SteveEvans

I missed off Stoke and also Northside Workington runs training schools. This is just to say that non league riding opportunities exist more than ever and if q rider is on the pace he should then be doing second halves at NL tracks to put his name in the window, Besides, even riders having to travel a few hundred miles to these meetings is nothing compaed to the 12,000 miles an Aussie flies to race.

If British kids want to learn speedway there is a huge increase in amateur events on the weekends these days - Scunthorpe, Southern Track riders, Dragons, Lydd, Sittingbourne, etc. Yes, you pay to ride but thats how you learn. Other motorsports like Grass Track and Moto-Cross charge entry fees to race. In the US, the majority of riders, even the top ones pay $30 entry fee each meerting to race and I wouldn't be surprised if the same applied in Australia as they have lots of grass roots vcnues. On the Aussies - I would change the rules that they can only come in on a British average (3) if they will ride for Great Britain, otherwise they are a 5.

Aussies are allowed in the league as the majority of the teams are 2nd teams for PL or EL tracks and they are using the league to feed talent. It's an unfortunate fact that there is more chance of getting a new Aussie on a false average than there is a new Brit, so in long term planning to win the league this is a strategy. Rather than bleating on about Australians, the better thing is that British Speedway creates a real youth speedway program, something that Australia has hence the current numbes in the UK and the huge amount on the wings. I think USA, a third world speedway nation unfortunately right now, has more Under 15's than the UK does.

Let's keep it real here - The Heathens team is a joint project created by CVS and Patchett which is basically a feeder team for Wolves, Birmingham and Swindon. Now, due to the overwhelming number of speedway starved Heathens fans, this project has been a roaring success and it's been fabulous for these people to finally have a team. But one aspect here is that the team will to some extent be used to blood riders that can be used in the future by the senior clubs. The move for Dyer is obviously within the rules and you can't bitch at the promotion for making a legal league change. You can bitch at the league for the rules if you like. The NL and the CL before it has always been torn between the standalone clubs and the clubs who run a 2nd team, often at a loss - it's almost two leagues within one. If you had 8 standalone clubs and 8 teams who wanted to run a 2nd team, you could have a National League and a Conference / Academy League seperately, though I doubt that would happen. Mr Vasey - A second half league that paid 5 pounds / point would cost a whopping 30 quid per heat or 180 quid per match to run, plus travel. My point was if there was some bonus to a senior team for running a 2nd team (even at NL level) it would somehow become magically affordable!!!

The National League is designed to prepare British riders for the Premier and this is what has happened here - it's got sarge ready and prepared for when his future PL ditches him for an Aussie. Joking apart, didn't I read Dyer had been flown in by the Brummies? With the Heathens currently being the Wolves & Birmingham feeder club, this move under the league rules is no surprise. The NL standard continues to grow and I think the solution for British riders needs to be re-esttbalishing a 2nd half league like what we had back between 1986 and 1992. It gave good racing and added 6 heats giving you a two and half hour show versus a spread out 100 minutes. Reward the clubs who participate with an extra point for their big team for team building and you'll find its magically affordable!

Might remind you of Dudley Wood mate! Seriously though, speedway needs grass roots venues and view it that way and you will have a good time.

Looks to me like AJ was caught napping and was surprised Gollob got by at such speedway and had nowhere to put his foot.

Dave has retired so you'd just get Chas I think.

The rules state Gino could not ride so it was major error on the result of the team manager. No way should USA give up its spot - we came third plus with the likes of Kerr and Ingalls we are a nation on the rise, a slow rise albeit. Greg is at the end of his career and the likes of Kerr, Fisher and Ingalls can form the nucleus of the side for the next 10 years. There is more of the same where Ingalls came from and plenty of talent that hasn't even made the Dream Team yet. Aside from heat 1 we did havea rider in every heat as each team member took a joker = 6 rides. Yes, the AMA needs to take this more seriously and now is the time as qualifying is a possibility. Seeing as I personally know most of the board members this is going to be addressed. As far as Scotland taking our spot - as ineligble as Gino was due to their being no Scottish federation. Scottish riders would have to be good enough for Team GB. There is nothing however stopping a Scotland team putting on some challenge meetings versus say, Team USA. Now there's a thought...

Best of 5 series?

One thing I would say is the four riders we had did an amazing job - I would have loved to have been there lending support and not just to annoy Sandie. The positive side is that Kerr and Ingalls are for sure on the up. Tommy did not have the luxury of European meetings as Kenny did but it was good to see him put some points on the board. For those who say that the USA is not a top 8 nation I would disagree. If we fielded our best team, which in my opinion would a squad of Greg, Billy J, Fish, KerrKat, Ricky and Kenny, we would have been easy winners. It is a matter of better organization and planning on this side of the pond to track that team so that we can reclaim our rightful place in the top 8. Despite it all, you can see how the American spirit touches the heart of the British fan with the likes of Sandie and a few others travelling all that way to support a country which isn't their own. Well done to the brave 4!

