SteveEvans

Seeing as all 16 riders in the field will be British there is thankfully less reason than ever to support the self opinionated one!

No Tai and no David Howe and no valid season tickets (plus meeting on Sky) will kill the crowd for the final in my opinion. I am all for the new system of having to qualify and much like the old World Final system you expect a couple of upsets along the way. The upsets we have had are just bad news for the BSPA and Wolves in filling the stadium. This will most likely mean we get this system cancelled for 2011 which is a shame. The fairest thing would be to run the remaining 8 heats but the bspa won't do that I'm sure due to costs.

The rules state Gino could not ride so it was major error on the result of the team manager. No way should USA give up its spot - we came third plus with the likes of Kerr and Ingalls we are a nation on the rise, a slow rise albeit. Greg is at the end of his career and the likes of Kerr, Fisher and Ingalls can form the nucleus of the side for the next 10 years. There is more of the same where Ingalls came from and plenty of talent that hasn't even made the Dream Team yet. Aside from heat 1 we did havea rider in every heat as each team member took a joker = 6 rides. Yes, the AMA needs to take this more seriously and now is the time as qualifying is a possibility. Seeing as I personally know most of the board members this is going to be addressed. As far as Scotland taking our spot - as ineligble as Gino was due to their being no Scottish federation. Scottish riders would have to be good enough for Team GB. There is nothing however stopping a Scotland team putting on some challenge meetings versus say, Team USA. Now there's a thought...

Best of 5 series?

One thing I would say is the four riders we had did an amazing job - I would have loved to have been there lending support and not just to annoy Sandie. The positive side is that Kerr and Ingalls are for sure on the up. Tommy did not have the luxury of European meetings as Kenny did but it was good to see him put some points on the board. For those who say that the USA is not a top 8 nation I would disagree. If we fielded our best team, which in my opinion would a squad of Greg, Billy J, Fish, KerrKat, Ricky and Kenny, we would have been easy winners. It is a matter of better organization and planning on this side of the pond to track that team so that we can reclaim our rightful place in the top 8. Despite it all, you can see how the American spirit touches the heart of the British fan with the likes of Sandie and a few others travelling all that way to support a country which isn't their own. Well done to the brave 4!

There is no $500 per event AMA Sanction fee -its about $50 if I recall. The team manager does not have to be a promoter (it was Richard Child before). I can't speak for other promoters but I have met with USA Speedway (the AMA appointed body to run speedway) many times. The main reason I don't use them is that their insurance policy does not cover what I run at my tracks as I run speedway and mini sprints and AMA only covers bikes / sidecars. This is why I stopped using AMA back in 2007 though it should also be noted that AMA insurance has since doubled in cost whereas the compnay I now use is half of what I paid with AMA. Note that there are 9 board members of USA Speedway. Dave is thhe only promoter on the board and the chairman. Billy Hamill is one of the other eight. American Speedway has its problems but I talk to lots of British promoters and our scene is no more chaotic than anywhere else. For me - I have no pool of money, no sugar daddy just a pure grass roots effort with lots of help that gets the job done to some degree. Also my sole reason for doing the DT is so that one day we are back as a top 6 Nation. We have a long way to go but the progress we make is rewarding all the same.

They provided very strong opposition for the American Dream Team and are a great bunch of riders. Kelvin and Sarah put a lot into this and are great people too. Good luck on the tour!

http://www.justin.tv/speedwayracingtv At 2am LIVE Uk time Sunday 14th February and replayed on a loop throughout the day, American style Speedway hits the Mojave Crossing Event Center in Laughlin, Arizona. Starring 2009 EL Champ Chris Kerr, Billy Janniro, Shawn McConnell, Bobby Schwartz, Mike Faria, Gary Hicks and Dream Teamers Eddie Castro, Tyson Burmeister, Gino Manzares, Jason Ramirez, Neil Facchini, Tim Gomez, Josh Abbott, Austin Novratil, Tommy Hedden. Michael Hull, Buck Blair. FREE webcast!

