VENTURA RACEWAY
10 West Harbor Blvd.
Ventura, CA 93001
AMA National Championship Series Round 2
June 25, 2016 - Ventura Raceway
By: Steve Evans dreamteamspeedway@sbcglobal.net
Photos: Dorcey Wingo
YouTube Video - by Anthony Bernardi
Results from Ventura Raceway and are Continued Below...
JANNIRO WINS AMA NATIONAL SPEEDWAY ROUND 2
Billy Janniro was once more the victor in Round 2 of the AMA National Speedway Series at Ventura, CA on June 25th, but the rising pool of young emerging stars pushed him to his limit.
In the past three stagings of this event, Janniro had won 18 heats and had just one defeat, but the 2016 version had him as man marked by those who wish to dethrone him. In his very first ride 18 year old Broc Nicol defeated him and left those attendance in shock that the king was beatable. After two straight wins on the rebound for Janniro, National number 2 Max Ruml defeated the 6 time champion in the final heat and repeated the same in the semi finals.
Ruml himself had a slow start, getting a third behind veteran Eddie Castro, a local wild card who stunned the crowd with his performance at age 56, a feat all the more remarkable considering Castro 12 months early was battling a life threatening cancer. Ruml's younger brother Dillon came second in this heat. Then Ruml Snr reeled off 5 straight wins including his semi final. Dillon Ruml himself impressed with 3 wins and 13 points from his 5 heats, coming back from a heavy crash avoiding the fallen Austin Novratil in his second ride.
Broc Nicol, also with 3 wins matched both Ruml's and Janniros on 13 points after the heats. However a third place in his semi final eliminated him from the big final, Luke Becker winning this race after finding his groove at the right time, with Dillon Ruml second.
The final featured Janniro, both Ruml's and Becker. Max Ruml got the start and looked set to inflict Janniro's third defeat by him on the night. However, a titanic outside move on the back straight of the last lap saw Janniro blast past his 19 year old rival to win his fourth Ventura in a row. Behind these two, the 17 year olds were also in close battle with Becker edging Dillon Ruml.
Janniro now has a commanding 9 point lead in the standings heading into Round 3 of 4 of the series at Industry Hills on 13 August, where he is chasing his 7th overall and 4th straight AMA crown.
Gino Manzares endured a rough night. His machinery was down on power which restricted him to three second places before a fall in his fourth outing ended his night. Castro ended up with 8 rides as he stormed to the semi finals. Bart Bast once more did a great job putting points on the board in all heats and scored two heats wins. Kurtis Hamill, walking on crutches and riding with a broken ankle and foot, amazingly scored 5 points and looked more comfortable as the night went on. Austin Novratil, the current most improved rider, made the semi finals and recorded two wins.
Aside from the Main AMA Round, several other classes took to the track. First up were wild card heats, for the last two spots on the team. Charles Ermolenko won the first heat from Eddie Castro. Heat 2 went to Bobby Schwartz from Rick Valdez. Dalton Leedy eased to the Last Chance before Castro proved a popular winner in the final with Ermolenko taking the other spot in the Main show.
Malcolm followed up on last weeks vintage class by taking heat 1, Dan Waller winning heat 2 and the final. Michael Wells impressed again on the 500 winning all Support Races. Gavin Geist won both 150 Junior Heats, with Rachel Schnakenberg taking the final.
The Sidecar Division was abandoned after a huge crash in the Main event. Two riders were taken to hospital and are recovering. Heats went to Joe Jones / Tom Summers (2), James Kinne & Dana Catone and Stuart Glass / Jack Straw. Bryan Motis and Cody Brant took the Last Chance race.
Speedway returns to Ventura on Saturday July 23rd.
Results
Semi Final 1
Max Ruml
Billy Janniro
Bart Bast
Austin Novratil
Semi Final 2
Luke Becker
Dillon Ruml
Eddie Castro
Broc Nicol
Final
Billy Janniro
Max Ruml
Luke Becker
Dillon Ruml
AMA National Championship Series Points for Round 2 (Unofficial)
Billy Janniro 18, Max Ruml 18, Luke Becker 15, Dillon Ruml 15, Broc Nicol 13, Bart Bast 10, Austin Novratil 9, Eddie Castro 8, Aaron Fox 7, Gino Manzares 6, Kurtis Hamill 5, Tommy Hedden 4, Gage Geist 4, Ryan Bast 4, Mike Faria 2, Charles Ermolenko 0, Dalton Leedy 0 (res), Rick Valdez 0 (res)
Series Standings (after 2 rounds)
Billy Janniro 39
Max Ruml 30
Gino Manzares 24
Bart Bast 24 (Top 4 Eligible for UK permit 2017/18)
Broc Nicol 22
Austin Novratil 21
Dillon Ruml 21
Luke Becker 19 (Top 8 Qualify for 2017 Series)
Aaron Fox 14
Tommy Hedden 13
Kurtis Hamill 9
Eddie Castro 8 (WC)
Gage Geist 7
Mike Faria 6
Charlie Venegas 6 (WC)
Shawn McConnell 6 (WC)
Ryan Bast 5
Other Divisions
Trophy Dash
273 Dryden Gayle
141 Mike Lane
11 Bobby Schwartz
290 Harold Hartke
Support Class
214 Michael Wells
171 Kenny Hansen
299 Cameron Beck
202 Chet Kohler
170 Hayley Perrault
Vintage Class
240 Dan Waller
180 Malcolm Roe
55 Ron Brankov
27 Bob Waller
412 Bradley Rochlitzer
150 Junior
5 Rachel Schnakenberg
33 Gavin Geist
419 Dakota Shockley
96 Andrew Russell
Sidecar Main
Abandoned
Time for a break.
| 
