One of the premier events of the Speedway season is the Connor Penhall Memorial Cup and Industry Hills Speedway, in City of Industry, California, hosted the event on May 30. Connor was the son of two-time World Champion Bruce Penhall, who brought the World Speedway Championship back to America in 1981 after a nearly five-decade absence.
Story & Photos by Richard T. Haight
The Penhall Cup is the highest-payout event in the American Speedway world.
Multi-time California Champion Max Ruml has taken home the gorgeous Troy Lee-designed Penhall Memorial helmet more than a few times. On the other hand, AMA National Speedway Champion Broc Nicol has been a bridesmaid a few times when it comes to the Penhall Memorial Cup, and the saying “Always a bridesmaid, never a bride” might have been true until Saturday night at the Industry Grand track, but no longer.
Riders come from all over to try to grab the helmet, including multi-time California and National champ Billy Janniro, NorCal’s Russell Green, Wilbur Hancock (son of six-time World champ Greg Hancock), “Fast” Eddie Castro, who refuses to act his age (67), previous Penhall Cup winner Austin Novratil, and 15-year-old phenom Brady Landon, the 2025 World SGP-4 Championship winner.
But it was obvious from the start that Nicol was, to put it mildly, on a roll, putting away Janniro, Landon, Ruml, Hancock, Novratil and eventual runner-up Russell Green, all in sequence!
With a perfect 15-point maximum after the heats, only Landon could come close at 12 points, while Green and Ruml came in at 11 points apiece.
The top eight points scorers advance to the two semifinal races, with two riders advancing from each semi. No big surprise that Nicol probably had his toughest race of the night, with Green within an arm’s length behind for the entire four laps. The last semi pitted Ruml, who was having an uncharacteristic night with only two wins for the evening, against Landon, Aaron Fox and Novratil. Both Fox and Novratil managed to throw their bikes and their chances away, and after a couple of restarts, the final semi came down to a two-man run-off between Landon and Ruml, with the kid, Landon, taking the win.
The Final came down to Nicol, Green, Landon and Ruml, and it would have finished in that order, but for a last-lap pass by Ruml for third at the line, beating Landon by maybe 10 inches, if that. Nicol got the bucks, the trophy and the helmet! CN
2026 Penhall Memorial Speedway Cup Results
FINAL
- Broc Nicol
- Russell Green
- Max Ruml
- Brady Landon