The race will be rebroadcast on a loop once it is edited. The bandwidth at the arena meant we had to use a back up system rather than the three camera production.

Race is just over 4 hours away!! Tune in!

Gino's a very popular boy it seems anywhere from Birmingham to Los Angeles, Mildura to Eskilstuna.

The fact that 3 countries host 7 GP's between them shows that the series has not had the huge growth expected or succeeded outside of Europe.

Thanks. It's real speedway! 40 heats, 60+ riders in 7 classes including Junior, pee wee and Sidecar. It should be cool!

Great move I think! With just 16 league fixtures and 1 cup guarenteed there is room on the fixture list, plus doing it early will get some good continental riders over who don't have league racing till April.

A good speedway match is about two evenly matched teams whether it be Wolves Vs Swindon, Birmingham Vs Rye House, Weymouth Plymouth, etc. As long as the opponents are of a similar level I think Scottish internationals would be a roaring success.

I am looking to promote a series of races (USA Vs Europe) at my tracks in California in November and want to hear from any interested riders. It will be a 5 event series staged over 2-3 weekend. It is still nice weather over here at that time of year, though they are out of season races and the crowds reflect this, being at the level of a National League meet in the UK. Though it certainly isn't going to be a money spinner for the riders, it does give very valuable experince, learning close racing & throttle control on the 1/8 mile race circuits. It is also a great chance to see America as we have Hollywood, Vegas, Disneyland, beaches, movie studios, Pro basketball, hockey and football all in season and within a short commute. It will be on a similar basis to the American Dream Team tours but in reverse. We can provide accomodations and a mechanic if needed. Please pm me via the forum if you are interested.

I doubt we'd see Scotland in the SWC but no reason why the team listed couldn't do some challenge test matches - heck I'd love to bring a USA side consisting of Fisher, Wells, Kerr, Werner, Fishback, Ingalls a+nd Gomez to do a 3 matc contest one weekend!

He earned the spot and so deserves to be in. I doubt he'll stay more than a year but his qualifcation is the cinderella story we used to get regularly in the good old days of a world final. Go break some hearts Zorro!

...and not just you and Silver Bee at Scunthorpe training schools either! Rachelle was a tidy rider when she was on the track. She did great in 2nd division (intermediate level) in the USA, though i think the girls find the bumping and banging of 1st division a little too rough. Another awesome female rider was Krystal Cramer who was twice Under 16 National Championship runner up behind Ricky Wells (meaning she beat 14 boys). Krystal sadly never moved up to a 500 but instead races mini sprint cars. A few years back I was working with Jon Cook to bring Krystal and Rachelle over for the Brighton Bonanza to race two British females (Jessica Lamb and one other) in a transatlantic challenge half time show, but Jon moved to Lakeside and stopped doing Brighton so we never pulled it off. Both Rachelle and Krystal are a marketing dream (good looking female racers) and its a shame they are not racing speedway as it would certainly increase the attendence wherever they race. Those who follow Indycar will know how Danica Patrick in 2005 almost brought the sport back from the dead - hot 23 year old babe racing at 230mph raised interest for some odd reason, especially as she could race for real. In fact when I went to Indycar practice at Fontana in 2005 there was a driver autograph session I was lucky enough to attend. All the top drivers were there, each had there own line - Danica had 80% of the fans in her line, and yes, I was in it (still have the photo and the signed hat, thank you!). Rachelle told me a little while back she misses racing and might give it a go again one day - I'll keep you all posted! Krystal Cramer http://www.freewebs.com/girlmoto/krystalcramer.htm

The ELRC has lost it's value with rider withdrawals - the idea of including non league riders will certainly add appeal to get fans in to watch if indeed we attract some big name GP riders. I guess the date of the event and the amount of money on the table will ultimately determine who is in it. In principle a decent idea, I hope they pull it off and it doesn't backfire if they can't get a line up to do it justice. One idea that would boost the crowd would be to let non league riders wear a race jacket of a defunct team they have ridden for in the past - give Hancock a Cradley bib, Crump an Oxford, Zagar (if not in EL) a Reading and you would certainly be adding rather than subtracting fans.

