Costa Mesa Speedway

Orange County Fairgrounds
Costa Mesa, California

Knobby Night
September 7, 2019 - Costa Mesa
Report by Ryan Evans

Costa Mesa Speedway - September 7, 2019.

“Mad” Max Ruml ended Billy Janniro’s run of dominance with by winning the Scratch Main Event on Speedway and Knobby Night at the world famous Costa Mesa Speedway.

Ruml started from gate one and it paid off when he made the best start and controlled the field entering turn one. Janniro, who started in the dreaded gate three, got in behind the leader as they went down the back straight. Ruml led through lap one but Janniro was lurking and hoping for a mistake. That error would never come to fruition and Ruml took home the victory. Janniro finished second, Gino Manzares was third, and Aaron Fox finished fourth.

Austin “All Throttle” Novratil opened the heats with a win over Fox. Manzares defeated Janniro in event two. Ruml beat Bobby “Boogaloo” Schwartz to end round one.

“Fast” Eddie Castro held off Brad Sauer to start round two with a win. Ruml defeated Janniro and Novratil for his second win. Manzares beat Fox and Schwartz to finish the second round with his second consecutive win.

The third round opened with Manzares remaining perfect by defeating Ruml. Janniro scored a victory over Fox in the next heat. Novratil closed out the heats by beating Castro.

Ruml beat Janniro in the first semi with both transferring to the main. Fox ruined Manzares’s perfect evening by winning the second semi but the latter would still transfer to the main.

Schwartz thrilled the crowd by winning the Scratch Consolation. The patrons gave the man who turned 63 last month a large ovation. Sauer finished second, Castro was third, and Novratil was credited with fourth.

The Second Division Main Event was a wild affair that required four attempts to complete. The first try ended with David Lynch and Kayle LeoGrande colliding in turn three. Tempers reached a boiling point between the two of them before track officials were able to separate them. Lynch’s bike was a casualty and it appeared that he wouldn’t restart. However, instead of going to the tapes Joey Donaldson veered to the infield and offered his machine to Lynch. He accepted after a little reassurance from Donaldson. LeoGrande went down again and brought out the red flag for a second time. The third attempt ended with Rudy Laurer testing the soil and forced a fourth attempt. Lawrence McNutt was victorious in what seemed to be a “Survival of the Fittest”, Lynch finished second, and LeoGrande was third.

Mark Fillebrown led the Third Division Main Event through two laps. He was overtaken by Andy Dix as they approached the white flag. Dix drifted wide exiting turn two and Fillebrown charged up the inside for the lead. He never looked back from there and was first to the finish line. Dix had to settle for second, Tanner Harmon was third, and Dan Wensloff finished fourth.

Wilbur Hancock and Slater Lightcap battled handlebar-to-handlebar through the first two laps of the Junior 250 Main Event. The two competitors remained in even as they took the white flag with Hancock hugging the inside line and Lightcap using the cushion. Hancock surged ahead on the back straight and secured the lead. He led all to the checkered flag with Lightcap getting second but both teenagers received a loud cheer from the crowd for what was the best race of the night. Andrew Russell was third and Aidan McNutt finished fourth.

Levi Leutz led all four laps en route to victory in the Mini 150 Main Event. Jose Navarrete finished second, Owen Williams was third, Nick Dunn finished fourth, and Max Anderson was fifth.

RESULTS

Scratch Main Event
5 - Max Ruml
1 - Billy Janniro
24 - Gino Manzares
46 - Aaron Fox

Scratch Consolation
11 - Bobby Schwartz
21 - Brad Sauer
14 - Eddie Castro (fell, remounted)
7 - Austin Novratil (non starter)

Second Division Main Event (restarted thrice)
275n - Lawrence McNutt
131 - David Lynch
185 - Kayle LeoGrande (fell)
182 - Rudy Laurer (non starter - restart)
37 - Joey Donaldson (non starter - restart)

Second Division Consolation
242n - Sammy Tetrault
290 - Harold Hartke
327 - Tyler Moszer
163 - Ron Davis
170 - Hayley Perrault (excluded)

Third Division Main Event
168 - Mark Fillebrown
101 - Andy Dix
196 - Tanner Harmon
169 - Dan Wensloff

Junior 250 Main Event
117 - Wilbur Hancock
28 - Slater Lightcap
96 - Andrew Russell
28n - Aidan McNutt

Junior 250 Consolation
27 - Luke Whitcomb
7 - Justin Almon

Mini 150 Main Event (restarted)
9 - Levi Leutz
48 - Jose Navarrete
04 - Owen Williams
76 - Nick Dunn
8 - Max Anderson

First Division Heat Scoring 1 2 3 T
1 – Billy Janniro 2 2 3 7
5 – Max Ruml 3 3 2 8
7 – Austin Novratil 3 1 3 7
11 – Bobby Schwartz 2 1 0 3
14 – Eddie Castro 0 3 2 5
21 – Brad Sauer 0 2 0 2
24 – Gino Manzares 3 3 3 9
30 – Tim Gomez 1 E N 1
46 – Aaron Fox 2 2 2 6
116 – Jake Isaac 0 1 1 2
249 – John Wilder 1 0 M 1
259 – Sebastian Palmese 1 E 1 2

Race Results
1: Novratil, Fox, Gomez, Sauer
2: (restarted) Manzares, Janniro, Palmese, Castro
3: Ruml, Schwartz, Wilder, Isaac
9: Castro, Sauer, Isaac, Gomez (fell)
10: Ruml, Janniro, Novratil, Palmese (engine failure)
11: Manzares, Fox, Schwartz, Wilder
17: Manzares, Ruml, Wilder (two-minute exclusion), Gomez (non-starter)
18: Janniro, Fox, Isaac, Sauer (fell, remounted)
19: Novratil, Castro, Palmese, Schwartz
Semi #1: Ruml, Janniro, Castro, Schwartz
Semi #2: Fox, Manzares, Sauer, Novratil

Ryan Evans