Americans In British Speedway (1970-90)

[spin king 1,925]

Shawn Moran

 

Kelly Moran

 

Sam Ermolenko

[slickmick 11]

Brad Oxley ; sadly never a titan except in height. But Dons fans loved him.

 

John(cowboy) Cook; Looking over his shoulder, under his legs everywhere except where he was going, but strangely it worked for him.

 

Bruce Penhall; also my most hated american, but grudgingly you had to admire his skill and professionalism, even if you hated his effectiveness in winning.

[sandman 0]

1 Bruce Penhall

2 Shawn Moran

3 Kelly Moran

 

so many other good ones.. Steve Gresham, Dennis sigalos, et al. But those 3 are my vote.

if it was any other country, Ivan Mauger, Ronnie Moore, Tommy Jansson, & Ole Olsen & P.C.

Edited June 12, 2009 by sandman

[star ghost 7]

I think Star Ghost is refring to the incident where Dukie went through the fence at Kings Lynn. He never really recovered from that, up until then he had been reasonably successful for the Stars,(could have been Knights at this time). He was very popular with the fans, my two sons were very young at the time, and he was very approachable and polite with them and many others.

Yes, that was the incident. Charles Ermolenko was a very popular bloke at Kings Lynn at the time and always found time to speak to anyone who was around and he was getting there as they said at the time, but then Kings Lynn were unfashionable so that did not matter to most

 

[martinmauger 584]

Kelly Moran

 

Dennis Sigalos

 

Shawn Moran....

[Vincent Vega 135]

Siggy

Shawn Moran

Josh Larsen

[Rotskiracing 0]

Bruce Penhall

 

Rick Miller

 

Dennis Sigalos

[paulboy 169]

1 Scott Autrey

2 Ron Preston

3 Sam Ermolenko

[TonyMac 720]

Thanks for all your responses so far, even if the likes of Dukie Ermolenko and Billy Janeiro don't meet the Backtrack 1970-90 time criterion.

 

As suspected, geography is having a clear bearing in the choices of many, although there is evidence of impartiality too. The many and varied names thrown up probably just goes to prove what an entertaining and popular bunch the Americans were as a whole.

 

I'm surprised Penhall hasn't polled more votes. Strange that people appear to be holding the 1982 Overseas Final episode against him. He only did what many riders from other countries (inc GB) had done for many years...assisting fellow countrymen in a vital World Championship qualifer. OK, so he didn't make a good job of disguising it, but at least he didn't try to mislead the public who eventually turned against him.

 

Perhaps many resented him for walking away from speedway when he did?

 

 

[Canadian Star 6]

My apologies Tony, in my haste to post i forgot that it was 1970 to 1990, thus excluding Dukie Ermolenko.

I think your argument around Bruce Penhall is very reasoned.

I don't think any of us could deny that he was a very skillful rider, i reckon he was better than Hancock, Hamill and Sam Ermolenko,who probably would have won more World Title's but for some unfortunate injuries.

I think Bruce suffered from the British disease of building people up only to knock them down, in the United States they love winners, and so from there prospective, it's very hard to understand why Bruce got such a rough ride from the public and the press over here.

Ivan Mauger endured such a relationship, very unfairly for many years, although i believe he is now appreciated for the true talents that he possesed.

I think also in Ivan's case, many people during his riding career, were not as aware as they now are, of the great struggle financially and emotionally that Ivan had to endure, before later achieving all that he did to become perhaps the greatest of all time.

Bruce of course came from a privileged background, although many people were not aware at the time that he had sadly lost his parents in a plane crash.

So he became in some peoples opinions, this spoilt brat who didn't need the money, wins the world title twice, walks away from Cradley just as the League title is about to be decided, (can't remember if they still won or not), and then of course there was the infamous incident at White City.

I think most people, given the passage of time, now appreciate what a great rider Bruce was and can perhaps understand why he did some of the things he did.

Bruce cared about American Speedway, and wanted to see as many American riders make the final, as possible, all of which would help make the meeting a success and improve the future prospects of the sport in his home country.

As for the acting career, well there is only a limited amount of time in which an attractive young man can hope to acquire some of the opportunities that came Bruce's way. Bruce decided to grab what was on offer with both hands, i think partly because he really had achieved everything that was available to him within the sport, he didn't need the money, and perhaps the delights of California were a little more enticing than Dudley Wood on a cold dark Autumn evening. Who could blame him for that ?

