stephenagraham

You can call Team USA "third world", you can claim how much better Team GB is than the Yanks, you can call us cheaters and you can accuse us of gaming the rules, but it all comes off as very sour grapes. The arrogance and pretentiousness of some of the folks in this neighborhood is inelegant, at best, and embarrassing for a nation with a rich speedway history, at worst. Team USA definitely had luck on their side with a decimated Swedish squad and Team GB lacking Scott Nichols in the race-off, but that's racing. Billy Hamill didn't score any points Thursday nor did Neil Middleditch. It all came down to what happened on the track and if you think hanging the manager, a man with his own rich speedway history, is the solution, a number of you are completely deluded. You had a bad day and that sometimes happens but, to throw temper tantrums like a 5 year old, really doesn't cut it. Have more pride in your team no matter what the result, give them your full throated support and use this result as a learning experience to do better next year.

2011 FIM Speedway World Champion Greg Hancock and Billy Hamill both made the Main Event at this year's Gumball Rally. Rounding out the field were Billy Janniro, Kenny Ingalls and Gino Manzares. The Gumball Rally was held this weekend in San Bernardino, California. All proceeds from the Gumball Rally go to support American youth speedway. Billy and Christina Hamill work long and hard to put on this event, which is fast becoming the premier event of American speedway. Check the YouTube settings as this is available in 1080p HD.

It took them a few days to get it up but the webcast of the Perris 1st Division Championship is now available for viewing. A big thanks to all the people that help make the webcast possible. Here was the field: Billy Janirro Tommy Hedden Ricky Wells Ryan Fisher Mike Faria Tyson Burmeister Buck Blair Jason Ramirez Eddie Castro Steve Russell John Marquez Bryce Starks Michael Raines Austin Novratil Gino Manzares Aaron Fox R - Tyson Talkington R - Russell Green and here is the link: http://www.letsgoexpo.com/event/Display/Lectures/speedwayviewer.cfm

Sandie, the next meeting at Perris will be on January 8 and will be a day race over here. The tentative start is noon. That would be 20:00 GMT, which would work out nicely for you, and 06:00, Sunday, on the east coast of Australia. Whether it will be webcast or not hasn't been confirmed however tonight's response to the webcast was very strong and exceeded expectations, which certainly couldn't hurt the odds. As with everything speedway, it's a matter of money and sponsorship. I do have good news about tonight's meeting. It will be available, on demand, sometime tomorrow at www.speedwaywebcast.com. They have a lot of data to crunch so it may be later in the day. I firmly believe the future of speedway lies with webcasting and tonight was a very positive step forward from our corner of the world. Steve

Hi. We're going to try to webcast tonight's race from Perris Speedway in Perris, California. The track is appx. 260 yards and is the longest track we currently have in Southern California. We have a strong field that should produce some excellent racing. I know the time is bad for anyone in Europe, with the race starting at 3am, but if you're up, try to tune in. I'm not certain of the start time in Oz but I think it will be around 14:00 on the east coast. Here's the field: Billy Janirro Tommy Hedden Ricky Wells Ryan Fisher Mike Faria Tyson Burmeister Buck Blair Jason Ramirez Eddie Castro Steve Russell John Marquez Bryce Starks Michael Raines Austin Novratil Gino Manzares Aaron Fox R - Doug Nicol R - Tyson Talkington Here's the link: http://www.speedwaywebcast.com We are all hoping it works smoothly. Steve

This is a link to the speedwaybikes2 group from America. There are a couple of photo albums of the party and the meeting. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/speedwaybike...os/album/0/list

This was Billy's second to the last race. The following week he hit the wall at the exact same place and that was that for that.

I tuned in and watched the first broadcast of this series and I must admit that it certainly wasn't what was expected. I contacted the gentleman that shot the video and was informed that there was a problem converting American video standards to European video standards and that the problem was being promptly addressed. With respect to the actual racing, there are obvious differences between British racing and American racing. First, the quality over here in America is not close to the British leagues just as the British leagues are not close to the Grand Prix series, or Poland for that matter. Another difference is the track size with Costa Mesa coming in around 180 yards. Fortunately, a track of that size does provide much closer racing and many more position changes. One other thing that needs addressing is that not all of the riders at Costa Mesa were old guys with at least 2 or 3 of the participants being 16 years old. I guess all I'm trying to say is that before folks try to destroy this telecast before it ever gets off the ground, give it a couple of weeks and let the folks putting the show work out the technical bugs and see if the product improves. If you talk to anyone who has ever been to Costa Mesa and also saw the broadcast, I'm sure they will tell you that the true intimacy and essence of Costa Mesa wasn't even close to being captured. I am a speedway fan pure and simple and while I, like most people, would rather watch a good Grand Prix any day, I love speedway in any form and have seen racing ranging from an impromptu get together out in the California desert to the crowning of a couple of world champions and whatever quality it is, it sure beats the hell out of watching just about anything else on the tube.

