Costa Mesa Speedway
Orange County Fairgrounds
Costa Mesa, California
AMA National Speedway Championship Series Round 1
May 21, 2016 - Costa Mesa
Results from Costa Mesa are Continued below.
YouTube Video of Main Event by Mark Williams
AMA National Series Round 1 - Costa Mesa, CA, USA - May 21
Defending AMA National Champion Billy “The Kid” Janniro had a perfect evening at the world famous Costa Mesa Speedway after scoring a stunning victory in the Final of Round 1 of the AMA Speedway National Championship Series.
Janniro entered the main event with six victories in six races and picked gate one to start from. Gino Manzares, riding the wave of five straight victories, decided to start from gate four. Bart Bast selected gate two which left Austin Novratil, who won the previous main event at Costa Mesa, with gate three.
Janniro and Manzares entered turn one simultaneously and were even through turn two. The combatants made slight contact as they started the back straight causing Janniro to lift and gave Manzares enough of an advantage to lead as they entered turn three. Manzares led through lap one and Janniro went wide entering the next turn which gave Bart Bast the chance to snatch second. The leader held a two-length advantage at the halfway point while Bart Bast and Janniro remained side-by-side battling for second. Janniro switched his attack entering turn three the third time and charged under Bast for second as they took the white flag but catching the leader seemed to be an unattainable task. The six-time AMA Champion closed in on the leader on the back straight and went for broke entering the final bend. Manzares left a minute gap on the inside and Janniro deftly, and legally, put his front wheel inside the pipe which gave himself enough room to inside the leader. Manzares locked slightly on exit and Janniro got his wheels in line and charged underneath and on to victory. Janniro’s amazing performance brought a thunderous ovation from the crowd and left many of his brethren in awe of the most breathtaking victory at the venue in many years. Manzares was a heartbreaking second, Bart Bast finished third, and Novratil was fourth.
The evening kicked off with Bart Bast beating Shawn “Mad Dog” McConnell. Broc Nicol defeated Charlie “The Edge” Venegas in the second heat. Janniro opened his evening by defeating Novratil and Manzares. Max Ruml finished the first round with a win over Luke Becker.
The second round began with Manzares trapping from the outside and taking the win ahead of Max Ruml. Janniro took his second straight victory, this time over Dillon Ruml. Novratil beat Becker and Bart Bast for his first win. Aaron Fox defeated Tommy Hedden to end round two.
Novratil made a great start from gate four and beat Kurtis Hamill for his second straight win to start round three. Hedden beat Nicol in event ten. “Flyin” Mike Faria led event 11 through turn one but Manzares stormed up the inside for the lead and eventually his second win. Bart Bast also got by Faria to take second. Janniro handily defeated Max Ruml, Fox, and Venegas to remain perfect after three rounds.
The fourth round commenced with Venegas defeating Hedden. The Ruml Brothers finished event 14 one-two with Max winning over Dillon. Event 15 brought two members of the legendary Bast family to the tapes together at Costa Mesa for the first time in several decades. Instead of brothers Mike and Steve Bast, it cousins Bart and Ryan Bast. Janniro and Bart Bast raced side-by-side with the Champion’s outside line proving better as he garnered his fourth straight win. Manzares beat Fox to finish round four with his third win in a row, but only after a restart caused when Becker hit the wall hard in turn three.
The point leaders entering the final round of heats were: Janniro had a perfect 12 points; Manzares and Max Ruml each had 10; Novratil and Bart Bast sat at eight; Fox and Hedden had seven apiece; Nicol had earned six; and Venegas had five.
Janniro and McConnell waged a wheel-to-wheel battle to start the final round with Janniro earning a narrow victory to remain perfect. Manzares defeated Dillon Ruml and ended Venegas’s semi-final hopes with his fourth straight win. Bart Bast beat Max Ruml and Hedden in event 19 and all three earned places in the semis. Nicol won the last heat ahead of Novratil and would be joined in the semis by Fox, who finished a surprising fourth.
Janniro won the first semi for victory number six with Bart Bast finishing second to join him in the Final. Hedden finished third to end his evening with nine points and Nicol also finished with nine after coming in fourth. Manzares was victorious in the second semi and Novratil finished second to also transfer to the Final. Fox finished third to complete a frustrating evening with eight points and Max Ruml’s fourth meant he ended his evening with 12 points.
The next event at Costa Mesa is Saturday, June 4. It will be the first Harley Night of the season and, in addition to the speedway racing, will include the immensely popular street-legal Harley Races and sidecars.
