SteveEvans

We have a winner! Where you you collect your pint Arnie?

How do u pronounce the first syllable Arnie?

Bryce Starks is the 4th rider to join the squad. He made a hugely impressive debut last October and is very happy to be back with the team as he chases a Premier League spot for 2012. His name is easy to pronounce so no beer for anyone who can say his name. We are still taking entries on the Scopellite contest!

The pint for correct pronunciation is still up for grabs, but some excellent tries!

First name correct, last name incorrect but a noble try!

Mike Buman is the third name to be announced for this October. Buman is still in the UK after his extending his trip, though its likely he will return to his Upstate New York base for the Summer. He put his huge improvements on the 2011 April tour to good use with great performances in FIM Under 21 competitions. He is on track to be one of the next Americans to get a league place in the UK and it is hoped that October 2011 will put him in the shop window for 2012.

Buy you a pint if you get it right!

Bet you guys can't pronounce it!

Based on very encouraging rider interest I am thrilled to announce that the Touring Team plans on returning in October. The first two riders announced to join the squad are both newcomers to England - MICHAEL RAINES and ROCCO SCOPELLITE. Raines, 23, is a former Professional National Arena Cross rider who has been racing Speedway a little over 12 months. He is perhaps the most rapidly rising talent right now in the USA. He already has made Main Events at Victorville and Perris this season. Scopellite, whose father Ronnie used to mechanic for Lance King in the UK, just turned 15 this week and he is already competent on a 500cc bike, winning Support Class Division at both Victorville and Perris. There are other riders who have committed to the team and they will be announced shortly. Here are profiles on Raines and Scopellite http://www.speedwaybikes.com/rw/umichaelraines.htm http://www.speedwaybikes.com/rw/uroccoscopellite.htm

Emil burned out from his British schedule

Current USA #1 Flat Track Racer Sammy Halbert had thrown his hat in the ring as a possible member of the next American Touring Team! Halbert was interviewed recently after winning the prestigeous Daytona Flat Track race and when the interviewer pointed out he was throwing the bike around like a Speedway Rider, Halbert quipped that "Maybe he should go to Europe and race in the GP's! Former East Coast Promoter Don Dorcey made contact with Halbert who put him in touch with myself. Seems Sammy would love to give Speedway a go. So last friday, with the help of Billy Hamill, Hagon Shocks USA and Joker Machine, we got Sammy on a Speedway bike for the first time. As you can see from below, the results are quite something! Sammy has a hugely busy schedule on the American Dirt Track scene, where he races his Yamaha on ovals of up to a mile at speeds of over 130 mph. However, we plan to get him more seat time and to some actual races this year with the view to bringing him to the UK in October! Take a look - from novice to competent in 3 hours!

Quite a few people have been asking when we are coming back, so I thought I would bring people up to speed. Our Spring tour completed 2 weeks ago and incredibly, was our 4th trip in just 18 months. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves as ever and the welcome we receive from the UK fans is always much appreciated. We raced a record 7 events in just 10 days and got to add another venue to our long list with a visit to Workington which was an excellent track to get to ride. Our team was a great bunch of guys and after a slow start and a disastrous performance at Rye House, we were much vindicated in the 2nd half of the tour, holding the Dudley Heathens to a tied score after 12 heats before we lost it at the end and putting in a very credible performance at Plymouth. We had four teenagers in the squad who got valuable experience. Mike Buman is looking like he could be PL ready within the year, Joey Holt made steady progress and impressed, whilst wild man Dylan Black came on leaps and bounds and improved with every ride. It was admittedly not our strongest team we have fielded and we felt we lacked that out and out number one, which essentially left the rest of the boys all one spot out of position. Such is the problem when your best two riders graduate. But, we run the Touring Team like an actual speedway club and just like in the real world, sometimes your team wins the league, sometime you finish last and we don't regret in any way coming over. So, what for the future? Will we be over in October? At this stage I would say there is a good possibility, but we are changing our gameplan a little on the planning end. The tours are mostly self funded by the riders themselves, though the promoter does significantly bring down the costs with discounted air travel, good deals on bike rentals and fund raising for transportation for the team. Usually when a tour is announced riders express interest and in abundance. We get the races scheduled, fundraise and as time gets closer, we see who is serious about coming or who has raised the funds to come over, who can get time of work or school etc. The team is usually the last thing finalized - American Speedway is traditionally very last minute and on the tour just gone our last two riders were only added one week before we arrived. This time, we are going to get the team named early and let the riders know that a tour will happen IF there are enough riders of the standard who want to come who will commit by mid July at the very latest. Initial response has been very good and the good news is there are some new young names who have a strong interest in coming over. There is a lot of young talent racing in the USA right now and one of the things that keeps me going is the fact that there are probably enough good young riders who have not made it over to the UK yet to fill two teams. If some of the riders we want on the team are able to come, it may well be the best tour yet. But if the team is not in place and committed early, we will simply roll it over until the next time with no sleep lost. The team will have a majority of young riders who are actual prospects though don't rule out a legend or two - the older guard provide an even keel and really help the kids find their feet. It would be hard to imagine a tour without 'Fast Eddie' on board and having first been dazzled by his riding in 1998, I have immense pride to have been the one who brought Castro to dazzle the UK fans at age 50! I would like to thank the many who keep the show on the road - the sponsors, the staff on both sides of the pond, the riders, mechanics and most of all the fans. The past four tours have their ups and downs but there are way more ups than downs. It is an unthinkable amount of work to put this all together but to see the fans having a great time and genuinely appreciating the show is what keeps me and the rest of the crew so dedicated. I will give more news in the summer when we have it. We will be back and possibly it will be at the end of 2011. Thanks again.

