| August 8, 2023
The second round of the three-round AMA National Speedway Championship hit the City of Industry on August 5. Except for Dillon Ruml, all of the top riders showed up to grab as many points as they could. There were a few surprises, but controversy colored the final results.
Max Ruml (left) and Broc Nicol (right) battled for the win in Saturday night’s AMA Speedway National at City of Industry, California.
Story by Richard T. Haight | Photos by Mitch Friedman
To no one’s surprise Max Ruml led off the night with a win over National Under-21 Champion Slater Lightcap, who had returned from a week in Poland training at the Extraliga camp. Slater finished third overall with developing Speedway riders from around the world.
Over the five rounds of heats, the surprises were wins by Russel Green, Louie Mersaroli, Alex Martin and Tim Gomez, with 11–time National Champion Billy Janniro unable to buy a win at any cost! Previous winner Austin “On The Throttle” Novratil dropped out with mechanical gremlins and called it a night, and then decided to jump back in, causing some controversy.
The other big winner of the night was Broc Nicol, winning all his heats but one, the one he lost by a bike length to Ruml.
As the night progressed, Janniro was finally able to score a single three-pointer with a win in his fourth heat. By the end of all five rounds, Ruml had a perfect score, straight threes for a 15-point total.
Ruml, Nicol and Louis Marsaroli ride filled the podium.
On Janniro’s heels were Broc Nicol with 14 points and Louie Mersaroli with 12. Gomez and Janniro squeezed in at 10, with Lightcap and Green at nine and eight, respectively. With the top eight-point scorers moving to the two semifinals, it was Ruml and Nicol taking wins, with Lightcap and Marsaroli advancing to the final, while Janniro couldn’t get a point and was eliminated.
Riders get their choice of starting gates based on their points, and both semi winners, Ruml and Nicol picked their usual gates. Ruml likes the pole, and Nicol goes for the outside. When the gate went up, Nicol charged to the front and had the race in hand, leading Max handily for three laps when Lightcap, running in last, took a spill down the back straight. Nicol was just crossing the start line when the flagman rushed to throw a red flag instead of a caution, in spite of the final being three-quarters over.
Ruml celebrates getting the win.
A re-start was ordered, to no small amount of controversy, and Nicol was unable to get the start he wanted. Ruml had a slight lead, and he took the win and the points by less than a couple of feet over Nicol.
FINAL
- Max Ruml
- Broc Nicol
- Louis Marsaroli
- Slater Lightcap
