Ruml Rules
the Ring
W
hile the heatwave gripping
much of California has
slowed many things down, it
didn't seem to affect the action
Saturday night, August 1, at the
Industry Grand Arena in the City
of Industry. Both riders and spec
-
tators were ready to go.
The night opened with Broc
Nicols flying away from the pack
to secure his first heat win. Next
up was Max "Mad Max" Ruml,
who also won, starting a string
of four straight wins. Then Wilbur
Hancock, son of four-time World
champ Greg Hancock, recorded a
runaway heat win.
You can never tell what is going
to happen at a Speedway race,
and someone in the crowd decid
-
ed to sponsor a $500 match race
between Justin "The Jet" Almon
and Jordan Vanderham. Almon
squared off against Vanderham in
a best-of-two-out-of-three chal-
lenge. It was close, but Vander-
ham went home $500 richer after
some "hand-to-hand" combat.
Unfortunately, mechanical fail-
ures took a few of the top riders
down, including National Cham-
pion Nicols. Despite a great
2025 season and wins so far this
season, the 2025 AMA National
champ went 0-for-4 for the rest
of the night, threw a chain while
leading his second heat, and lost
a motor to finish off the night.
In the Division Two main event,
young Catherine Moore scored a
close victory over five-time win
-
ner Eloy Medellin Jr.
Next up was the Sidecar main
event. Dillon Osborne had been
asked to substitute for one of the
Summers brothers, and he took
the job seriously. He and Tom
Summers won three straight
heats and pulled away from
Kevin Kale and Jen Hernandez to
win the main event.
After the two semis, the final
four came down to Ruml, young
phenom Levi Leutz, Vanderham
and Almon. Without his perennial
nemesis Nicol to bang bars with,
Ruml may have thought it would
be an easy win, but Leutz had his
own ideas and nearly came away
with a main-event victory. The
final was Ruml by inches over
Leutz, with Almon and Vander
-
ham bringing up the rear.
Richard T. Haight
WIND
IN THE
P40
Wilbur Hancock (near),
Greg Hancock's son,
battles eventual winner
Max Ruml.
PHOTOS:
RICHARD T. HAIGHT
Dillon Osborne and Tom
Summers won the Sidecar final.
