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MAX RUML WINS ORANGE COUNTY FAIR DERBY – By Tim Kennedy
Costa Mesa, CA., Jul. 16 – Max Ruml, a 19-year old speedway bike racing star from nearby Huntington Beach, started from gate two and led all four laps Saturday evening in the 42nd annual Orange Count Fair Derby. He told the crowd, “I'm pumped. And I started from gate two. Thanks to my mechanic Claudio for all that power.” The winner, who added the prestigious event to his growing list of accomplishments for the first time, received a unique bronzed Sonny Nutter hat trophy.
Attendees on the second day of the July 15 through August 14 Orange County Fair were admitted free of charge to the bleachers for speedway racing with their regular fair admission ticket. That fact annually produces one of the largest crowds of the year in speedway bike racing. This year was no exception. Backstretch bleachers, plus north and south bleachers, were jammed with fair-goers. There was a charge for covered grandstand seating.
Racing took place on the Action Sports Arena dirt track from 7:30 to 8:50 pm with no intermissions for track preparation. That enabled spectators to get back to usual attractions, rides and food at the fair. The speedily run program conducted 30 races featuring 500cc Division 1 and Support Division 2 riders and the four 1,000cc sidecar teams present.
Sixteen D-1 riders with two reserves raced three rounds of four-lap heats for points (scored 3-2-1-0 for P. 1-4 finishes). Sixteen 500cc intermediate skill level support division riders raced two rounds of heats with points scored on the same basis as Division 1. A pair of semi-final races in D-1 and D-2 reduced the top eight in each division points by advancing only the first two finishers in each semi to the main event. D-1 semi-final finishers in third and fourth place went to the consolation race. There was no consy for D-2 riders.
D-1 MAIN: The 30th and final race had 2015 Orange County Fair Derby winner Aaron Fox on pole with M. Ruml GM bike alongside at gate two. Austin Novratil, who was changing his motor, did not start his first round heat race. He won his second and third round heats for six points to qualify for a semi-feature ride. His second place in a semi enabled Novratil to start the main from gate three. Gino Manzares started from gate four next to the wall.
Ruml shot into the lead before the first turn and held it all four laps. Positions switched behind him during the opening lap on the hard, smooth track. The race then settled into its final finishing order. Novratil trailed Ruml by four lengths. Manzares was a length in back of the runner-up. Fox trailed Manzares by a length in a tight second through fourth pack during all four circuits.
Broc Nicol, 18, led all the way in the D-1 consolation race. Orange County resident Shawn McConnell, 57, took second place. Dillon Ruml, 16, was third and Gage Geist, 17, fourth. Referee Steve Lucero ordered a complete restart after Geist and McConnell fell on lap 1 in the first corner. M. Ruml, Manzares and Fox scored perfect scores of nine points during heat races. All three riders won their three heats. It took four points to make a D-1 semi-final.
SUPPORT MAIN: Sammy Ramirez, 16, led all four laps in the support division main to defeat runner-up Robbie Sauer, a 49-year old former D-1 regular. He did not race for two years because of illness and is just returning to competition. Ricky Valdez and Mike Bloom placed third and fourth in the support main. Joe Donaldson and Harold Hartke finished third in the pair of support semi-finals. Eloy Medellin and Rudy Laurer were fourth place finishers in support semis.
SIDECAR MAIN: The four 1,000cc sidecar teams present raced in both heats races and the main. USA sidecar champion Joe Jones had his older brother Chris Jones substituting for the second week this month for injured sidecar “swinger” Tom Summers. The Jones boys No. 1 rig led every lap in the feature. Paraplegic driver Bryan Motis and “swinger” Cody Brant placed second, with the Charlie Davis/Niki Davis team third.
Vacationing visitor Russell Mitchell a 54-year old from Perth, Australia, and his contributing sidecar rider Dana Catone, a 24-year old Chino Hills resident, joined forces as they did July 6 at Industry Speedway. They won both OCF Derby heats in Joe Jones' 1,000cc Suzuki-powered No. 1 backup rig with the Jones brothers a pressing second in two-wide action each time.
In the feature, Mitchell/Catone were running third on lap 4 leaving the second turn when they tried to take second place from Motis/Brant but rode up the piping marking the infield. Mitchell/Catone slowed as the rig tipped sideways lazily. The mishap spilled both of them onto the dirt infield. They rose quickly and watched the winning Jones brothers team perform several celebratory rapid “donuts” in loose dirt beyond their fourth turn groove. Sidecars race clockwise and speedway bikes race counter-clockwise.
Five D-1 riders won the 12 D-1 heat races. Four D-2 riders captured the eight D-2 support heats. Sauer, Bloom, Hartke and Valdez tied at five points each by finishing first and second. It took four points to make a D-2 semi-final.
Ruml was the race leader each lap and undefeated in his five races Saturday. Second semi-final winner Fox scored four victories in his five races and lost only in the feature. Fox carried No. 1 on his bike and leathers as the Costa Mesa Speedway champion. He uses No. 46 elsewhere.
Other D-1 riders who raced were: 3-points--Eddie Castro and Gary Hicks; 2-points--Bobby Schwartz Dalton Leedy, and Tyson Talkington; 1 point—Kurtis Hamill and D. Eddy; 0 points—Ricky Richards.
Other D-2 Support Division riders who raced were: 4-points—David Lynch; 2-points—Ron Davis, Bruce Marteney and John Wilder; 1-point—Damon Barry, and Carl Gazafy; 0-points—Brad Moreau and Kris Harlow.
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