 

Very sad to learn of the Moran Brothers, arguably the most talented of the whole group, struggling with there health and perhaps living out there lives in perhaps more modest surroundings, there abilities and the huge pleasure they gave us all, deserved a much kinder outcome.

[TonyMac 720]

My apologies Tony, in my haste to post i forgot that it was 1970 to 1990, thus excluding Dukie Ermolenko.

I think your argument around Bruce Penhall is very reasoned.

I don't think any of us could deny that he was a very skillful rider, i reckon he was better than Hancock, Hamill and Sam Ermolenko,who probably would have won more World Title's but for some unfortunate injuries.

I think Bruce suffered from the British disease of building people up only to knock them down, in the United States they love winners, and so from there prospective, it's very hard to understand why Bruce got such a rough ride from the public and the press over here.

Ivan Mauger endured such a relationship, very unfairly for many years, although i believe he is now appreciated for the true talents that he possesed.

I think also in Ivan's case, many people during his riding career, were not as aware as they now are, of the great struggle financially and emotionally that Ivan had to endure, before later achieving all that he did to become perhaps the greatest of all time.

Bruce of course came from a privileged background, although many people were not aware at the time that he had sadly lost his parents in a plane crash.

So he became in some peoples opinions, this spoilt brat who didn't need the money, wins the world title twice, walks away from Cradley just as the League title is about to be decided, (can't remember if they still won or not), and then of course there was the infamous incident at White City.

I think most people, given the passage of time, now appreciate what a great rider Bruce was and can perhaps understand why he did some of the things he did.

Bruce cared about American Speedway, and wanted to see as many American riders make the final, as possible, all of which would help make the meeting a success and improve the future prospects of the sport in his home country.

As for the acting career, well there is only a limited amount of time in which an attractive young man can hope to acquire some of the opportunities that came Bruce's way. Bruce decided to grab what was on offer with both hands, i think partly because he really had achieved everything that was available to him within the sport, he didn't need the money, and perhaps the delights of California were a little more enticing than Dudley Wood on a cold dark Autumn evening. Who could blame him for that ?

 

Very sad to learn of the Moran Brothers, arguably the most talented of the whole group, struggling with there health and perhaps living out there lives in perhaps more modest surroundings, there abilities and the huge pleasure they gave us all, deserved a much kinder outcome.

 

Agree with everything you've said there.

 

[frenchy 0]

Agree with what Canadian Star has posted. The thing is I used to boo both Penhall and Mauger simply because they didn't ride for my team and they were just soooo good that you knew that barring ef's that your team wasn't going to get near them !! It was really more of a complement than anything (and I read somewhere that Ivan said that it used to spur him on, doh !).

 

I've posted my rider nominations already but could I put a mention forward for DeWayne Keeter (I'm hoping that I remebered correctly and that he's a yank) - as far as I recall he only did one season here but the one he did he was a full time member of the Leicester team that went through the entire season using the same 7 riders (in League matches at least) ? The only thing is that was in 1969 and a year too early !!!

[TonyMac 720]

I've posted my rider nominations already but could I put a mention forward for DeWayne Keeter (I'm hoping that I remebered correctly and that he's a yank) - as far as I recall he only did one season here but the one he did he was a full time member of the Leicester team that went through the entire season using the same 7 riders (in League matches at least) ? The only thing is that was in 1969 and a year too early !!!

True about DWK arriving in 1969, but we're still going to credit him in print with having led the 'modern' USA revolution in British speedway.

 

[shaleslider 1]

Shawn "mad dog" McConnell

Rob "5 flavours" Pfetzing

John "cowboy" Cook

 

 

All genuine guys that would talk to anyone - even fans

[kaiser 3]

The Americans were some of the most entertaining and colourful riders of the 80s, something thats sadly missing in the current climate. Anyway heres my top three.

 

1. Shawn Moran my all time hero, quite simply awesome, the mirracle man.

2. Dennis Sigalos, probably would have won a world final, if not for an early career injury.

3. Mike Faria, only rode one full season in the BL, but he was great for BV in 88.(could do with a few loke him now!!!)