IN
THE
WIND
P36
JANNIRO
HANGS TOUGH
AT VENTURA
NATIONAL
SPEEDWAY
B
illy Janniro was again the
winner, following round two
of the AMA National Speedway
Series at Ventura, California,
June 25, but the rising pool of
young, emerging stars pushed
him to his limit.
In his very first ride, 18-year-
old Broc Nicol defeated Janniro
in a heat and left those in atten-
dance in shock—so the veteran
speedway king is beatable after
all! And that was proven again
when Max Ruml defeated the
six-time champion in the final
heat and repeated the same in
the semi-finals.
Ruml had a slow start, get-
ting 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 consid-
ering Castro, 12 months earlier,
was battling life-threatening
cancer. Ruml's younger brother,
Dillon, came second in this heat.
Then the older Ruml reeled off
five straight wins, including his
semi-final.
Dillon impressed everyone
with three wins and 13 points
from his five heats, coming back
from a heavy crash avoiding
the fallen Austin Novratil in his
second ride.
Nicol, also with three wins,
matched both Ruml and Jan-
niro on 13 points after the heats.
However, a third place in his
semi-final eliminated him from
the Final.
Luke Becker won this one af-
ter 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 lap
three saw Janniro blast past his
19-year-old rival to win his fourth
Ventura race in a row. Behind
these two, the 17-year-olds were
also in close battle with Becker
edging Dillon Ruml.
Janniro now has a command-
ing 11-point lead in the standings
heading into the penultimate
round three of the series at
Industry Hills, August 13, where
he will be chasing his seventh
career, and fourth straight, AMA
crown.
Steve Evans
Final
1. Billy Janniro
2. Max Ruml
3. Luke Becker
4. Dillon Ruml
Billy Janniro fought off the
youngsters to win the AMA
Speedway National at Ventura.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
STEVE
EVANS
