Costa Mesa Speedway
Orange County Fairgrounds
Costa Mesa, California

Legends Night
June 1, 2013 - Costa Mesa
By: Ryan Evans

Former World Champion Billy "The Bullet" Hamill matched his unbeaten evening at Industry Racing three nights earlier with another perfect performance on Legends Night at the world famous Costa Mesa Speedway.

After years of main-event fields being dominated by veteran riders the field on this particular occasion was comprised of four rising stars in American Speedway and Billy Hamill. Two riders, Billy Hamill and Aaron Fox, entered the main event undefeated. Fox won the draw between them to determine who would have first choice of starting position and he picked gate one. Billy Hamill quickly chose gate two. After careful deliberation, Under 21 National Champion Gino Manzares selected gate three. Sixteen year old "Mad" Max Ruml decided to start his first Costa Mesa Scratch Main from gate five which left Russell Green with gate four.

Fox and Billy Hamill were handlebar-to-handlebar after the tapes went up with Billy Hamill gaining a slight advantage as they approached turn one. Billy Hamill leaned hard on Fox when they got to the corner and dropped down in front of him to secure the lead. Fox then spun and went into the infield which ended his race. Max Ruml emerged ahead of the rest of the contenders and chased after his mentor. Manzares was searching high and low for a path to second but couldn't get by. Billy Hamill was still leading after two laps when Manzares went over backward on the front straight and brought out the red flag. The race was declared finished and the victory was awarded to Billy Hamill. Max Ruml was declared second, Green was third, Manzares ended up fourth, and Fox was fifth.

Billy Hamill kicked off the evening by defeating Manzares. Green defeated Josh Larsen in event two. Fox beat Shawn "Mad Dog" McConnell in event three. Bobby "Boogaloo" Schwartz, the previous week's main event winner, beat Max Ruml. Former National Champion "Flyin" Mike Faria beat "Nasty" Nate Perkins in event five. "Fast" Eddie Castro was awarded the victory over Tim Gomez at the end of round one.

Billy Hamill started round two with a win over Perkins. Manzares beat Larsen for his first win. Former Under 21 National Champion Austin Novratil beat Gomez. Fox beat Schwartz for his second straight victory. Faria defeated "Battling" Buck Blair for his second win in a row. Max Ruml defeated Michael Raines to end the second round.

Billy Hamill remained perfect by defeating Steve Russell to start the final round. Larsen beat Max Ruml. Manzares beat McConnell for his second straight win. Schwartz defeated Tyson Talkington for his second victory. Fox matched Billy Hamill's unblemished score and also handed Faria his first defeat. Green scored his second victory of the night over Gomez in the final heat.

Fox won the first semi while Max Ruml made a great start from gate give to get himself into second and earned the other transfer to the main. Hamill took the second semi with Manzares finishing second to join him in the main event.

Larsen led the Last Chance for a lap and appeared to be headed to the main event but he suffered an engine failure which handed the victory and final spot in the main event field to Green.

Rudy Laurer led the Support Main Event field for a lap before Dillon Osborne went by for the lead on the second lap. Osborne's turn at the front was short-lived because he fell on the next lap. Laurer reassumed the lead and held it to the checkered flag. "Rattlesnake" Steve Bowen finished second, Carl Gazafy was third, and Osborne was credited with fourth.

Braden Sauer won both his heats but any dreams of a perfect debut ended when he fell in turn one of the Support B Main Event. Chris Wiggins put together four smooth laps and was victorious. Dave Troutt was second, Texan Chris Harlow finished third, and Sauer was credited with fourth.

Junior National Champion Broc Nicol made a good start from gate four in the Junior 250 Main but couldn't quite get across Dillon Ruml who held the lead after the first corner. Nicol chased after Dillon Ruml the entire way but the leader was cool under all of the pressure. Dillon Ruml was first to the finish line, Nicol had to settle for second, Kurtis Hamill was third, River McDougall finished fourth, Hayley Perrault was fifth, and Dalton Leedy was sixth.

Sebastian "Big Daddy" Palmese led all four laps en route to victory in the Mini 150 First Division Main Event. Maverick Molloy finished second, Michael Wells was third, and Courtney Crone finished fourth.
Jake Isaac went home victorious in the Mini 150 Second Division Main Event. Slater Lightcap was second and Tristan Britt was third.

Dan Jones and Dave German led the Sidecar Main Event on the first lap but had National Champions Joe Jones and Johnny Glover planted right behind them. Joe Jones and Glover searched high and low for a way by the leaders but were unable to do so after three laps. Joe Jones and Glover went deep into the final corner but had enough momentum to make a final attack. They tried to squeeze through a narrow gap between the leaders and the wall. The result was a collision that left bikes and bodies overturned. Fortunately, everyone was up quickly and relatively unscathed. The victory was awarded to Dan Jones and German, Dual Anderson and Ethan Smith were second, Stuart Glass and Jack Straw were third and Joe Jones and Glover were relegated to fourth.