I read on Autosport.com that the Britsh F1 GP will be 9-11 July next year, the same weekend as the Cradiff Speedway GP. In past years I have enjoyed these races being on back to back weekends as it makes the long trip from California worthwhile. I know these are seperate sports with seperate governing bodies but there is some crossover of fan base. When I would go to Silverstone part of the charm was camping out all weekend and the jolly. I'm sure there are hundreds or more fans who would do both who now have to make a choice...

I actually think this result pretty much gives Freddie & Chris a GP spot. Reason? The organizers won't run the series without a full time Brit, and they will look for any plausible reason to make it happen. They won't want their jewel in the crown Cardiff round without a full time Brit. They can't justify Nicholls as he has been clear 15th all year. They can't justify Tai as he got eliminated too early. They can't justify Richardson as he didn't even do the qualifers. They can't justify Harris on GP form, but they could if they 'put the top 5 from the GP challenge in.' Holder, as expected, earned his spot. Hampel is no surprise. Zorro is a major shock, and though he is not my favorite rider by any means, the old romantic in me loves the fact that, just like the old world final days, there is a shock qualifier for the series. Reminds me of the likes of Rick Miller making a World Final when you could never say he was a top 16 rider, but like Zorro, no one can say he didn't rightfully earn his place. I don't think the organizrs will have a problem with 3 Swedes - there are 3 Dane's and 4 Poles right now. It's not like Zorro will be in for more than one year. I would expect, on tonights result, the bottom 3 excluding Harris to lose their GP spots in 2010 and the rest will be joined by tonights top 3. Chris Harris, IMO will be saved by the fact the series needs a Brit and right now there is no way you can explain any other Brit being in.

I think we need to go back to the old GP challenge system - seeding riders is wrong for a world championship, the only justifcation would be if a genuine top 8 rider is injured and misses the cut. I would suggest; Top 8 automatically requalify Bottom 7 plus 9 from qualifying rounds contest a GP challenge for last 7 spots. It stops the closed shop GP system, gives you 15 riders who deserve to be there and prevents the ludicrous situation of riders in the series fdoing the qualifiers. If the series is devoid of any Brits they still have a Cardiff wild cards and the chance to re-qualify next year.

You have 3 tracks in the area Rach - go to www.speedwaybikes.com or www.jbrspeedway.com We have 8 tracks in California, so be sure to come out West too! PM me if you need more info.