Tyson is American and could not ride under NL rules. Unless you adopt him TNT.

I haven't seen any press releases from the organizers stating their team. I know Austin Novartil is still in the UK so I'm sure he will feature.

I am not part of this event.

Thanks to all who came to see us race this past two weeks. We had a great time and based on the face to face fan feedback we received from many who came out, the supporters did too. Thanks to our great staff, riders, sponsors and the fans. We are proud of our team and take much pride in the facyt that three teenage racers all came on leaps and bounds. We will be returning at some point, but no decision on when at this point. There are already some exciting behind the scenes opportunities developing as we aim to make things better and better. These tours are hard work for all involved. The low points are tough but the highs are exilerating beyond words. See you all soon!

I think last nights performance got us back on track. A great night of racing. We both lost our 2nd best riders and USA also had Joey Holt riding over an injury, making him look a shadow of himself at Newcastle. As far as Plymouth and our guests go, the original plan was to use Ingalls and Fisher. One is injured, one now has a team so we drafted in guests who have at least raced in the USA!!! Its been a difficult start to the tour but as per usual, match four is where we really get it going.

The American Team has Austin Novratil riding for the rest of the tour as of tomorrow night. That's 4 teenagers (Joey Holt is getting good reviews) and 3 older rider coaches. These tours are tough to arrange and you can only bring the riders who can afford to come. With two riders being signed up in the last year we for sure need to rebuild but the only way to do that is to keep bringing riders through the system and to keep touring. Our tours always get better as they progress and please bear in mind you have 7 riders on borrowed biked on tracks twice the size as back home. We knew this team wasn't as strong as before and to compensate we had Kenny Ingalls and Ronnie Correy lined up to ride for us - Kenny is injured and Ronnie blew up his bike and did not want to borrow equipment. We like to win when we can but when we get promoters showing interest in our riders, as has already occurred with Holt, it is all worth while!!! We looked decent at Brum, awful at Rye and better last night. We are fully aware we are a decent rider short and each guy is riding out of position, so adding Austin will make it better.

Austin Novratil joins the yanks for the rest of the tour so we should be more in it!

USA Squad - Eddie Castro, Shawn McConnell, Doug Nicol, Mike Buman, Jim Terchila, Dylan Black, Joey Holt, Marvin Sonnier.

USA Riding Order 1. Eddie Castro 2. Jim Terchila 3. Mike Buman 4. Doug Nicol 5. Shawn McConnell 6. Marvin Sonnier 7. Joey Holt 8. Dylan Black Our practice was rained out at Buxton so we are coming raw! Be patient with the new boys!

Team flying today, lands tomorrow late morning, just in time to get everyone accomodated and to Monmore Green. We are super excited about this tour. It's going to be tough for some of the newer riders but that is to be expected. The plan is to start winning meetings by event 4 and learn and progress before. Having had two riders graduate the team in the last year there is an aspect of starting over but that is the way it goes. Hope many people come and see us - the old guys up top are pure showmen!

