Industry Racing
The Grand Industry Hills Expo Center
City of Industry, California
Connor Penhall Memorial Cup - Season Opener
June 1, 2016 - Industry Racing
Thanks to Ryan Evans
and Dorcey Wingo Photos
Results from Industry Racing and are Continued Below...
Connor Penhall Memorial Cup - June 1 - Industry Racing- by Ryan Evans
Billy “The Kid” Janniro overcame a sluggish start to his evening to win the Connor Penhall Memorial Cup for the second consecutive year.
Under 21 National Champion “Mad” Max Ruml entered the Final with first choice of starting position and took gate one. Janniro had second choice and picked gate two. Austin Novratil selected gate four which left Charlie “The Edge” Venegas with gate three.
Janniro was off the starting line first when the tapes went up. Novratil was second as they exited turn two with Max Ruml and Venegas trailing behind him. Janniro maintained a comfortable lead throughout the four laps and cruised to his second straight victory. Novratil finished second, Max Ruml was third, and Venegas finished fourth.
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 speedway icon Bruce Penhall, briefly raced junior speedway a decade ago. The Penhall family was in attendance and presented an amazing trophy that is topped by a custom painted Troy Lee Designs helmet. The purse for the evening exceeded $11,000 and that didn’t include contingencies.
Novratil kicked off the evening with a victory over Venegas. Gino Manzares, making his first appearance at Industry Racing after two seasons in Great Britain, defeated Broc Nicol in the second race. Aaron Fox was leading the third event when a mechanical failure handed the win to Luke Becker. The round ended with Max Ruml victorious with Dillon Ruml second and Janniro struggling mightily in third.
Max Ruml began the second round by defeating Venegas. Dillon Ruml beat Tommy Hedden in the next event. Janniro sorted out his bike setup and won a pivotal event seven ahead of Fox, Manzares, and Novratil. Gage Geist was leading event eight before second-placed Samuel Ramirez slid off and brought out the red flag. Geist was unfazed and won the restart to conclude round two.
Venegas opened round three with a defeat of Fox. Janniro beat Nicol for his second straight win. Novratil held off Dillon Ruml to earn his second win. Max Ruml defeated Becker for his third consecutive victory to end the third round.
Manzares started the fourth round with a win over Dillon Ruml. Max Ruml beat Fox to make it four wins in as many races. Novratil gained his third victory by defeating Becker. Janniro finished round four by defeating Tyson Talkington for his third win in a row.
Max Ruml sat at the top of the score chart entering the final round with a perfect 12 points. Janniro and Novratil each had 10; Dillon Ruml had nine points; Becker had eight points; Venegas had seven points; and Geist, Manzares, and Fox each had six.
The final round began with Janniro storming to his fourth straight win. Manzares beat Talkington in event 18 to get himself to the semis. Novratil handed Max Ruml his first defeat of the evening in the penultimate heat. Nicol concluded the heats with a pivotal victory that put him into the semis.
Max Ruml won the first semi with Venegas following him into the Final in second place. The second semi was restarted after Manzares went down in turn two and brought out the red flag. The former Under 21 National Champion was excluded from the restart. Janniro and Novratil finished one-two and transferred to the Final.
Sebastian Palmese won his heat, his semi, and concluded a perfect evening by winning the Junior 250 Main Event. Sara Cords was second, Michael Wells finished third, and Kyle Cunningham was credited with fourth.
Mini 150 National Champion Sterling Martin was victorious in the Mini 150 First Division Main Event. Luke Whitcomb finished second, Alex Martin was third, and Slater Lightcap finished fourth.
Sammy “The Bullet” Waddill led all four laps en route to victory in the Mini 150 Second Division Main Event. Dakota Shockley came home second, Travis Horn was third, and Andrew Russell finished fourth.
