Billy Janniro had to catch and then ride around Max Ruml to take his fourth win in a row a Ventura.

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 titantic outside move on 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 11 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.

Results
Semi Final 1
Max Ruml
Billy Janniro
Bart Bast
Austin Novratil

Semi Final 2
Luke Becker
Dillon Ruml
Eddie Castro
Broc Nicol

Final
Janniro
M Ruml
Becker
D Ruml

AMA Narional 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)

1.     Billy Janniro 39
2.    Max Ruml 30
3.    Gino Manzares 24
4.    Bart Bast 24 (Top 4 Eligible for UK permit 2017/18)
5.    Broc Nicol 22
6.    Austin Novratil 21
7.    Dillon Ruml 21
8.    Luke Becker 19 (Top 8 Qualify for 2017 Series)
9.    Aaron Fox 14
10.    Tommy Hedden 13
11.    Kurtis Hamill 9
12.    Eddie Castro 8 (WC)
13.    Gage Geist 7
14.    Mike Faria 6
15.    Charlie Venegas 6 (WC)
16.    Shawn McConnell 6 (WC)
17.    Ryan Bast 5

Other Divisions

Trophy Dash
273 Dryden Gale
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 Glenn Geist
419 Dakota Shockley
96 Andrew Russell

Sidecar Main
Abandoned