Fast Fridays Speedway
Gold Country Fairgrounds
1273 High Street
Auburn, California
AMA National Speedway Championship Final
Fast Friday’s Motorcycle Speedway
Gold Country Fairgrounds
Janniro Wins Eleventh National Championship
By Michael Kirby (Story & Photos)
AUBURN, CALIFORNIA, September 19, 2022
The Final of the AMA Speedway National Championship Series at the tapes: (inside - outside):
Billy Janniro, Aaron Fox, Louie Mersaroli, Max Ruml.
The finishing order was Ruml, Janniro, Mersaroli, Fox.
Congratulations to Billy Janniro for winning his 11th AMA National Championship.
Series Final Points Standings (Unofficial)
1. Billy Janniro 56
2. Max Ruml 55
3. Aaron Fox 41
4. Gino Manzares 39
5. Louie Mersaroli 29
6. Blake Borello 24
7. Rheten Todd 22
8. Bart Bast 20
9. Russell Green 17
Slater Lightcap 17
Alex Martin 17
Austin Novratil 17
13. Tyler Warren 14
14. Chris Kerr 12
15. Jonny Oakden 6
16. Dukie Ermolinko 5
17. Rees Todd 5
Danny Faria 5
19. Tim Gomez 4
Randy DiFrancesco 4
20. Gregory Moore 3
21. Eddie Castro 0
Shawn McConnell 0
Janniro Wins Eleventh National Championship
By Michael Kirby (Story)
Tension was in the air as the riders set up Saturday night for the third and final round of the 2022 AMA National Speedway Championship at the Fast Fridays Motorcycle Speedway in Auburn at the Gold Country Fairgrounds. Two riders, 2021 AMA National Speedway Champion Max Ruml and ten-time AMA National Speedway Champion Billy Janniro probably had the most at stake. Locked in tight competition in the first two rounds it all came down to this night for these two talented riders.
Coming into the round three Ruml had won the main event in round one in Bakersfield and he won the main event in round two in City of Industry. In series points though Janniro still held a slim lead over Ruml 37-36 over the two rounds. The three rounds of the championship are decided by finishing order of the first four riders in the main events. Riders work their way to the main by scoring points throughout the nights program. Three points for a win, two points for a second-place finish, one point for a third-place finish and zero points for a fourth-place finish. Riders carry these points into the series from round to round with the national champion crowned at the end of round three with the most points. The top eight riders in points for round three are seeded into two semi-finals with the first and second place finishers transferring to the Grand Final.
Right off Janniro threw the hammer down when he and Ruml met in the second heat race with Janniro leading out of the gate with a great race finishing first to Ruml's second picking up another series point over Ruml. Ruml had only rode at Fast Fridays once this year on opening night back in May so let the guy have a race or two to adjust. Ruml lost another point to Aaron Fox in his second race but scored perfect for the remainder of the evening finishing with 19 points for the round, working into semi-final two.
Janniro also lost a point in his second race finishing second to Tyler Warren. He then went on a run with wins all the way to and including semi-final one finishing up with 19 points also for the round.
Janniro and Ruml had some pretty tough competition in the Grand Final with Louie Mersaroli and Aaron Fox joining them in the night's finale. Two championships were on the line in this final race. The round three championship would be determined by the finishing order of this race. More importantly are the points still accumulating for the national championship especially for Ruml and Janniro who were just two series points apart. Janniro was still leading with 54 series points to Rum's 52 series points.
So here they are walking out to the start line with their crew, tension still running high, and choosing lanes was Janniro, Ruml, Louie Mersaroli and Aaron Fox who also transferred to the Grand Final. Janniro with the lead choose first and took lane one, Ruml chose second and took three, Aaron Fox took lane two and that left Mersaroli out in lane four. Janniro and Ruml got good gates with Janniro going low in turn one and Ruml higher on the track but going down in traffic with a restart called by referee Steve Lucero. Repeat, more tension as the riders got set again. This time it was Ruml that got the gate and led through turn one and just had Janniro's number in this race. Ruml led all the way to the finish line for the win of the Grand Final and the round three championship. Janniro finished second but with his two additional points against Ruml's three he still was one point ahead of Ruml winning his eleventh AMA National Speedway Championship. Mersaroli finished third and Fox finished fourth for the round. Sometimes with the format used for the championship series a rider can win the rounds but not win the championship as what happened this year with Ruml. Ruml had won all three series rounds but still lost by just one point to Janniro who did not win the main events in the rounds but scored more series points.
For the championship series Janniro was first with 56 series points, Ruml was second with 55 series points, Aaron Fox was third with 41 series and Gino Manzares was fourth with 39 points. Throughout the entire series the friendly but serious competition between Janniro and Ruml has been enjoyable. Both riders are very competitive and are winners and the series was close from start to finish only one or two points separating the riders. This rivalry and the way these two gentlemen handled themselves respecting each other's skills has been good for the sport, and next year surely the rivalry will renew to the delight to speedway fans across the country.
2022 AMA Speedway National Championship (Three Rounds)
1-Billy Janniro 56, 2-Max Ruml 55, 3-Aaron Fox 41, 4-Gino Manzares 39, 5-Louie Mersaroli 29, 6-Blake Borello 24, 7-Rheten Todd 22, 8-Bart Bast 20
AMA Speedway National Championship Round 3
1-Max Ruml, 2-Billy Janniro, 3-Louie Mersaroli, 4-Aaron Fox
Round Three Points
1-Max Ruml 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 - 19
2-Billy Janniro 3 2 3 3 3 3 2 - 19
3-Louie Mersaroli 3 DNF 0 3 1 2 1 - 10
4-Aaron Fox 3 3 1 3 3 2 0 - 15
5-Blake Borello 1 3 2 1 3 0 - 10
6-Gino Manzares 2 0 3 2 2 3 - 10
7-Bart Bast 1 3 2 0 2 1 - 9
8-Russell Green 3 DNF 3 0 1 0 dnf - 7
Tyler Warren 2 3 0 2 ex - 7
Rheten Todd 2 1 fx 2 2 - 7
11-Slater Lightcap 0 2 2 1 0 - 5
Alex Martin 1 1 1 dnf 2 - 5
Dukie Ermolenko dnf 1 2 1 1 - 5
14-Rees Todd 0 1 0 2 1 - 4
15-Gregory Moore 0 2 1 0 0 - 3
Jonny Oakden 1 0 1 1 0 - 3
R-Timmy Dion - - - - - ex - 0
Youth 250 Main Event
1-Darren Armbruster, 2-Jameson Hutchinson, 3-Catherine Moore
Youth 150 Main Event
1-Matthew Wright, 2-Caden Cavrikas, 3-Wesley Rearick
| 
