sandman

speaking of the can of energy drink. nascar drivers have gotten ridiculous. a couple of weeks ago every driver would drink out of a can of coke zero whilst being interviewed, like that was gonna make me run to the store and stock up on that hideous drink because the drivers were drinking it. nascar has become one big infomercial as of late and they better respect the fans intelligence a bit more than they do otherwise they will see through it. i can see greg pushing his sponsors as speedway riders need all the sponsorship they can get to off set expenses but i find it ridiculous that multi millionaire drivers would do that for an extra few hundred bucks and look phoney doin it. the best was as i previously mentioned when juan pablo, sponsored by big red gum loadin up his mouth with big red while bein interviewed and smakin away whilst talkin. i guess some idiots ran to the store durin the caution and stocked up? anyway, in speedway i dont have a problem with it. with what these fellas make in the gp's it would be very easy to end up on the poverty line.

i do think it is a shame when television covers an event it is a great chance for the sport to shine to a world wide audience, and time and time again over the years it is the same old story. it isnt all Olsens fault, he is probably making the tracks the way riders want them. anytime you get a good amount of dirt you usually get a great meeting and still have people complaining about holes ruts etc. make no mistake, Olsen in his day liked slick tracks but could ride deep and or rough tracks. its just that television coverage is so important to the life of speedway, and last year at cardiff was a good example of how this sport deservedly should come across to a wide audience. it shows the sport as it deserves to be shown. it is a sport that IS the final last year at cardiff, and not a drag race to the first corner. i know it is tough to put on a consistent series, and i am one who doesnt place the blame only at Olsens feet. the riders should demand better, if they did the viewer and ticket paying customer would get a better product. these are the best speedway racers in the world and they can or should be able to race on any surface within reason. the sport will die out completely unless something is done. if it is gonna be a waste to watch on tv it surely isnt going to be any better in person.

i believe he was South African, thats all i think i know. could have been rhodesian/zimbabwean. i thought his last name was olivier, but yer prob. right on spelling.

i stand corrected.. but ya need to up yer appearance fee if that is the case. and.. all those comments i made about french peoples i didnt really mean. it was the drink that made me do it. personally, i could watch longtrack all day every day. it is the pinnacle of motorcycle racing in my opinion..(why do i want to go to hossegor & biarritz and hang out on the beach all of a sudden..topless women, thousands of em, thats why!) i think im gonna go check into the ol mercedes hotel for a week or two, yep..

this thread lacks brevity & objectivity. it is once again starting to smell disgusting..

Hey Steve! They've got air fences now.

it is because i am not as smart as you.

this reminds me of the ol pre school program on tv, called romper room. you all ought to grow up. every single one of you. honestly, a completely disguisting show of immature theatrics. i have an idea, boxing gloves in the back garden to sort it all out... i mean, this thread is discusting.

i like to race my golf cart to the harbour when the fish are biting. sometimes i try to out race storms, but thats a big order in a heavy keeled double ender. i like to race people to the line of people waitin to get fish tacos from chronic tacos fast food establishment. i race to the liquor store on my 10 speed tricycle (with safety flags on it) for a beer run durin a break on a game of bones when i am losing. and sometimes, when im in old mexico, i either have to race to the boat to get out of the country or race to the wc. does that make me a racist? p.s. Dave, thanks for the inspiration for my signature. i broke a piston in my diesel, and when i did i yelled "Damn you BFD". dont know why i put the two together.

i believe he also rode for Australia in the World Team Cup.

steve gresham decking bobby schwartz at belle vue in the pits with one of his famous well aimed through the helmet opening punch. then schwartz's mechanic, henry, a huge farmer from wiltshire grabbin gresh by the throat and pickin him off the ground to eye level with him, his ham hock sized fist cocked and aimed, sayin "i oughtta do you" or something really close to that, and he didnt punch him because he probably would have done permanent damage. funnier than hell. old stevo didnt say a word, he was just hangin there a good foot off the ground wide eyed waitin for the beatin. henry was quite a bit bigger than bruce cribb so that should paint the scenario pretty well. he was a gentle giant, at least until then. personally, i would have been beggin him not to permanetly disfigure my good looks..

and, the shame of it all was he was still competitive at that time.

involvement at that level is very important. Billy Hamill has done the Gumball rally, racing for youngsters, for some years now. He knows the future of the sport needs fresh talent. He promotes it as a family sport. I do believe your statements above are absolutely correct. In the states, pro motorcycle racers all started in non pro events, and Nascar racers like Robbie Gordon & Jimmy Johnson were desert rats as children racing in amateur races and in Johnsons case, he started on motorcycles. It was all just family outins with his parents on weekends, and look at where he is now. I think your post was spot on.

