Kenny Carter Book

[Guest Steve Dixon]

I can see no reason for the production of this book other than the acquisition of personal monetary profit by the author, publishers and producers

 

Ron.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I believe the proceeds of the book go to the kids? (now adults of course)

[Garforth Duke 0]

Sorry but that is complete and utter rubbish - i was a cradley fan at the 82 hammer and yes obviousley we wanted Bruce to win it and yes Kenny was the last person we wanted to win it but so what it was the golden hammer!!! - To say penhalls 2 world titles didnt do a lot for cradley or speedway shows just how little you know. Penhall did more for both cradley and speedway in general in his short time over here than Kenny or most other riders ever did. Yes we loved to give Kenny a hard time just as the halifax fans used to love to hate bruce but to suggest we were jealous of kenny is so far off the mark. Kenny was a great racer and how we could do with a bit of the Kenny / Bruce rivalry in speedway now but as the complete package he wasnt a patch on Bruce imo.

 

Incidentally the 82 hammer you refer to, the reason bruce was messing around as you put it was he was late getting to the meeting and missed his first race so that pretty much ruled him out of winning the meeting anyway then he fell in his next race chasing kenny - the reason he was late was he had been filming the superstars tv programme, just a little bit more publicity bruce got for speedway on national tv but hey he didnt do anything for speedway or cradley!!!

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Fair comments i Suppose - it's all down to opinion, although I still maintain some fans would rather have had KC on their team than against them - maybe Cradley was a bad one to choose!!! You had one or two decent riders of your own! Still, have to agree with the rivalry comment, there's nothing nowadays - everybody either gets on too well, or are too laid back to get involved.

 

As far as what Penhall did for Speedway, much of the publicity he generated in 82 was quite negative from what I can recall (White City etc) and I seem to recall Cradley fans being not overly impressed when he quit - that probably cost Cradley the league that year. Still, as with all good riders, you do remember the good times - back to what I originally said about KC.

 

Anything happening on the Cradley front of late?? What's the latest on a new track etc - is this still being pursued?

[spin king 1,923]

Bruce Penhall, did do his bit for speedway, but for me I can only remember the geezer who threw the race at White City, and the cowardly turn his back on the crowd when they let him whagt they thought of his actions.

The same guy who walk away from Cradley speedway, without a second glance to taker up a role in an American television programme.

Sorry but for me the guy was a sugary sweet I will tell you what you want hear kind of guy, bubble gum kid.

[rami 14]

We all have our opinions of Bruce just as we have Kenny but if all you can remember about Bruce Penhall is the incident in 82 at white city and him leaving cradley in the lurch then you must have had your head buried in the sand - What he did at white city was probably wrong but he only did what most people would have done in helping his countrymen i think the big mistake he made was making it so obvious maybe he should have forgotten to turn his fuel on or gone through the tapes - apparently rumour has it that the incident had quite a bearing on his descision to retire. As for leaving cradley in the lurch yes it did upset a lot of cradley fans but he gave cradley there first world champion, he led them to there first league title in 81 and he left the club in a damn site better position than it was when he arrived ( i appreciate he didnt do that alone Big Dan Mcormack was also a big factor).

 

Bruce made mistakes, Kenny made some very big ones but the fact of the matter is without any doubt speedway never recovered from the loss of either of them and how we could do with characters like them nowadays, neither of them have ever been replaced and in my opinion never will be.

[The Third Man 2,217]

what bruce did at white city has been going on in individual meetings for ever, i cant belive any supporter has not seen this done at individual meetings elsewhere, what he did was to be too honest about what he was doing, he should have had an EF at the gate then all would be OK

 

why did he quit, to become a well paid actor instead of risking his life every time he went on the track, who wouldnt have done the same if the offer had come along, not good timing i agree, but it was then or never

Edited August 6, 2007 by The Third Man

[spin king 1,923]

Like it has been said I think it was the blatant way he did it at White City, he must have known how the crowd would react to the blatant way he went about it.

[MAUGERACE 0]

As I have commented on a different thread the book in my opinion is brilliant,unputdownable,memory reviving and it is one of the few books that you could read over and over again,Kenny Carter and Bruce Penhall are two great riders that you could not talk about one without mentioning the other, they were both a great loss to speedway the only difference was that when Bruce retired he did not cause harm to anyone else when Kenny Carter finished speedway he carried out a selfish act that was the sort of thing he was renowned for on the track.

Edited August 8, 2007 by MAUGERACE

[Seb the Snail 22]

As a factual record of Carter’s career and the subsequent tragedy, I thought that the book was good, but I didn’t find the author’s style particularly inspiring. One thing that did infuriate me was the occasional use of bold text every time that he thought that he had a particularly strong point to make; call me picky, but I’m quite capable of picking these out for myself!

 

7 out of 10 but I was hoping for more.

[Rapidroscoe 25]

As a younger member of the speedway fraternity when my dad bought the book i picked it up straight away because i had heard all different types of stories about kenny carter. From the early pages i was gripped,the fact was that he had to grow up much faster than anyone could have imagined because of the tradegies that occured early in his life, this surely had an effect on the way the he thought. If parts have been omitted from the book then surely that is in respect to the families of what was an tragic event. Even after finishing the book after a week, i feel as though i would need to read it again to fully comprehend. Although in my opinion i felt that some of the comments penhall made were quite direspectful. If i had been around at the time when kenny rode im sure i would of liked him as a rider. The book has been well written and i will keep this to show my children as i feel that kenny carter will always be a part of speedway history that is talked about.