There is no $500 per event AMA Sanction fee -its about $50 if I recall. The team manager does not have to be a promoter (it was Richard Child before). I can't speak for other promoters but I have met with USA Speedway (the AMA appointed body to run speedway) many times. The main reason I don't use them is that their insurance policy does not cover what I run at my tracks as I run speedway and mini sprints and AMA only covers bikes / sidecars. This is why I stopped using AMA back in 2007 though it should also be noted that AMA insurance has since doubled in cost whereas the compnay I now use is half of what I paid with AMA. Note that there are 9 board members of USA Speedway. Dave is thhe only promoter on the board and the chairman. Billy Hamill is one of the other eight. American Speedway has its problems but I talk to lots of British promoters and our scene is no more chaotic than anywhere else. For me - I have no pool of money, no sugar daddy just a pure grass roots effort with lots of help that gets the job done to some degree. Also my sole reason for doing the DT is so that one day we are back as a top 6 Nation. We have a long way to go but the progress we make is rewarding all the same.

They provided very strong opposition for the American Dream Team and are a great bunch of riders. Kelvin and Sarah put a lot into this and are great people too. Good luck on the tour!

The race will be rebroadcast on a loop once it is edited. The bandwidth at the arena meant we had to use a back up system rather than the three camera production.

Race is just over 4 hours away!! Tune in!

Gino's a very popular boy it seems anywhere from Birmingham to Los Angeles, Mildura to Eskilstuna.

The fact that 3 countries host 7 GP's between them shows that the series has not had the huge growth expected or succeeded outside of Europe.

Thanks. It's real speedway! 40 heats, 60+ riders in 7 classes including Junior, pee wee and Sidecar. It should be cool!

http://www.justin.tv/speedwayracingtv At 2am LIVE Uk time Sunday 14th February and replayed on a loop throughout the day, American style Speedway hits the Mojave Crossing Event Center in Laughlin, Arizona. Starring 2009 EL Champ Chris Kerr, Billy Janniro, Shawn McConnell, Bobby Schwartz, Mike Faria, Gary Hicks and Dream Teamers Eddie Castro, Tyson Burmeister, Gino Manzares, Jason Ramirez, Neil Facchini, Tim Gomez, Josh Abbott, Austin Novratil, Tommy Hedden. Michael Hull, Buck Blair. FREE webcast!

A good speedway match is about two evenly matched teams whether it be Wolves Vs Swindon, Birmingham Vs Rye House, Weymouth Plymouth, etc. As long as the opponents are of a similar level I think Scottish internationals would be a roaring success.

I am looking to promote a series of races (USA Vs Europe) at my tracks in California in November and want to hear from any interested riders. It will be a 5 event series staged over 2-3 weekend. It is still nice weather over here at that time of year, though they are out of season races and the crowds reflect this, being at the level of a National League meet in the UK. Though it certainly isn't going to be a money spinner for the riders, it does give very valuable experince, learning close racing & throttle control on the 1/8 mile race circuits. It is also a great chance to see America as we have Hollywood, Vegas, Disneyland, beaches, movie studios, Pro basketball, hockey and football all in season and within a short commute. It will be on a similar basis to the American Dream Team tours but in reverse. We can provide accomodations and a mechanic if needed. Please pm me via the forum if you are interested.

I doubt we'd see Scotland in the SWC but no reason why the team listed couldn't do some challenge test matches - heck I'd love to bring a USA side consisting of Fisher, Wells, Kerr, Werner, Fishback, Ingalls a+nd Gomez to do a 3 matc contest one weekend!

He earned the spot and so deserves to be in. I doubt he'll stay more than a year but his qualifcation is the cinderella story we used to get regularly in the good old days of a world final. Go break some hearts Zorro!

...and not just you and Silver Bee at Scunthorpe training schools either! Rachelle was a tidy rider when she was on the track. She did great in 2nd division (intermediate level) in the USA, though i think the girls find the bumping and banging of 1st division a little too rough. Another awesome female rider was Krystal Cramer who was twice Under 16 National Championship runner up behind Ricky Wells (meaning she beat 14 boys). Krystal sadly never moved up to a 500 but instead races mini sprint cars. A few years back I was working with Jon Cook to bring Krystal and Rachelle over for the Brighton Bonanza to race two British females (Jessica Lamb and one other) in a transatlantic challenge half time show, but Jon moved to Lakeside and stopped doing Brighton so we never pulled it off. Both Rachelle and Krystal are a marketing dream (good looking female racers) and its a shame they are not racing speedway as it would certainly increase the attendence wherever they race. Those who follow Indycar will know how Danica Patrick in 2005 almost brought the sport back from the dead - hot 23 year old babe racing at 230mph raised interest for some odd reason, especially as she could race for real. In fact when I went to Indycar practice at Fontana in 2005 there was a driver autograph session I was lucky enough to attend. All the top drivers were there, each had there own line - Danica had 80% of the fans in her line, and yes, I was in it (still have the photo and the signed hat, thank you!). Rachelle told me a little while back she misses racing and might give it a go again one day - I'll keep you all posted! Krystal Cramer http://www.freewebs.com/girlmoto/krystalcramer.htm

I read on Autosport.com that the Britsh F1 GP will be 9-11 July next year, the same weekend as the Cradiff Speedway GP. In past years I have enjoyed these races being on back to back weekends as it makes the long trip from California worthwhile. I know these are seperate sports with seperate governing bodies but there is some crossover of fan base. When I would go to Silverstone part of the charm was camping out all weekend and the jolly. I'm sure there are hundreds or more fans who would do both who now have to make a choice...