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Perris RacewayPerris, CaliforniaAMA Speedway National Best Pairs Championship RUML’S AT THE DOUBLE AS THEY RETAIN AMA NATIONAL PAIRS TITLE The red-hot favorites of Max Ruml and Dillon Ruml retained their AMA National Pairs title at Perris but it was far from one-way traffic for the star duo. Six Pairs contested the National Championship, each racing every other team one time, with the two top teams in the standings moving on to a sudden death grand final. Heat 1 saw the first upset result with father and son team Bob and Colton Hicks getting the start on Austin Novratil and Russell Green. The Hicks team held the 5-1 as long as they could until Green found a way by the elder Hicks to get second. The 4-2 heat win for the Hicks soon turned to disaster with Bob taking an awkward fall after the checkered flag, prompting the teams withdrawal from the rest of the event with Bob getting medical check-up. Max and Dillon Ruml got the expected maximum to start their title defense in heat 2 over underdogs Pat Litt and Jake Isaac. Heat three was a thriller, Chris Kerr and Aaron Fox getting the 5-1 but with Tim Gomez, showing incredible pace on his GTR motor hounding the duo for the entire race but unable to split their maximum. Round 2 started with the Ruml’s getting a 5-0 over the absent Hicks team. Gomez continued his speed, bringing home partner Will McCloskey over Litt and Isaac in heat 5. Heat 6 was a big team blockbuster, Novratil coming first over Kerr with Green in third to secure a crucial 4-2. Anyone expecting one-way traffic for the Ruml’s was thoroughly disabused of that notion when Novratil went back to back in heat 7, the brothers settling for the 3-3 and keeping Green at the back. Kerr and Fox moved up to 12 points, just one behind the Ruml's, leading home Isaac and Litt in heat 8. Gomez and McCloskey completed the round with a two man 5-0 over Team Hicks. Going into Round 4, Green and Novratil were under pressure to deliver, being three points behind third and the duly did with a 5-1 over Litt and Isaac. Kerr and Fox scored a 5-0 in heat 11 over the Hicks team. Max Ruml and Dillon completed a 5-1 over Gomez and McCloskey in heat 12. Going into the last round, the Ruml’s led the way on 18, Fox and Kerr on 17, Novratil and Green on 14 with Gomez and McCloskey on 12. An added twist was the top two teams on points meeting in heat 15. The round began with Litt and Isaac taking the 5-0 against the withdrawn Hicks team. Next out, Novratil and Green sped into the lead for a must win heat, but once more it was Gomez who found speed and worked his way past Green, restricting them to a 4-2. Heat 15 had Kerr and Fox needing anything but a 1-5 against to make the final, and the former British League Kerr start duly obliged, splitting the Ruml pairing and keeping Dillon behind him for the crucial two points to seal a final spot. Points did not carry for the final and the 4,3,2,0 scoring system effectively meant that whoever came in last would relegate their team to a silver medal. Max Ruml trapped from gate 1 but it was too close to call between the other three riders coming out of turn 2. Fox edged inside Dillon Ruml for second whilst also Kerr moved by on the outside and for a moment it looked like the red-hot favorites might not repeat. It was an intense turn three on lap one where Kerr was forced wide by Dillon Ruml that effectively wrapped up the win for the brothers. For good measure Dillon put pressure on Fox to get by for second and their fourth maximum heat win of the night. The obligatory Ruml wheelie show ensued and the icing on the cake was the presentation of trophies and AMA #1 plaques by Boogaloo Bobby Schwartz, America’s only double World Pairs Champion whom the Pairs National Championship trophy is named after. Aside from the National Pairs title, the biggest talking point of the evening was the 500cc debut of former junior rider Sara Cords. It had been rumored that Cords had been quick in practice at nearby Milestone but no one was prepared for her stunning debut. The Division Two Pairs featured four teams with a round robin format of each team racing each other team once and points determining the winner. Cords was paired with former New Zealand International and Commonwealth finalist Darrin Wilson, who won the title last year with Michael Wells. To put it bluntly, Cords was in a league of her own, winning every race by more than ¼ of a lap including a last to first blast in her final heat. Two 5-1s and a 4-2 with Wilson landed them the title. The diminutive Cords gave a display that was rather reminiscent of Luke Becker, deemed the all-time greatest rider at Perris. Division Three was won with a combination of rookie experience and wise track knowledge as Rees Todd and Tom Bryant top scored with 14 points. Wilbur Hancock completed a clean sweep in the 250 Junior class. National Champion Levi Leutz won both 150 Mini Heats but it was Jose "Nitro" Navarrete who took the final. Madden Smith won a heat and the Main in the Pee Wees with Reed Sanchez taking the other heat. The event marked the return of racing to Perris after a three-month break in the action. There will be a further seven week before the pace of the mainly out of season track picks up in September with the patriotically themed ‘Salute to America’ Night on September 14th. AMA National Pairs Championship Heat Points: Division 2 Pairs 250 Junior 150 Mini Pee Wee
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