 

RIP Kenny and Pam

Edited August 23, 2007 by Rapidroscoe

[WATigerman 1]

..............when Kenny Carter finished speedway he carried out a selfish act..............

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If that isn't the biggest understatement I've ever heard I don't know what is.

[marcusthepom 7]

Was looking forward to buying this book BUT just read the review in Backtrack to which I subscribe.Its giving me second thoughts.The reviewer John Berry says that he has been fortunate enough to see what the author deems too sensitive to include,(implication being -which you folks ain't gonna see even if you purchase the book ) and also that certain comments that interviewees would rather see not published are omitted. Have never seen a review  of a biography(which is what this is)where the reviewer has essentially said its great but the author has shared stuff with me which you poor saps who buy the book ain't gonna be able to read.Well bully for John Berry but it sounds like important,relevant data has been pre censored out-although the author's research has uncovered it. So how do we know if it gives a complete and unbiased picture!! I'd like to be as fortunate as John Berry was if I'm going to buy the book!! Anyway  forumland folks  am obviously very interested to know what has been left out-also any comments from the author. Also whatever possessed Mr.Berry to tell us that interesting and relevant details have been omitted-if we aren't supposed to know why even tell us about it-surely anyone would know this would pique interest further.If you aren't going to give the complete picture why write it in the first place!! I don't want to stir up a can of worms here-but hey what's going on with this.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

read between the lines mate,you dont need to be a A1 sudent to work it out

buy the book,dont be a tight arse.its well worth the read.

the book tells it as it was,no bulls@@t,we dont need to know the full 100%.

as bruce said er well you will just have to purchase the book.

[Chris Brown 542]

As a younger member of the speedway fraternity when my dad bought the book i picked it up straight away because i had heard all different types of stories about kenny carter. From the early pages i was gripped,the fact was that he had to grow up much faster than anyone could have imagined because of the tradegies that occured early in his life, this surely had an effect on the way the he thought. If parts have been omitted from the book then surely that is in respect to the families of what was an tragic event. Even after finishing the book after a week, i feel as though i would need to read it again to fully comprehend. Although in my opinion i felt that some of the comments penhall made were quite direspectful. If i had been around at the time when kenny rode im sure i would of liked him as a rider. The book has been well written and i will keep this to show my children as i feel that kenny carter will always be a part of speedway history that is talked about.

 

RIP Kenny and Pam

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I really started following speedway in 1984 but only really took much notice of the characters the year after. Therefore I really had prior knowledge of Kenny Carter.

 

Given those circumstances I found the book fascinating. There are lots and lots of things about Kenny that were clearly very wrong but his love and passion for riding for his nation is something some of the riders of today could probably learn from.

[saluki 0]

As a true motorcycle racing & speedway fan since I was a kid (in the 60's) both owning & racing motorcycles I have seen the greats in both sports (Hailwood,Sheene etc in Road Racing) & (Mauger,Olsen etc in Speedway).I'm from Manchester so my local track in the late 70's & 80's was of course Hyde Road,Belle Vue.

I used to love to see Collins,Morton every week on that magnificent track.

I remember seeing Kenny Carter for the first time & just being totally amazed at his riding ability.

Both me & my Dad used to ride over to the Shay,Halifax to see 'The cyclone kid from down the road' as the announcer called him.

Watching Kenny gave us so much pleasure.

When the terrible tradgedy happened in May 1986 I stopped going to speedway & did not go to the meetings again until 2004 to Kirkanshulme Lane, Belle Vue.

I recently bought & read the Kenny Carter book & think that it is a must read book for anyone who either saw him race or has heard about him.

I won't go into the rights & wrongs of Kenny's life despite the fact that I cannot comprehend how anybody can orphan both of their children in one foul swoop.

All I can say is that whether or not Kenny was the best rider in the world in his era NOBODY made you feel the way he did when you saw him ride,such was the excitement that he generated.His vunerability drew you to him.

There will never be another Kenny.

Such was the effect of reading about him after all these years that I drove over to Bradshaw (where Kenny & Pam lived) to see Grey Horse Farm where he lived & the terrible tragedy happened & stopped on the way back at Pam's & his grave at St John's Church.

Maybe it was my way of coming to terms with what happened in May 1986.

Apologies if I've gone on but such was the impact of reading the book having seen Kenny ride so many times.

Speedway goes on of course & I am a staunch supporter of Belle Vue despite our terrible current season.

I do of course always keep an eye out in the second half of the meeting when the juniors come out for a blast just to see if there is another little Kenny riding.

You can but hope!

PS. We should all keep shouting for Scott Nicholls & Chris 'Bomber' Harris as they are doing us proud & riding their hearts out in the GP's.

 

Cheers

[Guest Simpson Bandit]

Kenny Carter, maybe the best speedway rider the sport has ever seen............

 

In the same way that James Dean was maybe the best actor, Marilyn Monroe was maybe the best actress, Jimi Hendrix was maybe the best guitarist, Jon Bonham was maybe the best drummer, John Lennon was maybe the best songwriter, and it goes on and on and on...................

 

What they all have in common is that they never fulfilled their potential, and are only really remembered because they died too young.

 

Was Carter that good?

 

The statistics say he wasn't.

 

Whatever, the book is probably a good read, and it annoys me that so many people judge him for what he did in the end, the final act took far more courage than what he did on the track.

[sandman 0]

excuse me but.....the final act took far more courage than what he did on the track?