Kevin Harvick’s
Kern Raceway
Bakersfield, California
International Test Match
USA vs Great Britain
Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway, Bakersfield
February 1, 2025
Results: Steve Evans
Photos by: Dale Miller and Pete Richmond
TEST MATCH HISTORY MADE IN AMERICA WITH BRITS THE DOMINANT WINNERS
For the first time in the United States, test match speedway arrived with USA taking on Great Britain in a well-attended epic at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway, Bakersfield, on February 1st, 2025.
After two previous internationals against a World Select, track and USA National team management decided to take a leap of faith and step into a bigger event by bringing the current World Champions to the USA. The British team, though missing one or two stars with other commitments, still they had incredible depth with every team member a professional league racing rider. Any thought that the USA would have a big home advantage left the minds of most in attendance during Friday practice at the Brits set up their equipment and were instantly setting blistering pace.
The meeting itself had several elements, combining a typical team event with a normal night of American Speedway. The double feature headline of course was the 15-heat team race and the 5-race individual contest to follow.
For the USA, already an underdog on paper, there were a few early and pre-event factors that left them an immediate mountain to climb. Team captain Gino Manzares withdrew on the morning of the event, having injured his knee in practice the day before. Then Broc Nicol, who missed practice with illness, touched the tapes in heat 1 and Becker had a rare mechanical failure at the tapes in heat 4.
With Nicol penalized, Dan Bewley and Dan Thompson set off for an immediate 5-1 maximum in heat 1 with Max Ruml unable to get close enough to the British pairing. The initial staging of heat two saw Britain's Jordan Jenkins getting a good start ahead of Slater Lightcap of the USA. 17-year-old Ashton Boughen was keen to get by his US counterpart, but ran out of track coming out of turn 4, going down to bring out the red flags and get an expected exclusion. The restaging saw both Americans trap first, Lightcap initially led before letting partner Alex Martin by to show skilled and knowledgeable team riding. Whilst Martin blasted off for the win, Lightcap kept Jenkins at bay to even the score to 6-6.
The Brits struck back right away in heat 3. Adam Ellis got a great start with Janniro in second. Ellis edged Janniro slightly off-line on the back straight to allow Leon Flint to come through and join his teammate for the 5-1. Austin Novratil came through to third and got close to Flint but never quite close enough to put the maximum under pressure. Heat 4, as already alluded, saw Becker’s bike fail as the tapes went up. Lightcap went into the lead initially, with Tom Brennan looking outside and Boughen inside as they hit the back straightaway. Brennan, perhaps the most improved British League rider last year, went around Lightcap with a terrific high line as the riders wrapped lap 1. Boughen then duly obliged with an inside pass to join his teammate for another 5-1 route. The Brits, after four races, already had a very comfortable 16-8 lead.
Heat 5 had the Dan’s up against Janniro and Novratil. Early revelation Thompson led again with GP superstar Bewley surprisingly at the back as they came out of turn 2. Bewley edged inside of Janniro as lap one ended and then made an outside pass of Novratil at the start of lap three. Novratil did stay on pace before a mechanical failure on the last lap relegated him to the back. Heat 6 saw a terrific start from Ruml to lead Brennan with Nicol in third over Jenkins. Nicol looked inside of Brennan coming out of turn 2 in lap two and then tried outside in 3. However, his wide line at the start of lap three saw Nicol fall, though his rapid clearance of the track meant that Ruml would record USA’s second win of the event in a hugely impressive ride. Score after heat 6 USA 12 – GB 24.
Hopes of Becker starting the comeback rally were dashed as heat 7 got away with the Ellis / Flint pairing getting a blistering start. Becker, clearly with a bike issue, lagged at the back whilst Martin put Ellis under pressure in turn 3. Becker picked up some speed to get by his partner. He did gain on Ellis, but the Brits kept in control to record their fifth maximum in seven heats. Heat 8 saw signs of hope with the team of Nicol and Lightcap first out of the start. However, the ultra-impressive Thompson pushed Nicol to the back with a tough pass on the back straightaway. Thompson went around Lightcap for the lead out of turn 2 whilst Nicol made the move on Boughen a turn later to get back into third. The fast paced and all action heat then had Nicol move by his teammate for second. Nicol then went chasing after Thompson and he got close but ran out of laps in a thrilling tied 3-3 Heat. After heat 8 the USA had 16 with the Brits way ahead on 32.
The USA used their one and only tactical substitute in heat 9 with Becker coming in for Novratil. It looked good with Becker making a sensational start to lead Brennan and Jenkins but an uncharacteristic get off in turn 3 brought out the red flags and an exclusion, with the air fence doing its job for safety. The restart saw Brennan get the lead and Janniro hold off Jenkins for a 4-2 GB advantage. Heat 10 was another epic and tough heat, with the unbeaten duo of Ellis and Flint for GB. However, Ruml got another great start and outside charge to lead from Ellis with Nicol in third. Ellis kept close on Ruml for all four laps, looking inside and outside. Just when USA thought it had its third win of the night, Ellis got some outside drive coming out of the final turn to beat Ruml by inches. Score USA 21 – GB 39.
Heat 11 saw the first clash of the captain’s with Bewley getting a rocket start over Becker. Bewley went away for the win whilst Becker held off the pressure of the previously unbeaten Thompson. Heat 12 saw #8 Wilbur Hancock come in for Novratil. Ellis and Jenkins got the best start though the impressive Lightcap tried the high line around turns 3 and 4 in an attempt to at least grab second. He ran out of room however and went down and was excluded for being the prime cause of the red flag. GB obliged with another 5-1 and a 48-24 lead.
