Ruml Wins, But Nicol Pulls Ahead
M
ax Ruml won round two of
the three-round AMA Nation-
al Speedway Championship at
Industry Hills, California, August
9, but defending champ Broc
Nicol holds a narrow champion-
ship lead, setting the stage for
what promises to be a final-round
showdown thriller next month.
In Speedway, everyone races
against all their competitors in
a 20-heat, round-robin format.
Everyone runs five heats, scoring
points on a 3-2-1-0 basis. At the
end of the night, the top eight
scorers run in two semi-main
events with only the first- and
second-place riders advancing
to the main.
Of the 20 riders, only Nicol
had a perfect 15-point score,
winning all five of his heats. The
surprise was that Ruml lost the
first two of his five races and
was down by two points heading
into the main event. Nicol, who
had shown he could run wide or
down on the pole, was on fire all
night, going outside of some and
inside of others. And that was
what it came down to in the end.
To no one's surprise, the main
came down to Broc Nicol, Max
Ruml, Billy Janniro and Austin
"Rocketman" Novratil, the recent
Connor Penhall Memorial Cup
winner.
Nicol selected the outside, or
gate four, that had worked well
for him all night long. It wasn't a
bad choice, maybe just not the
best one, as Ruml leapt into the
lead. Nicol, however, was right
there and tried both the wide
line and the pole and was within
half a bikelength. But Nicol was
forced to go inside to block
Janniro, and at the finish line,
Ruml took the win over Nicol,
Janniro and Novratil. Since riders
earn points for every heat, semi
and main, at the end, after two
rounds, Nicol is now one point
ahead of Ruml in the champion
-
ship. The final round goes off in
Auburn, California, September 20.
Richard Haight
FINAL
1. Max Ruml
2. Broc Nicol
3. Billy Janniro
4. Austin Novratil
WIND
IN THE
P50
Max Ruml (center)
didn't have one of his
best nights but rode his
best when it counted.
Broc Nicol and Billy
Janniro rounded out
the podium at the AMA
National Speedway
in Industry Hills,
California.
PHOTO:
RICHARD HAIGHT