We're still 5,000 miles away but we are definitely ready. We will be there just in time for the party on Thursday. Steve Evans may or may not be there. It all depends whether he can survive 11 hours in the air with 6 Californians. Should be interesting.

It's cool. And yes, it was definitely lost in translation :-) See ya at Brandon? We'll probably be over around Sandie the majority of the time...if she'll have us.

>>>QUOTE (Silver Bee @ Mar 2 2009, 02:08 PM) All your friends will get f***** when my friend turns up.<<< Do tell? I have always been under the impression that British speedway fans were amongst the finest and classiest in the world (that's why we've been over 3 times in 3 years) but I guess there's an exception to every rule. Personally, we intend to have a wonderful time regardless of the animosity of some towards us due solely to our nationality.

>>>bed of straw being prepared in the garden as we speak!! (May end up a bit damp though )<<< Sandie, it sounds like you are a wonderful hostess as a bed of straw sounds preferable to the rear seat of the old Volvo Merle keeps promising us :-) Cheers. Sounds like a pretty good bet to me.

No problem there...we're bringing our own weather from Southern California and are looking forward to a spectacular meeting.

We're coming over from America to see some speedway and planned on this meeting some months ago. Now that this lineup is shaping up, this is obviously going to be one of the best meetings that we attend. It will also be great to see Sam back on a speedway bike, albiet just for exhibition purposes. We planned on going to Poole last year but when we got there, the meeting was canceled for the Liverpool - AC Milan football match. Hopefully, there will be no repeat of that this year. We are really looking forward to see some serious speedway on one of the world's premier tracks.

Does anyone know where the qualifiers from Norden will be riding next? Thanks!

Does anyone know of a live audio stream for Cardiff. Over here, in America, that's the best we can hope for. P.S. If anyone from BSI or SGP is reading this... I have four words for you... pay per view webcast! If it can be done at The Grand, in Southern California, on a weekly basis for free, I'm sure you fine folks could come up with some sort of equitable solution.

Thanks. I think they were the ones I listened to last year.

I guess if I had looked a little harder, i would have found this: Badge Yesterday, 08:19 AM Post #81 Group: Members Posts: 1809 Joined: 1-January 06 From: in the white room at the crossroads Member No.: 6415 If there is anyone out there not going to Cardiff and perhaps not able to watch on Sky, BBC Radio Suffolk are broadcasting live from the stadium on 103.9fm. from 6 o/c

Xtremespeedwayaction's webcasts are back after a brief respite for the holidays. The new season kicks off with a replay of the USA v. The World match, held at Fast Fridays Speedway in Auburn, California on October 27, 2007. The World team consisted of Jason Crump, Brian Karger, Jonas Davidsson, Armando Castagna, Steve Johnston and Daniel Davidsson. Representing the USA team were Charlie Venegas, Tommy Hedden, Bobby Hedden, Buck Blair, Bart Bast, Mike Faria,and Bryan Yarrow. The webcast will air at 19:00pst on Wednesday and at 10:00pst on Saturday. That translates to 03:00 on Thursday and 18:00 on Saturday, UK time. To view the webcast, a 300kbs connection is suggested. There will be no charge to access the webcast. Simply go to http://xtremespeedwayaction.com/ and follow the appropriate link. While on the site, there are also fresh interviews with Nate Perkins, promoter of the new Avi Casino venue, Steve Evans, promoter of Victorville Speedway and Bill Amick of USA Speedway. There will be more great racing webcasts, compliments of Mark Williams, on a weekly basis. Just check the site you are reading this on for weekly details or go directly to the xtremespeedway.com website.