RESULTS
Mini 150 Second Division Consolation
45n – Colton Nelson
48 – Jose Navarrete
33 – Gavin Geist
5 – Rachel Schnakenberg
Mini 150 Second Division Main Event
52n – Sammy Waddill
419 – Dakota Shockley
25 – Travis Horn
96 – Andrew Russell
Mini 150 First Division Consolation
66n – Charlie Trana
43 – Keelan Venegas
22n – Enzo Sorani (non-starter)
91n – Landon Collins (non-starter)
Mini 150 First Division Main Event
1 – Sterling Martin
27 – Luke Whitcomb
2 – Alex Martin
3 – Slater Lightcap
Junior 250 Consolation
14n – Dylan Wagner
8 – Skylar Schnakenberg
63n – Logan Hedden
16 – Jake Isaac (engine failure)
Junior 250 Main Event
18 – Sebastian Palmese
14 – Sara Cords
214 – Michael Wells
35n – Kyle Cunningham (engine failure)
Heat Scoring 1 2 3 4 5 T S F T
1 – Billy Janniro 1 3 3 3 3 13 3 3 19
4 – Broc Nicol 2 1 2 0 3 8 1 - 9
5 – Max Ruml 3 3 3 3 2 14 3 1 18
7 – Austin Novratil 3 1 3 3 3 13 2 2 17
10 – Gage Geist 1 3 1 1 1 7 - - 7
22 – Dalton Leedy 0 2 0 1 1 4 - - 4
22n – Luke Becker 3 1 2 2 2 10 0 - 10
24 – Gino Manzares 3 R Fx 3 3 9 Fx - 9
40n – Tommy Hedden 1 2 1 0 0 4 - - 4
41 – Kurtis Hamill F 1 1 1 1 4 - - 4
43 – Charlie Venegas 2 2 3 0 1 8 2 0 10
46 – Aaron Fox E 2 2 2 2 8 - - 8
48 – Tyson Talkington 2 0 1 2 2 7 - - 7
86 – Neil Facchini E E - - - 0 - - 0
111 – Dillon Ruml 2 3 2 2 F 9 1 - 10
199 – Samuel Ramirez 0 Fx 0 1 0 1 - - 1
345 – Rick Richards (R) 0 0 0 - - 0 - - 0
Race Results
1: Novratil, Venegas, Geist, Facchini (engine failure)
2: Manzares, Nicol, Hedden, Ramirez
3: Becker, Talkington, Fox (engine failure), Hamill (fell)
4: M. Ruml, D. Ruml, Janniro, Leedy
5: M. Ruml, Venegas, Nicol, Talkington
6: D. Ruml, Hedden, Becker, Facchini (engine failure)
7: Janniro, Fox, Novratil, Manzares (retired)
8: (restarted) Geist, Leedy, Hamill, Ramirez (fell, excluded)
9: Venegas, Fox, Hedden, Leedy (fell, remounted)
10: Janniro, Nicol, Hamill, Richards
11: Novratil, D. Ruml, Talkington, Ramirez (fell, remounted)
12: (restarted) M. Ruml, Becker, Geist, Manzares (fell, excluded)
13: Manzares, D. Ruml, Hamill, Venegas
14: M. Ruml, Fox, Ramirez, Richards
15: Novratil, Becker, Leedy, Nicol
16: Janniro, Talkington, Geist, Hedden
17: Janniro, Becker, Venegas, Ramirez
18: Manzares, Talkington, Leedy, Richards
19: Novratil, M. Ruml, Hamill, Hedden (fell, remounted)
20: Nicol, Fox, Geist, D. Ruml (fell)
Semi Final 1
5 – Max Ruml
43 – Charlie Venegas
111 – Dillon Ruml
22n – Luke Becker
Semi Final 2 (restarted)
1 – Billy Janniro
7 – Austin Novratil
4 – Broc Nicol
24 – Gino Manzares (fell, excluded)
Connor Penhall Memorial Cup Final
1 – Billy Janniro
7 – Austin Novratil
5 – Max Ruml
43 – Charlie Venegas
Brighten your day.
JANNIRO WINS INDUSTRY SPEEDWAY BIKE SEASON OPENER – By Tim Kennedy
Industry, CA., Jun. 1 – To be the best you have to beat the best. That axiom proved true again Wednesday night at the one-eighth mile dirt Industry Speedway in the Industry Hills Expo Center. Billy Janniro was unstoppable in the AMA Speedway bike series series opener at the covered arena. The six-time AMA US National Speedway Champion (including the last three years), four-time US National champion, and four-time California State Champion, rode his new 500cc Jawa. More than, 1,600 persons attended.
The second annual Connor Penhall Memorial Cup event carried a season-high $12,000 purse raised by contributions from Penhall family and friends, IHEC, and traditional speedway racing corporate sponsors. Janniro, a 35-year old professional speedway bike racer from Napa, won the inaugural event in 2015. He again took home the lion's share of the purse and a coveted, unique Troy Lee Designs painted helmet trophy.
Event grand marshal was retired speedway rider Dennis Sigalos. The long-time Penhall family friend, fellow speedway champion, and offshore power boat racer. He competed for decades with Bruce Penhall, the 1980-81 US National Speedway National Champion and 1981-82 World Speedway Champion. The Penhall family attended and track announcer Bruce Flanders interviewed Bruce during an intermission.
The event honored the speedway racer who was killed on April 5, 2012 while working on an I-10 Freeway construction project in Baldwin Park. An intoxicated driver went through barriers and struck him, inflicting fatal injuries. Speedway rider (No. 81) Penhall, the 21-year old son of speedway champion Bruce Penhall, worked for his family construction firm that has been re-named Connor Concrete Cutting & Coring to honor him.
The initial night in the 14-weeks of Wednesday night speedway races from June through August had expert Division I riders, plus 250cc and 150cc Junior Division riders. Division II and III support riders, pee-wees and sidecars will return in upcoming weeks. A solid field of 16 D-I veterans and younger riders compiled points on a 3-2-1-0 basis during five rounds of four-lap heat races, semi-finals and a four-lap feature. The final race—event 37—started shortly after 10:10 pm.