The big guns were out in heat 13, which proved to be a huge morale booster for the home team. Becker and Ruml got superb starts to lead Brennan and Bewley, though Brennan around the outside was quickly past Ruml. Brennan briefly challenged Becker, which in turn gave Ruml the chance to put pressure back on Brennan. But the story here was Bewley being kept at the back and the USA recording 4-2 heat win. The Brits struck back with a fast start from Flint and Boughen in heat 14 but Boughen ran out of room at the end of lap 1 with a hard crash. It was clear right away that Boughen’s night was done and after a lengthy medical delay, he was taken to hospital for assessment though miraculously discharged a few hours later with just a concussion. Flint led Janniro and Martin in the eventual re-staging. USA 31 – GB 53.
Heat 15 had riders nominated by their team managers. USA boss Laurence Rogers unsurprisingly selected Becker and Ruml with GB, with the match long won, rewarding Thompson and Jenkins. Becker led from Thompson and Ruml, with Thompson passing Becker and Jenkins going down hard. Jenkins eventually walked back to the pits and the referee awarded the heat with the win going to Becker with USA rules on going back to the last completed lap to declare the winner. Final score USA 35 – GB 55.
Riders then returned for Individual action, four heats with the winner of each going to the final. Heat 1 saw Flint make contact with Ellis in the initial staging as both went down on lap one. Ellis won the re run. Heat two saw Brennan and Ruml come out of turn two even, but Brennan made best of the outside line to move ahead for the win. Heat 3 was an absolute classic as the Dan’s went to battle again. Thompson got ahead of Bewley and held off the fierce charge of the GP star to qualify for the final. Lightcap was third with wild card run off qualifier Nick Hohlbein 4th. The final heat due to rider attrition was a match race where Becker led home wild card run off winner Eddie Castro.
The grand final had three Brits and one American. Adam Ellis completed his 6-ride unbeaten Maximum by gating and winning, repeating his second half feat from his previous visit to Kern in 2023. Thompson ran second, who was quickly challenged by Becker. Brennan then used the outside to his advantage to pass Becker for third for the Brits to land a clean sweep of the podium.
Team GB won big on the day and made a lot of fans. Though USA were soundly beaten, the event gave home riders who often face unchallenging heat races in domestic meetings with a tough night of racing from start to finish. Bright spots for USA were Ruml and Lightcap in a hard day of racing. Team GB set standards off the track with three management personnel in attendance as well as full matching team suits and bike covers. The British team and the thrilled fans are already seeking a rematch in 2026!
Outside of the main action, there were four additional classes. In Division 1 Eddie Castro led Nick Hohlbein home from Wilbur Hancock as the first two qualified for the second half individual. Darren Armbruster won Heat B and the Handicap Race. As expected SGP 3 contender and current SGP4 World Champ Brady Landon won both heat and Main in the 250cc class. Colton Shafer took heat 2 with Caden Cavrikas winning the Consolation. The 150 class saw 2025 SGP4 contender Riley Rearick win his heat and pass North American Champ Zaal Farhand (heat 2 winner) to take the Main event. Zander Schroeder took the Consolation. The Support Class Main was won by traveling rider from Colorado Redmond Bohannon. The heat went to Catherine Moore.
The weather forecast improved as the week went on from rain to cloud to eventual glorious sunshine. It was new ground for American speedway and with big support from sponsors, in person and online audience, the scene is set for more such events in the future.
Results
USA 35: Luke Becker 9, Max Ruml 7, Billy Janniro 5, Slater Lightcap 4+2, Broc Nicol 4+1, Alex Martin 4+1, Austin Novratil 1, Wilbur Hancock 1.
Great Britain 55: Adam Ellis 11+1 (maximum), Dan Thompson 11+1, Tom Brennan 10, Dan Bewley 8+1, Leon Flint 8+1, Jordan Jenkins 5+1, Ashton Boughen 2+1.
Rider of the Night Final
Adam Ellis
Dan Thompson
Tom Brennan
Luke Becker
Handicap Main
2x Darren Armbruster (10)
16 Jordan Vanderham (10)
14 Eddie Castro (40)
68 Mark Fillebrown (10)
137 Justin Almon (30) nonstarter
Wild Card Run Off
14 Eddie Castro
29 Nick Hohlbein
117 Wilbur Hancock
137 Justin Almon (excluded)
250 Junior Main
13 Brady Landon
45 Colton Shafer
13n Jameson Hutchinson
50 Wesley Rearick
250 Junior Consolation
119 Caden Cavrikas
5 Brandon Soto
123 Leeann Emerson
Mini 150 Main
05 Riley Rearick
98 Zaal Farhand
44 Brandon Kemmerly
219 Brady Wills
Mini 150 Consolation
17 Zander Schroeder
6 Logan Kerr
123 Leeann Emerson
8 Gavin Evans-Seeley
77 William Bruce (ret)
Support Main
101c Redmond Bohannon (20)
222 Antonio Coffman
290 Harold Hartke
155 Cameron Dalbey (nonstarter rerun)
123 Catherine Moore (excluded)
"Well, we were second-best as a team yesterday but we didn't pull any punches with the quality of our opponents. When we contacted Great Britain our message to them was send us the best you have available and that's what we got yesterday. When you bring over a world select you can control the opposition and dare I say it, make the USA team a little better on paper but what good does that do when you want to compete at the highest level? Great Britain are simply a stellar operation on and off the track and they have set the standard for us to aspire to! Had Gino been fit and Luke not had his earlier issues we would of kept the score closer, but we would still have been beaten on the day. And most importantly, this was a great learning curve and an experience for the American team. They gave everything they had as they always do and whilst you don't win them all we certainly have our own unique group who we are fully behind! and thank you to all of the people at the track and the crowd that came out! Without such support, we couldn't do this again!" Steve Evans
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