RESULTS
Mini 150 Second Division Main Event
52n – Sammy Waddill
33 – Gavin Geist
48 – Jose Navarrete
5 – Rachel Schnakenberg
Mini 150 First Division Main Event
3 – Slater Lightcap
96 – Andrew Russell
27 – Luke Whitcomb
43 – Keelan Venegas
Junior 250 Main Event (restarted) (awarded)
18 – Sebastian Palmese
16 – Jake Isaac
214 – Michael Wells (penalty line)
8 – Skylar Schnakenberg
14 – Sara Cords (fell)
Heat Scoring 12345SFT
1 – Billy Janniro 333333321
4 – Broc Nicol 302130- 9
5 – Max Ruml 322320- 12
6 – Shawn McConnell 21012- - 6
7 – Austin Novratil 233F22012
9 – Mike Faria 01111- - 4
10 – Gage Geist 11001- - 3
22n – Luke Becker 22FFxR - - 4
24 – Gino Manzares 133333218
40n – Tommy Hedden 023211- 9
41 – Kurtis Hamill 10210- - 4
43 – Charlie Venegas 20031- - 6
46 – Aaron Fox 13120- - 7
87n – Bart Bast 312232114
111 – Dillon Ruml 02F22- - 6
125n – Ryan Bast 00100- - 1
Race Results
1: B. Bast, McConnell, Fox, D. Ruml
2: Nicol, Venegas, Hamill, Faria
3: Janniro, Novratil, Manzares, Hedden
4: M. Ruml, Becker, Geist, R. Bast
Semi Final #1
1 – Billy Janniro
87n – Bart Bast
40n – Tommy Hedden
4 – Broc Nicol
Semi Final #2
24 – Gino Manzares
7 – Austin Novratil
46 – Aaron Fox
5 – Max Ruml
AMA National Round 1 Final
1 – Billy Janniro
24 – Gino Manzares
87n – Bart Bast
7 – Austin Novratil
Ryan Evans
Like a boss.
Results from Round 1 of the AMA National Series.
Billy Janniro with a perfect night and an unbelievable victory in the Final that had to be seen to be believed.
Ryan Evans
RESULTS
Semi 1
1 - Billy Janniro
87n - Bart Bast
40n - Tommy Hedden
4 - Broc Nicol
Semi 2
24 - Gino Manzares
7 - Austin Novratil
46 - Aaron Fox
5 - Max Ruml
Final
1 - Billy Janniro
24 - Gino Manzares
87n - Bart Bast
7 - Austin Novratil
Mini 150 Second Division Main Event
52n - Sammy Waddill
33 - Gavin Geist
48 - Jose Navarrete
5 - Rachel Schnakenberg
Mini 150 First Division Main Event
3 - Slater Lightcap
96 - Andrew Russell
27 - Luke Whitcomb
43 - Keelan Venegas
Junior 250 Main Event (restarted) (awarded)
18 - Sebastian Palmese
16 - Jake Isaac
214 - Michael Wells (penalty line)
8 - Skylar Schnakenberg
14 - Sara Cords (fell)
AMA National Series Points
1 - Billy Janniro 21
24 - Gino Manzares 18
87 - Bart Bast 14
7 - Austin Novratil 12
5 - Max Ruml 12
40 - Tommy Hedden 9
4 - Broc Nicol 9
46 - Aaron Fox 8
43 - Charlie Venegas 6
111 - Dillon Ruml 6
6 - Shawn McConnell 6
22 - Luke Becker 4
41 - Kurtis Hamill 4
9 - Mike Faria 4
10 - Gage Geist 3
125 - Ryan Bast 1
JANNIRO HITS PERFECTION AT AMA NATIONAL SPEEDWAY OPENER
6 time AMA National Speedway Champion Billy Janniro delivered one of his finest ever performances with a perfect score at Round 1 of the 2016 Series at Costa Mesa Speedway, CA, on May 21st.
Janniro won all five of his qualifying heats, his closest ride coming in his fifth heat when veteran Shawn McConnell ran him close with some of his trademark inside line hugging moves. Gino Manzares won four heats and was Janniro's closet competition, something we expect for the entire series to come. Manzares was third first time out before finding his groove. Other notable performances in the heats included Max Ruml, who scored 12 out of 15 points, smooth veteran Bart Bast who finished on 11, and current man in form Austin Novratil, who despite a fall in his fourth ride, scored 10.
Eight of the sixteen riders moved on to the semi finals and the top two in the semis to the final. Semi number one had Janniro record win number 6, with Bast taking second. A battle for third saw veteran Tommy Hedden squeeze out 18 year old Broc Nicol the youngster giving a good display in all considering he had just returned from a broken leg sustained last August. Semi final number two had Manzares lead home Novratil. Aaron Fox, who had an indifferent night by his standard, keep Ruml at the back.
The final was that will be remembered for years to come. Speedway is a sport that has an unfair reputation of being that the first rider out of the start wins, especially later in the show when the best riders meet and the track grooves up. This one dispelled that myth with an exclamation point! Manzares, from the outside gained enough traction to get ahead of Janniro by turn three of lap one, with Bast, using the inside line, pushing Janniro to third place. Janniro, after two laps, looked buried with the series blown wide open, but a stellar move where his front wheel crossed the pole line, a legal move so long as both wheels don't cross, propelled himself inside of Bast to take second place as the white flag dropped. The sprint to the end saw Janniro repeat the same move on Manzares coming out of the final turn to snatch victory on the line to the amazement of all in attendance.
The series moves onto Ventura Raceway on June 25th, City of Industry on August 13th before concluding at Fast Fridays Speedway in Auburn, CA on September 16th.
Steve Evans
| 