Max Ruml, 19, Janniro, Charlie Venegas, 49, and Austin Novratil, 21, started in lanes one through four respectively. When the green light appearance and the starting line tapes shot up, Janniro beat Novratil, Ruml and Venegas into turn one. He led all four laps. The running order was unchanged to the checkered flag waved by track-side starter Tom Fox. Janniro beat Novratil's Jawa by four lengths. Ruml's 500cc GM trailed the runner-up by two lengths, with Venegas' Jawa another two lengths back. All four riders took celebratory cool-off laps and hiked their front wheels on the straights for appreciative spectators.
During the five rounds of heat races, M. Ruml scored the most points—14 out of a possible 15. He won four heats and finished second to Novratil in round five. Janniro and Novratil tallied 13 points. Luke Becker, from Brentwood, was next with 10 points. It took eight points to make one of the two semi-final races that advanced the top two finishers in each semi to the main event.
M. Ruml won the first semi over Venegas. Younger brother Dillon Ruml, 17, edged Becker, 17, for third. Janniro also led all the way in the second semi and beat Novratil and Broc Nicol. Gino Manzares fell in the first turn on lap 1 and was excluded from the restart by referee Steve Lucero per event rules.
JUNIORS:
The Junior Division 250cc main event was a dominant victory for Sebastian “Big Daddy” Palmese, 12, over Yucapia resident Sara Cords, 16, and Michael Wells. Kyle Cunningham, 12, from Auburn, dropped out on lap 1 with engine failure. Palmese, from Rancho Santa Margarita, was the 2015 250cc Junior California State Champion. He also won the 2013-14 AMA 150ccYouth National Championship.
The Junior 150cc was split into first division (more experienced 150cc riders) and second division (newer junior division riders). Salinas resident Sterling Martin, 11, shot from lane three into the lead at the start and led all four laps. His ex-No. 31 bike now carries No. 1 as the Junior 150cc national champion.
“Lightning” Luke Whitcomb, 10, started his No. 27 from lane two and ran second all four laps. Alex Martin, Sterling's twin-brother, rode his ex-No. 30 bike, now carrying No. 2 for his 2015 national ranking, from the outside lane to a close third place. Slater Lightcap came from the pole to place fourth on his ex-No. 28 that now carries No. 3 for his 2015 national ranking.
The second division Junior 150cc feature went to Sammy Waddill, 9, from Vallejo. He led every lap. Dakota Shockley, Travis Horn and Andrew Russell followed. It was Waddill's first victory at Industry Speedway. Despite school still being in session, eight junior riders came south to race. Two juniors rode south with Janniro, including his nephew Dylan Wagner.
Several single and two-rider falls occurred. A three rider “get-off” took place on lap 2 entering the third turn in event eight. Dalton Leedy, Kurtis Hamill and Sammy Ramirez fell/or laid down their bikes to avoid the downed second place rider. Only Gage Geist did not fall; he led all four laps of the restarted heat race. All dis-mounters walked to the pits.
Two off-road pro buggies—No. 1 and No. 78 Lucas Oil—staged a demonstration run after the first three rounds and before the track was re-groomed. They ran several quick laps counter clockwise and clockwise. A 1957 Chevy-bodied drag racing car also made an appearance.
Expert heat race victories went to nine of the 16 riders and one reserve rider who raced. Rick Richards, replaced Neil Facchini after round two following Facchini's engine problem. Four-time heat victors were: M. Ruml, Janniro and Novratil. Manzares won three times. Solo heat winners were: Nicol, Geist, Becker, Venegas and D. Ruml.
Next Wednesday, June 8 at Industry Speedway will have a regular speedway racing program with D-1 experts, second and third division support 500cc riders, juniors and pee-wees. Sidecars will race periodically at Industry as well.
Quick Results from the Connor Penhall Memorial Cup.
Ryan Evans
RESULTS
Mini 150 Second Division Main Event
52n - Sammy Waddill
419 - Dakota Shockley
25 - Travis Horn
96 - Andrew Russell
Mini 150 First Division Main Event
1 - Sterling Martin
27 - Luke Whitcomb
2 - Alex Martin
3 - Slater Lightcap
Junior 250 Main Event
18 - Sebastian Palmese
14 - Sara Cords
214 - Michael Wells
35n - Kyle Cunningham (engine failure)
Connor Memorial Cup Semi 1
5 - Max Ruml
43 - Charlie Venegas
111 - Dillon Ruml
22n - Luke Becker
Connor Memorial Cup Semi 2
1 - Billy Janniro
7 - Austin Novratil
4 - Broc Nicol
24 - Gino Manzares
Connor Memorial Cup Final
1 - Billy Janniro
7 - Austin Novratil
5 - Max Ruml
43 - Charlie Venegas
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