Chris116

I totally agree with you that a event held 60 years ago does not prove that it would not work now. Having followed both Speedway and Stock Cars for 60 years I have found there are very few people who are interested in both sports and most are very much against the sport they don't follow. Sadly I do not think mixing them on the same programme will work as many regular supporters would stay away as they don't want to pay for half a meeting they are not interested in and the families that might be attracted will not make up the loss of regulars! This discussion started with comments about Basketball, a sport I also enjoy and in the days of the Embassy All Stars used to watch a lot. I agree that the razzmatazz is good but sadly most only works indoors and most stadiums I have visited the sound system is so bad that they can't even get the music and presenters at a similar volume. Most of the time the speech alternates between deafening and so quiet that you can't hear the result! The music is just loud and the problem is that what one age group like others hate. Having being the commentator at hundreds of meetings I found that whatever music was played the only comments I got was how it was the wrong era. This was having played a mixture of top sounds from the previous 30 years to try and keep everyone happy.

Back in 1959 Harringay ran a Cavalcade of Speed which my parents took their young son to. It featured Greyhounds, Trotting, Stock Cars and Speedway. We all enjoyed the event but with only a Speedway type fence the Stock Car drivers were under strict instructions not to go near the fence or to push any other car into it! Apart from the cars all the racing appeared to be genuine but the followers of each sport did not appear to be interested in the others and my father years later said that it had not done the intended job of bringing new members of the public into the stadium. In the 1980's Arena Essex held an important Speedway meeting and with no safety fence at the time it was possible to run two Hot Rod races as pre meeting entertainment. They were two good races which I did the commentary for. But most of the Speedway fans spent much of the meeting complaining about having cars at "their" meeting. I know such mixes work in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa but many oval race fans are very limited in this country as to what they will watch, even to the point of some BriSCA Formula One Stock Car supporters at Long Eaton used to turn their chairs around so they had their backs to the track when any other class was racing. I know all this is negative but it does show that in the past some promoters did try but the paying public were not interested. I wish I could go to five or six tracks in the London area to watch two, three and four wheel motor sport but all the stadia have been pulled down so I console myself with the knowledge that at least I saw it in my younger days.

I used to think that was great until I got to my 60th birthday and can now do it for free!

Would never make it as an MP, answering a question is against their way of life.

Or George Beech for Wembley Lions! Or the great referee, Ernie Leecock, who would have a nervous breakdown at what goes on these days on a Hockey Rink.

So now we have three clubs (Isle of Wight, Glasgow and Eastbourne) trying to do the right thing which is very good news but seems the BSPA still have their heads in the sand and many promotions would stab each other in the back before they joined in trying to promote the sport.

So Glasgow and Isle of Wight are on the path to improving and one of them finds they are throwing good money away. A very sad indictment of where the sport has found itself. Ronnie Green, Johnny Hoskins and Charles Ochiltree must be spinning in their graves.

The only promotion to be doing anything close is Isle of Wight and look how they are going in the right direction. Sadly the only club in UK Speedway who have the right idea.

Yes, that is possible meaning he can do the Belle Vue meetings but not Championship meetings.

Appears that his mechanic only works two days a week!

BSPA fixture list says 19.30 but Redcar website fixture list says 15.00 Based on who is running the meeting and the ability of the BSPA to get anything right I would say 15.00 is the right time!

The cars Hans Kirimar designed are called "Rebels" and they race on both shale and tarmac tracks around the country. Their 2019 fixture list has 23 dates including dates at Stoke and Mildenhall. The Rebels would never have been run on a track bigger than a quarter of a mile as with 750cc Reliant engines they would run out of revs long before the end of the straights. They are a contact class which are probably more fun to drive than watch although I have seen some very good races from them.

The BSPA only use the bond to pay standard rates. If riders had a contract that paid them more then they have to sue the Rye House promotion and a major part of that was recently made bankrupt! The situation appears to be that the riders have been paid at standard rate but therefore still feel they are owed money.

I am pleased to say I saw racing at all of your ten and wish I had got to The Firs for both Speedway and Stock Cars!

ADD Wimbledon, Wembley, Hackney, Crayford, West Ham, Romford, Rye House, Harringay, Leicester Super, Belle Vue, Cradley Heath, oh dear, I seem to have gone over ten, better make it 50 for safety! I saw racing at those mentioned except Leicester Super and although I prefer smaller tracks it has always interested me what racing there would have been like.

The carpet has a slight ridge which is disappearing slowly!

There are many who would fear a 21st century Mike Parker in both Speedway and Stock Cars. I for one prey that Buster is not a second coming of Parker.

The reference to "dual owned" is to Buster owning more than one club (Kings Lynn, Ipswich and Peterborough) not that he is in partnership with another person.

A second Mike Parker, I fear!

First chance for Eagles fans to see Ed Kennett in action at Arlington will be on Saturday 26th January when he is racing in the Bangers Champion of Champions event. Wish he would build a Superstox or 1300cc Stock Car as he was always good in the Rookie Rods when he raced them and has proved how good he is in contact racing over the years in the Bangers.

I agree that those in the know can find the website of any club very easily without going through the BSPA website. The problem is that someone who wants to find out about the sport and thinks there may be a team near them in either Eastbourne or Birmingham could look at the list of teams in each league on the BSPA website and conclude that the club had closed down. Having done that they could then meet up with friends at a pub and mention that they had been thinking of going to a Speedway meeting after seeing how good it was on TV but sadly the local track has closed and we now have even more people who think the sport is finished. The BSPA website should in my opinion have both Eastbourne and Birmingham links with a note that they are planning to move up from the National league to the Championship but that the move cannot be confirmed until all the paperwork is finished. That way the BSPA are promoting the sport not making potential new fans think that clubs have closed. Yes, I know if you check the stories you would find the details but the potential new fan is unlikely to dig very deep if it appears the track they might visit has closed.

I fully accept that teams have to meet the requirements of the league but removing all mention of the club Websites strikes me as counter productive to promoting the sport. I do not have a problem with some heading saying that the team have not yet completed all the formalities of moving up from the National league.

Don't worry about the red ink! I can understand the BSPA having a note against the two teams saying they have not completed the entry requirements but removing all links to both clubs seems rather harsh. How come Peterborough and Ipswich are not having to jump through hoops?

Not only do any news items on the BSPA website have the disclaimer but it is not possible to get to the club website as Eastbourne and Birmingham don't exist according to the list of teams in the league. If I was of a suspicious nature I would be thinking that someone wanted to sabotage their entries and if I was in charge at either club I would tell the BSPA that either the links are restored or I would be moving back to the National League which might ruffle a few feathers that need ruffling big time. The fact that both teams who moved from Championship to Premiership appeared immediately makes you wonder how they got accepted so quickly! Does the BSPA want to make Speedway grow or are they determined to ruin the sport?

Not only do any news items on the BSPA website have the disclaimer but it is not possible to get to the club website as Eastbourne and Birmingham don't exist according to the list of teams in the league. If I was of a suspicious nature I would be thinking that someone wanted to sabotage their entries and if I was in charge at either club I would tell the BSPA that either the links are restored or I would be moving back to the National League which might ruffle a few feathers that need ruffling big time. The fact that both teams who moved from Championship to Premiership appeared immediately makes you wonder how they got accepted so quickly! Does the BSPA want to make Speedway grow or are they determined to ruin the sport?