Race report from Ryan Evans Defending National Champion Billy “The Kid” Janniro captured the Spring Classic main event for the second consecutive meeting with another splendid performance at Wheel2Wheel Raceway in Victorville. Janniro had the first choice of starting position for the main event and he decided to pick gate four. 2007 Victorville Track Champion Buck Blair picked gate three. “Fast” Eddie Castro chose gate one which left Jason Ramirez with gate two. Janniro exploded off the line and immediately went to the outside in turn one while Ramirez stayed low and held onto second as they exited turn two. Blair tried to follow Janniro’s outside path on the back straight but Ramirez wisely pinched the line and Blair lost momentum entering turn three. Janniro had a big lead after one lap, but the battle for second was just heating up. Blair went to the outside again and remained there throughout the second lap. The Colorado native mustered enough speed at the end of lap two that he dropped down in front of the 2007 Youth National Champion with inches to spare as they entered turn one. Ramirez tried to get the position back but Blair held him at bay. Meanwhile, Janniro was long gone and cruised to the victory. Blair finished second, Ramirez was third, and Castro finished fourth. The first heat required two restarts as the riders struggled with the tricky track conditions. Tyson Burmeister won the third attempt to complete race one ahead of Ramirez. John Marquez withdrew from the meeting due to lingering effects from a crash. Janniro began his evening with a runaway victory in the second heat. Blair closed out the first round with his first win. The earned-handicap rounds began with Castro starting in the front and running away with a win. Perkins was leading the next heat with Janniro in pursuit when Ramirez went down in turn four. The red flag came out for the fallen rider with Perkins still leading. The referee declared the race to be complete and awarded the victory to Perkins, subsequently handing Janniro his first defeat of the season. Burmeister ended the round by coming from the back for his second win in a row. Blair started the final round with his second victory of the evening. Ramirez led the next race from start to finish with Perkins getting second. Janniro had nobody starting in front of him in the final heat and scored a runaway win to close out the heats. Jon Stasiefski defeated Billy Lyons in a runoff for the final spot in the semis. The first semi started with Janniro jumping into the lead ahead of Perkins. Janniro left little doubt as to the victor would be, but Castro made a fantastic outside pass on Perkins to take second and the transfer to the main. Blair and Ramirez ran one-two in the second semi to complete the main event field. Josh Abbott won his heat, his semi, and completed his perfect evening with a victory in the Support Main Event. Abbott, whose father is a former First Division racer, led all four laps to win the main in his first ever meeting in Victorville. Drew Coates finished second, Bubba Vazanna was third, Rick Fehrman finished fourth, Brad Moreau was fifth, and Rick Fritch finished sixth. Rocco Scopellite had a perfect evening with three wins, including a victory in the Youth Main Event. Maxwell Ruml finished second and Erika Lyons was third. Erika Lyons came from the back to narrowly defeat Summer Fehrman in the Pee Wee Main Event. Sahara McGuire finished third and Dakota Shockley was fourth. The next event at Wheel2Wheel Raceway is the Holeshot Challenge on Saturday, April 18. RESULTS Pee Wee Main Event 77 - Erika Lyons 8 - Summer Fehrman Sahara McGuire 34 - Dakota Shockley Youth Main Event 9 - Rocco Scopellite 356 - Maxwell Ruml 77 - Erika Lyons 22 - Samuel Ramirez (non starter) Support Consolation 157 - Tony DeAlmeida 10 266 - Jonni Jade 30 231 - Gene Stone 10 124 - Paul Thornton 10 223n - Michelle Fehrman 10 186 - Tim McGrath 20 (non starter) Support Main Event 141 - Josh Abbott 10 195 - Drew Coates 30 274 - Bubba Vazanna 20 240n - Rick Fehrman 30 153 - Brad Moreau 30 288 - Rick Fritch 30 First Division Scoring 1 2 3 T 1 – Billy Janniro 3 2 3 8 8j – Austin Novratil 2 2 1 5 13 – Nate Perkins 1 3 2 6 14 – Eddie Castro 1 3 2 6 32 – Billy Lyons 2 1 1 4 39 – Buck Blair 3 1 3 7 41 – John Marquez 0 N N 0 66 – Jason Ramirez 2 F 3 5 110 – Jon Stasiefski 1 2 1 4 177 – Steve Bowen 0 1 0 1 184 – Tyson Burmeister 3 3 2 8 Race Results 5: (restarted twice) Burmeister, Ramirez, Castro, Marquez (penalty line) 6: Janniro, Lyons, Stasiefski 7: Blair, Novratil, Perkins, Bowen 13: Castro [10], Novratil [20], Lyons [20], Marquez [0] (non starter) 14: (awarded) Perkins [10], Janniro [30], Bowen [0], Ramirez [20] (fell) 15: Burmeister [30], Stasiefski [10], Blair [30] (retired) 20: Blair [10], Burmeister [30], Lyons [10] 21: Ramirez [0], Perkins [30], Stasiefski [20], Bowen [10] 22: Janniro [20], Castro [30], Novratil [20] Runoff: Stasiefski, Lyons Semi #1: Janniro, Castro, Perkins, Stasiefski Semi #2: Blair, Ramirez, Novratil, Burmeister (retired) First Division C Main 32 - Billy Lyons 177 - Steve Bowen First Division Consolation 13 - Nate Perkins 8j - Austin Novratil 110 - Jon Stasiefski 184 - Tyson Burmeister First Division Main Event 1 - Billy Janniro 39 - Buck Blair 66 - Jason Ramirez 14 - Eddie Castro