IN
THE
WIND
P38
Janniro, Ruml Star At Speedway
National Championship
R
ound two of the AMA Speed-
way National Championships
was held at Speedway At The
Grand in City of Industry, Califor-
nia, August 10. Kelly Inman and
crew made a great track and
maintained it throughout the
night. The big question was who
was going to prevent nine-time
National Champion Billy Janniro
from having another perfect night.
Steve Lucero, the referee,
warned riders that he might hold
the starting tapes longer during
the night. In heat one, the tapes
were indeed held a bit longer than
usual, and that cost Max Ruml big
time, as he broke the tapes and
was out of heat one. Colton Hicks
went on to take the win.
Janniro's first heat was number
three. Going into the first turn,
he and Austin Novratil went wide,
with Novratil going down. It was
a complete restart with Janniro
eventually taking the win over
Novratil.
Janniro won all his heat races
and semi to advance to the Na-
tional Championship final.
On the pole in the final, it was
Janniro, and next to him was Max
Ruml. In the third spot was Gino
Manzares, and on the outside, it
was Novratil. As the tapes went
up, Ruml got the holeshot. Jan-
niro had a bad start going over
the inner railing to avoid hitting
riders. It was not going to be a
Billy Janniro runaway main event,
as he was at the back of the field
at the end of lap one. Going into
turn one on lap two, he had a
problem with the inside rail again
and almost went down.
Max Ruml led the whole four
laps with some pressure from
Novratil and Manzares, but with
each lap, Ruml was pulling away
slightly. The finish was Ruml,
Novratil, Manzares and Janniro a
ways back.
Janniro still leads the champion-
ship by 10 points over Ruml (39-
29) going into the last round up in
Auburn California in September.
Speedway legend Bobby
Schwartz competed on what
was his 63rd Birthday. Schwartz
rode for several British League
teams from 1979 to 1986. He
was British League Champion in
1980, World's Pairs Champion in
1981 and 1982, and Speedway
World Team Cup winner in 1982.
Schwartz was also USA National
Champion in 1986 and 1989.
Mitch Friedman
Overall
1. Billy Janniro (18)
2. Max Ruml (17)
3. Austin Novratil (16)
4. Gino Manzares (14)
5. Colton Hicks (14)
Max Ruml won the final event at
round two of the AMA Speedway
National Championship Series
in the City of Industry, California.
PHOTO: MITCH FRIEDMAN