Legends Night honored the racers of the past and the evening was specifically dedicated to Scott Sivadge, who was a star in the 1970s. Many of America's speedway stars of yesteryear including "Wild" Bill Cody and "Sliding" Sonny Nutter were on hand.

The next event at Costa Mesa Speedway will be the National Championship Qualifier this Saturday, June 8. It's the venue's turn to host one of several qualifying rounds in which the best racers in the country are competing for a place in the Monster Energy 45th United States National Championship at Costa Mesa Speedway on Saturday, October 5.

RESULTS

Sidecar Consolation
2 – Bryan Motis/Josh Bennett
13 – Casey Driggers/Riley Driggers
1965 – Jeff Rowe/John Bach
81 – Dan Rapaport/Dave German

Sidecar Main Event (awarded)
66 - Dan Jones/Dave German
007 - Dual Anderson/Ethan Smith
911 - Stuart Glass/Jack Straw
1 - Joe Jones/Johnny Glover (excluded)

Mini 150cc Second Division Main Event
16 - Jake Isaac
28 - Slater Lightcap (fell)
11 - Tristan Britt (engine failure)

Mini 150cc First Division Main Event (restarted)
18 - Sebastian Palmese
34 - Maverick Molloy
214 - Michael Wells
4 - Courtney Crone (penalty line)

Junior 250cc Main Event
111 - Dillon Ruml
1 – Broc Nicol
104 - Kurtis Hamill
5 - River McDougall
0 - Hayley Perrault
222 - Dalton Leedy (engine failure)

Support B Main Event
239 - Chris Wiggins
210 - Dave Troutt
255 - Kriss Harlow
217 - Braden Sauer (fell)

Support Main Event
182 - Rudy Laurer
177 - Steve Bowen
176 - Carl Gazafy
164 - Dillon Osborne (fell)

First Division Heat Scoring123T
2 – Josh Larsen 2237
6 – Shawn McConnell 2024
7 – Michael Raines E213
9 – Mike Faria 3328
13 – Nate Perkins 2215
14 – Eddie Castro 3115
18 – Justin Boyle 00E0
21 – Brad Sauer 0101
23 – Steve Russell 1124
24 – Gino Manzares 2338
27 – Austin Novratil 13X 4
30 – Tim Gomez 2226
37 – Joe Donaldson 0000
38 – Ryan Tovatt 0000
39 – Buck Blair 12F3
45 – Brad Pappalardo 1012
46 – Aaron Fox 3339
48 – Tyson Talkington Fx123
66 – Jason Ramirez 1113
178 – Eloy Medellin 1012
308 – Max Ruml 2327
321 – Russell Green 3137

Race Results
1: Hamill, Manzares, Novratil (tape penalty), Tovatt
2: Green, Larsen, Ramirez, Donaldson
3: Fox, McConnell, Russell, Sauer
4: Schwartz, Ruml, Blair, Boyle
5: (restarted) Faria, Perkins, Medellin, Raines (penalty line) (engine failure)
6: (awarded) Castro, Gomez, Pappalardo (fell, remounted), Talkington (fell, excluded)
13: Hamill, Perkins, Castro (tape penalty), Boyle
14: Manzares, Larsen, Talkington, Medellin
15: Novratil, Gomez, Ramirez (fell, remounted), McConnell (fell, remounted)
16: Fox, Schwartz, Green, Tovatt
17: Faria, Blair, Russell, Donaldson
18: Ruml, Raines, Sauer, Pappalardo
22: Hamill, Russell, Raines, Tovatt
23: Larsen, Ruml, Castro, Donaldson
24: (restarted) Manzares, McConnell (penalty line), Perkins, Sauer
25: Schwartz, Talkington, Ramirez, Boyle (engine failure)
26: Fox, Faria, Medellin, Novratil (excluded)
27: Green, Gomez, Pappalardo, Blair (fell)
Semi #1: Fox, Ruml, Larsen, Faria, Perkins
Semi #2: (awarded) Hamill, Manzares, Green, Schwartz, Gomez (fell, excluded)

First Division Last Chance
321 - Russell Green
11 - Bobby Schwartz
9 - Mike Faria
2 - Josh Larsen (engine failure)

First Division Main Event (awarded)
104 - Billy Hamill
308 - Max Ruml
321 - Russell Green
24 - Gino Manzares (fell)
46 - Aaron Fox (fell)

Ryan Evans