Former World and National Champion Billy Hamill won all 5 of his races in style as he won at Legends Night at Victorville Speedway. Hamill, who has pulled off a couple of dramatic inside passes in the heats coming out of turn 2, chose gate 2 in the Main Event. Jimmy Fishback went for the outside, Buck Blair chose 3 leaving the very impressive Michael Raines out of gate 1. Hamill made an excellent start and though Blair was very close as they entered turn one, by turn two Hamill was one again ahead. He pulled out a lead quickly and it was after that a battle for the other podium spots. Fishback pushed Blair hard but the all time Main event winner at Victorville held onto his second place, with Raines in fourth place. The support divisions, including 11 Junior entries had several classes where a rider both heats and the Main - Rick Fehrman in Division Two, Max Ruml in 250cc Junior, Nick Varner in 200cc Junior Division one, Seven year old Sebastian Palmese in Junior Division Two and Summer Fehrman in Pee Wee. Dave Alexander and Jake Hanson won the Sidecars after Kevin Brown and Matt Davis won both heats (Alexander needed an outside pass on Brown to take the Main), whilst Tony DeAlmeida returned from a retirement in the first Division Three Heat to win the next heat and the Main. The good sized crowd were impressed with an excellent evening of riding in all Divisions. Whilst Division One numbers were low due to 5 regulars flying to England this weekend to race on the American Touring Team, the quality of racing more than compensated. The night played tribute to the Legends of Speedway and Shawn Moran was guest of honor having flown in from Germany the week before. The next race at Victorville is April 23rd. Results: Division One Heat Scores (4 rides each) Billy Hamill 12, Jimmy Fishback 10, Buck Blair 9, Michael Raines 8, Jason Ramirez 6, Rick Fehrman 3, Tyson Talkington 1, Dylan Black 0. B Main: Ramirez, Fehrman, Talkington (non starter), Black (non starter) A Main: Hamill, Blair, Fishback, Raines Division Two: Rick Fehrman, Bander Alexander, Harold Hartke, Max Ruml, Tony DeAlmeida Division Three: DeAlmeida, Steve Brown, Alfonzo Marroquin, Wade Whitcomb, Paul Thornton, Rick Huspek. Sidecar: Dave Alexander / Jay Hanson, Kevin Brown / Matt Davis, Shawn & Missy Driggers, Scott & Casey Driggers. 250cc Junior: Max Ruml, Dylan Ruml, Nick Varner 200cc Junior Div 1: Nick Varner, Kurtis Hamill, Dylan Ruml, Hayley Perrault 200cc Junior Div 2: Sebastian Palmese, Michael Wells, Dalton Leedy, Dylan Blum Pee Wee: Summer Fehrman, Dakota Shockley, Luke Whitcomb, Mikey O. Points Standings after 2 Meetings; DIVISION 1 (TOP 10 SEEDED INTO SPEEDWAY MASTERS 12 NOV - projected purse $3-5,000 for Masters) 1. Buck Blair 50 2. Jason Ramirez 42 3. Billy Hamill 36 = Josh Larsen 36 5. Michael Raines 34 6. Eddie Castro 25 7. Jimmy Fishback 24 8. Austin Novratil 20 9. Tyson Talkington 20 10. Rick Fehrman 13 11. Doug Nicol 11 12. Dylan Black 9 13. Aaron Fox 7 14. Marvin Sonnier 7 15. Joey Holt 6 16. Jon Stasiefski 6 DIVISION TWO 1. Rick Fehrman 35 2. Max Ruml 26 3. Marvin Sonnier 20 4. Bander Alexander 14 5. Harold Hartke 8 = Tony DeAlmeida 8 7. Damon Barry 4 DIVISION THREE 1. Tony DeAlmeida 43 2. Steve Brown 20 3. Rick Huspek 17 4. Alfonzo Marroquin 15 5. Wade Whitcomb 14 6. Cory McDonald 13 7. Paul Thornton 11 8. Dan Eddy 10 9. Mitch Pierson 4 JUNIOR 250CC 1. Max Ruml 38 2. Dillon Ruml 34 3. Nick Varner 22 4. Jake Hanson 22 JUNIOR 200CC 1. Nick Varner 39 2. Sebastian Palmese 34 (D2) 3. Dillon Ruml 32 4. Dalton Leedy 17 (D2) 5. Michael Wells 14 (D2) 6. Kurtis Hamill 12 7. Hayley Perrault 4 8. Dylan Blum 4 (D2) PEE WEE 1. Summer Fehrman 40 2. Dakota Shockley 24 = Brandon Rhea 24 4. Luke Whitcomb 8 5. Mikey O 4 Sidecars are still in Pre-Season racing so points series yet to start.

The USA Squad is Eddie Castro, Shawn McConnell, Doug Nicol, Mike Buman, Joey Holt, Dylan Black, Jim Terchila, Marvin Sonnier.

The 8 riders for the first three matches will be (in non riding order)- Eddie Castro, Shawn McConnell, Doug Nicol, Mike Buman, Joey Holt, Jim Terchila, Dylan Black and Marvin Sonnier. We will have a #8 named who will be a floating reserve and we intend to give the #8 a couple of rides per event. The last 4 riders are very raw - either very young or older clubman riders getting a chance to live their dream. Having had two riders graduate in the last 12 months and sign for British teams, its back to the development board with the next batch. But win or lose, we bring a show - Old Skool, New Skool! If its anything like a usual tour we will build momentum as we go and really be on top form when it matters - against Dudley!!