Bruce Flanders is our premier announcer in the world of speedway. Not an actor or speed record holder but I'm sure he is friends with Briggo. Bruce also used to ride long long ago. He is voice of the Long Beach Grand Prix, Laguna Seca, Irwindale Raceway and anywhere else there are motorsports and a microphone. There is cautious optimism regarding US speedway however the future looks quite a bit better than it did two years ago. Next year, we will have four full time tracks in California...Auburn, Costa Mesa, Industry Hills and Victorville. Our East Coast is still having a rough go of it but there are some very dedicated people back there that are pouring their hearts into it. Mix in The Dream Team and all in all, things aren't too bad.

Saturday, December 16, is youth day for American speedway. The U.S. National Under 21 Championship will be held at The Grand, at the Industry Hills Expo Center, in Industry, California. The winner will receive a spot in the World U-21 qualifying, next year, in Europe. Also being held are the California Junior Championship (under 16) and the California Pee Wee Championship (under 8). Further information about the meeting and the field can be found here: http://www.speedwaybikes.com/tracks/industryhills.htm Mark Williams will once again be providing a webcast, free of charge, to anyone in the world who would care to watch. A 250kbps connection is strongly suggested. The webcast will commence around 11:30 Pacific Standard Time (California). That translates to 19:30 London time, 0630, Sunday, Sydney time and 22:30 Baghdad time. Racing begins at 13:00, California time. Just follow this link for some speedway fun: http://xtremespeedwayaction.com/ Cheers, Steve Graham Huntington Beach, California

The crowd was unusually small but still enough to make for a successful meeting. Unfortunately, there were delays in getting the event announced and coupled with very cold and rainy weather and, as you said, Christmas right around the corner, it was quite a bit smaller than usual. There are already plans in the works to avoid that situation next year as the event will probably be held a couple of months earlier, during the regular speedway schedule. The regular season attendance at The Grand has seen a steady increase over the past two season due to an excellent promotion team and a tightly run, fast paced program. Crowds of 500-1000 are the norm for The Grand while Costa Mesa is still king with some crowds last season filling the place to capacity. Somewhere around 4000+, I believe.

A very good deal indeed! The facility itself is a premium facility with excellent seating, a roof over the arena, video replay on the scoreboard, great announcing from Bruce Flanders, free programs, excellent concessions (great Mexican food) at reasonable prices and 12oz. Heinekens and Coronas for $2. The racing certainly isn't all the way up to British standards by a longshot but 40+ heats for $10...we love it. Greg Hancock, Bobby Schwartz and John Cook all attended and Billy Hamill would have been there except for a previous commitment however the Hamills were well represented by #104, 8 year old Kurtis. It is always fun to see our youth movement on display with a full afternoon of fun and injury free racing. Here are some shots of the arena: http://www.speedwaybikes.com/tracks/industryhills.htm

That is an outstanding assessment of today's race. I would just like to add a couple of wildcards. Justin Boyle, who was seriously injured last summer at Costa Mesa, will be racing today. He won the U-21 two years ago and, depending on his racing condition, could easily win the meeting. Also, Casey Donholt, from New York, could show very well if he puts together 4 or 5 good heats. Casey's only drawback will be his unfamiliarity with the track (he has only ridden it once before) and he will not be on his own equipment. We'll be looking a good showing today from Tim and, as you said, Gary will have him all set and ready to go.

http://xtremespeedwayaction.com is pleased to announce that there will be a speedway webcast of the meeting from The Grand at Industry Hills Equestrian Center in City of Industry, California. It is a one hour presentation presented free to anyone who wants to watch. The meeting is from August 23, 2006, and will be shown over the Net on Wednesday, September 20th at 7:00pm pdt. That translates to 10pm edt, 3am Thursday, London time and noon on Thursday, Sydney time. Here is the link to the webcast: http://www.xtremespeedwayaction.com/livewebcast2006.htm There is also a link at that site for the race program for that meeting. If you don't believe that webcasts may well be the salvation and future of speedway, you must check this out. As an added bonus, you might want to go here. http://www.xtremespeedwayaction.com/usnati...tionalsmain.htm There is video of every heat from this past Saturday at The 38th United States National Championship at Costa Mesa. Where ever you are, enjoy the webcast and just imagine if this sort of thing caught on. All The Best,. Steve Graham Huntington Beach, California For all the latest in North American speedway, try this out: http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/speedwaybikes2/