speedyguy 20 Posted November 3, 2009 On the site http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/oldtimespeedway research is taking place in regard to the 19 year old American rider Timmy Joe Sheppard's signing by Hackney in September 1975. Further comment would be welcomed in regard to the suggestion that he was not given a chance to settle down before being plunged into the Hackney side without practice less than 24 hours after arriving in the UK. WITW!! Mind the lamp post! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BOBBATH 467 Posted November 3, 2009 I saw Timmy in his one and only meeting in 1975-think it was against BV. Speedyguy you are correct in all your comments. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
speedyguy 20 Posted November 3, 2009 I saw Timmy in his one and only meeting in 1975-think it was against BV. Speedyguy you are correct in all your comments. Yes it was versus Belle Vue. He had a good chance to prove himself in one race - he was up against Peter Collins! Tired out and didn't know his home track - Timmy Joe was on a loser from the moment he went on track. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WembleyLion 416 Posted November 3, 2009 Yes it was versus Belle Vue. He had a good chance to prove himself in one race - he was up against Peter Collins! ... and the night before the World Final at Wembley in which Peter Collins also rode of course. I remember seeing Timmy that night at Hackney finishing a long way behind the others - he was not given a second chance. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cyclone 943 Posted November 3, 2009 ... and the night before the World Final at Wembley in which Peter Collins also rode of course. I remember seeing Timmy that night at Hackney finishing a long way behind the others - he was not given a second chance. I was also at that meeting. tbh he was so far off the pace that I was not surprised that he never appeared again. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RobMcCaffery 2,752 Posted November 4, 2009 I was also at that meeting. tbh he was so far off the pace that I was not surprised that he never appeared again. I was also at Waterden Road that night. It didn't help that he was given quite a bit of pre-meeting hype and I seem to remember was given the number 3 race jacket. I didn't know the back-story at the the time so it's no surprise given his lack of experience and preparation for the meeting that he was so embarrassingly out of contention. Perhaps if he hadn't been so badly dropped in the deep end the story might have had a happier conclusion. Rob McCaffery. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
speedyguy 20 Posted November 4, 2009 (edited) I was also at Waterden Road that night. It didn't help that he was given quite a bit of pre-meeting hype and I seem to remember was given the number 3 race jacket. I didn't know the back-story at the the time so it's no surprise given his lack of experience and preparation for the meeting that he was so embarrassingly out of contention. Perhaps if he hadn't been so badly dropped in the deep end the story might have had a happier conclusion. Rob McCaffery. Fronm what I have gathered so far, Timmy Joe Sheppard was essentially a flat-track rider and only had limited speedway experience. This was a a track at Lawrenceburg, Indianna, which only staged speedway as a filler event on its mainly falt-track programme. What I cannot understand is why despite his obvious failings against Belle Vue he was not given second-half rides in susbequent meetings at Hackney until his departure for home later in the month. It would seem that Hackney did not do enough invetigation into the rider before they dragged him across the Atlantic. Perhaps they thought the class at Lawrence burg as akin to that on the West Coast from where riders like Scott Autrey & Co had graduated with success to the British League scene. It would seem that after he went home, Timmy Joe created a reasonable impression in subsequent seasons on the USA's east Coast and also in Canada (where her won the 1979 Canadian Championship). At least the way he was apparently mishandled at Hackney did not sour him against speedway racing. Edited November 4, 2009 by speedyguy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cityrebel 2,960 Posted November 4, 2009 i was also at the wick that night, but to be honest i'd forgotten all about timmy joe sheppard! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bavarian 768 Posted November 5, 2009 Didn't he lose his life in a racing accident in America in the 1980's? I am not quite sure but seem to remember something like that. Perhaps anyone on here knows for sure? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chunky 6,137 Posted November 6, 2009 Didn't he lose his life in a racing accident in America in the 1980's? I am not quite sure but seem to remember something like that. Perhaps anyone on here knows for sure? Well, I know he was still alive in 2007... Steve Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
britmet 233 Posted November 6, 2009 Didn't he lose his life in a racing accident in America in the 1980's? I am not quite sure but seem to remember something like that. Perhaps anyone on here knows for sure? Checked TJS out today with respected Canadian historian D.L. :- " I recall that he was facing incarceration in the US for an auto accident but he wasn't killed in a racing accident." Re post #7, - Over the past week, whilst compiling a multi-nation table of Individual National Champs, the name of Timmy Joe Shepperd came up, being listed in one US website as Canadian Champ of 1979, which turns out to be an error in 2 respects. DL advises that it was in 1977 that he won the speedway class at the Canadian National Championships at Welland, - BUT - based on the CMA rules at that time, as a non-Canadian, he was not eligible to be Canadian Champion so, although he won the event and was awarded the #1 plate in recognition of this, the title of National Champion went to Canadian Gary Ford who was the second place finisher. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