Didnt Billy Hamill opt out of the GP's a handful of years ago because it was too expensive? I do think the GP's will grow, and eventually the riders will make good money. It just doesnt do much for the current ones. There are many riders who race professionally because they love it, the money can be secondary for some. If that pay scale is correct, I must admit I was shocked. Thank goodness for rider sponsorship.

man, if thats true, it sucks. those fellas should get more than that. maybe they should quit the gp's and go longtrack racin. i dunno, i thought they were makin more than that. just goes to show ya, its like the old sayin when somebody asks em why they do it.. "well, the way i see it, im too lazy to work and too scared to steal for a livin". they should get more for sure..

ive mentioned it once before but the all time classic was vaclav verner chasin middlo around the pits at poole with a hammer in his hand yellin "I kill him!"...this came the week after gugleami cold cocked verner at coventry so he was in a foul mood for sure. laughed my ass off i did, funniest thing i ever saw. i was in the stands, jumped the fence, and said, vaclav, drop the hammer.. you dont wanna kill middlo, we love him.. that would be bad. drop the hammer.... dropppp the hammer vaclav. breathe, deep breaths. he may deserve killin after the dirty so and so fenced ya the way he did, but drop... the hammer..

i remember one time with Gary. he was tellin me he was importin old dc-3 aircraft into africa and makin a killin. so i tried to work a partnership deal with him since i had connections in south america but i made the deal killin mistake of callin him Cass, short for Cassius, which was his nickname, in reference to Muhammed Ali. he looked at me and got angry and said "who do you think you are, that you can call me Cass?" even for me, he was a bit,... eclectic. but, having said that, i liked him. he was very bright for what its worth. its just that we werent exactly buddies. one of a kind for sure, and a pretty good racer when he was on form. and yes i heard the gun in the tool box story at hackney and i reckon its true but cant be sure completely. i am sorry if he did pass tho.

if everybody keeps whinin about the rutted track with some dirt on it, you all will get concrete surfaces. the powers that be read this forum, and all everyone is doin is puttin a nail in the coffin for a track with dirt and a chance to pass for the riders. as for the riders complaining, it was the same for everybody and each individual has to figure out a way to overcome it and do it better than the others. i hate watchin racers smoke their tyre on a blue groove posin for the cameras and not even gettin winded. this sport is tough. injuries happen. i want everybody to quit whining and get on with it. i for one, from what i have seen already, it was a good effort to make a track for passing and that.... is the future of speedway otherwise it will surely die.

There is nothing wrong with cleaning bins out.

there are few people in the world who could have given a more respectful endorsement to speedway than Webber did. i thought it was a fantastic boost for the sport. Plus, i knew there was a reason i liked Kubica besides his obvious talent driving a really good but third rate car. maybe with a bit of luck Webber can get away from red bull and hop in say a mclaren so he can really fly. anyway, you can probably thank John Postlewaite for that publicity due to his connections. made my day. i hope Chris wins in his home country again, and turns his season around. but then again, i like Gollub, Hancock, Crump, Adams and a few others as well but there ya go.

what the hell. as the old sayin goes, yer only young once. edit. i was gonna say Rick Miller cheated with his promo photo, but unfortunately he really does still look like that. just you wait Rick, your time will come...

it is interesting how Gollob really flies when there is dirt on the track. he has a lot of natural ability, and surely when the track is right, worth the price of admission alone. he is probably at the now or never stage in his career, and just needs to kick it up a very small notch and be consistent. i would love to see him racing in Poland on a track with dirt, and him on form. that fella certainly is willing to take risks. looked like a great night of racing.

That crash with Dryml , in the business is called a butt stretcher. Now those are one of the crashes racers hate the most outside of goin off the high side. Given the choice between the two, personally I would have rather been the other fella with no hands on the handlebars. (the song free ride comes to mind). Anyway, that butt stretchin crash takes the old breath away just watchin it. You can just feel the mans pain watchin him sittin there. Then, havin to get back on for the next race, sittin on that hard seat, all I can say is, these guys are tough, dont kid yer self.

Way to go Arnieg.. is there anything cooler than being a published author? I dont think so! Good luck.

dont think Gresh would have gotten the better of Billy. A draw at best, but unlikely.. Billy was tougher than most.