the stagger while Summers tried to keep the gap as wide as possible. The crowd thoroughly encouraged both of the young racers. When the checkered flag dropped it was Summers who was first with the fast-closing Maldonado getting second.
The evening honored legendary announcer Bruce Flanders, who announced speedway races for 50 years and was the official voice of Industry Racing from its inception in 2004 through 2018. Flanders announced many forms of motor sports in addition to speedway, including the Long Beach Grand Prix. The evening also included the ever-popular Ugly Hawaiian Shirt Contest during intermission.
Industry Hills Speedway switches back to Saturday for its next to events. The first will Harley Night brought to you by Laidlaw’s Harley Davidson on Saturday, July 29. In addition to speedway racing, there will be street-legal Harley racing which always provides wild action. The following Saturday will be round 2 of the AMA Speedway National Championship Series.
RESULTS
Scratch Main Event (restarted)
98 - Broc Nicol
5 - Max Ruml
28 - Slater Lightcap
7 - Austin Novratil (fell,excluded)
Scratch Consolation
30 - Tim Gomez
3 - Dillon Ruml
117 - Wilbur Hancock
46 - Aaron Fox (non starter)
Semi 1: Nicol, M.Ruml, Fox, Gomez
Semi 2: Novratil, Lightcap, D.Ruml, Hancock
Second Division Main Event (restarted)
299 - Rayson Normandin
327 - Tyler Moszer
290 - Harold Hartke (penalty line)
178 - Eloy Medellin
Second Division Consolation (awarded)
175 - Jake Myers
111 - David Newsham (fell)
159 - Kevin Fiore (non starter)
Third Division Main Event (restarted)
311 - Kevin Fife 0
250 - Jacob Wondolowski 0
197 - Ryan Bacarella 20
215 - Greg Willis 20
373 - Bob Peet 0
280 - Kerry Sorensen 0 (non-starter, restart)
Mini 150 Main Event
169 - Kayd Fiore
Pee Wee Main Event
164 - Addie Summers
20 - Max Maldonado (1 lap handicap)
First Division Scoring 1 2 3 T
3 – Dillon Ruml 2 3 2 7
5 – Max Ruml 3 3 3 9
7 – Austin Novratil 3 3 3 9
11 – Bobby Schwartz 0 0 0 0
28 – Slater Lightcap 2 2 3 7
30 – Tim Gomez 1 2 1 4
46 – Aaron Fox 2 0 2 4
98 – Broc Nicol 3 2 2 7
117 – Wilbur Hancock 1 1 1 3
123 – Jordan Vanderham 0 F 0 0
137 – Justin Almon 1 1 0 2
214 – Michael Wells 0 1 1 2
Heat Results
1: M.Ruml, Lightcap, Gomez, Vanderham
2: Nicol, Fox, Hancock, Schwartz
3: Novratil, D.Ruml, Almon, Wells
10: M.Ruml, Nicol, Wells, Schwartz
11: D.Ruml, Lightcap, Hancock, Vanderham (fell)
12: (restarted) Novratil, Gomez, Almon, Fox (penalty line)
17: Lightcap, Fox, Well, Almon (fell, remounted)
18: Novratil, Nicol, Hancock, Vanderham
19: M.Ruml, D.Ruml, Gomez, Schwartz
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