SteveEvans

I see your points Paul. Firstly, I can say without any question no country works harder at the SWC than USA. Billy H and I work this all year round, we have to because we barely have enough guys in Europe for a full team. The fact that we finished above GB in Prague was based on the fact we simply wanted it more and were more of a unit than any team in the pits that day. Yes, 5th in the world may flatter the real situation of where we are at but as much as you can say USA relied on Greg, why did he do better than Tai and Bomber? The guy was utterly inspired with being on the team and the vision. And Fisher too rode above himself. As far as the Touring Team, we race at NL because the domestic American scene right now probably sits somewhere in between NL and PL. You see the top riders on a tour - first time over they struggle to begin but by the end look better than most NL riders on show. You need to understand that American Speedway almost died out. When I moved to the USA it was just 1 track down South versus 5 in the old day and there was NO junior program - youngest rider back in 1998 was 25. Now there are more tracks and a flourishing youth speedway program but its still in a rebuilding phase. But if you compare present time to five years ago, it is way better and its only headed one way. On the flip side GB is slowly declining and one thing I believe contributes is that some very talented young riders don't go beyond the comfort zone of doubling up and venture to Europe. Also the small tracks in the states often provide more passing in one night than a year or two at some British venues! Handicap racing, that culminates in an 8 rider, 8 lap final, has more than once seen a Hamill or Janniro pick off 7 riders and get the win - its quite a spectacle. US Speedway on smaller tracks should be acknowledged as different but also appreciated for the magic it is. And if you go back to the 80s the close racing got a generation of the best and most thrilling riders I have ever known over to England. There is much work to do for USA to continue to rebuild, but we unashamedly target winning another World Cup, though we appreciate its somewhere down the line. Glad the invitational is getting some talk on here - the organizers work very hard on this and its a fantastic spectacle and event!

I would say you have never seen live American Speedway if you have this view. The tracks are smaller yes but it takes immense skill to ride such and maybe the Euro's will learn something new! The close racing can be quite mind blowing! A speedway race that brings world stars to the USA, a place of current speedway growth and a potential GP location (not at this track of course) can only do the sport good! Also don't forget USA is currently ranked two places above GB in the world standings so maybe the three riders from across the pond might get ready for SWC '14 at Lynn!

I haven't read through all the pages but the answer to original question is simple. Speedway Riders have the ability to race up to 7 days a week or over 100 meetings during the season if they so choose. None of the leagues or competitions run enough meetings to give this amount of work so hence they are able to multi task and ride different leagues or competitions. Its only lack of coordination between the organizers of the competitions that gives a problem. If the EPL only ran 1 match per fortnight footballers could be potentially double up (all hypothetical and suppositional) but 1-2 matches per week is plenty!

Paco is about 19 I think. Great guy, we raced against him and the Italian team in Hungary.

Would love NL to go Retro and run 13 heats, 2nd halves, old tac subs, etc. Also 13 heats would be easier for clubs who have EL or PL side to stage double headers if they got behind on fixtures so might also enable a team or two to join. Just my thoughts, I think such would be a breathe of fresh air and could be run for about the same cost as a current meeting!

The response to the biggest news to hit British speedway and open up the sport to floods of new riders is shocking! Meantime, in other forum news, Poole are better than Coventry...or vice versa....

Huge news! This class has run all year in the USA and has enabled many to take up the sport. Martin Hagon needs huge credit for this pioneering programme.

You could well be right. I think the principal of this idea is to keep costs down - my first when I heard the 2 NL Brits at reserve rule was a club like Poole could essentially pay silly money to the best two. Perhaps there will be some flexibility so riders where they can end up with their parent club while equally not allowing anyone to get two of the best available.

Perhaps. But I think the theory is here is cut out expensive travel costs for low scoring foreign imports and keep the spots more for riders who are truly committed to the league. Cost cutting is a big factor here but its better to do it this way than to do a blanket reduction at the top. JMO.

All in all I think the format isn't that bad. Looks like the format is going back to 2 reserve heats. I think give it a month or 2 and some of these British lads will be on the pace. More meetings will help them no end and some will come good. Essentially costs needed to be cut somewhere and its smart to do this by eliminating expensive low scoring and sometimes uncommitted foreign riders. The 32 points for top 5 enables the few teams who have or can afford a top rider to keep them on board while equally allowing club to be deep with 7-5 point riders and be competitive. I am concerned about double uppers combined with NL Brits - I am hearing 2 of the top 5 can double up so that may create up to 4 riders who could have a fixture clash when you race a Saturday away match at Leicester or Eastbourne. The 20 NL riders I am hearing will go into a draft where each team get to pick in a designated order. If its based on what we do in USA then the clubwho finished last year get to pick the first rider, while Poole would get 10th pick. Not sure if order reverses for 11th. The allocation of these 20 riders could be key in determining where the title may end up. I am glad its a full set of fixtures. I hope Peterboro sorts itelf out and I am sure there is more to their situation than meets the eye.

It always amazed me that on Sky coverage there was never any mention of the race fixtures for the upcoming week. Talk about missing the obvious advertising window to encourage people to see it live!

Fast Friday's Motorcycle Speedway Gold Country Fairgrounds AMA National Series Round 3 Janniro wins 4th National Championship By Michael Kirby (Story & Photos) AUBURN, CALIFORNIA, September 27, 2013 Fast Friday's Motorcycle Speedway owner David Joiner's money back guarantee of satisfaction for fans at the third round and final round of the AMA National Speedway Championship at the Gold Country Fairgrounds in Auburn Friday night had no takers. In an exciting night of racing Billy Janniro capped a great season by winning his fourth AMA National Speedway Championship with a perfect third round. Janniro won every heat race and his semi-final, then transferred to the grand final round that he won in convincing style. Janniro finished with a flawless night at 21 points, grabbing the biggest share of the $12,000 riders purse. Janniro finished with a total of 56 points over the three rounds of championship racing. Sidelined out of the final round in last Sunday's second championship round in Victorville by up and coming young riders Max Ruml and Gino Manzares, Janniro wasted no time Friday night letting all riders know that he was out for all the marbles. "Every race was a tough race, these young boys Gino Manzares and Max Ruml they're getting stronger and stronger each week," Janniro said. "It's getting tougher and tougher to beat these boys, but me and Hamill still have a little bit of a edge over them, but that isn't going to last that much longer." Five time national champ Billy Hamill was hungry for his sixth national championship and was Janniro's biggest threat during the evening. Hamill finished second to Janniro in heat 10, the only heat race he did not win until the final. Hamill finished second behind Janniro in Friday's third round with 18 points and in the championship series with 54 points. Young riders Gino Manzares and Max Ruml came into the series final with great hopes showing flashes of brilliant riding and giving speedway fans a glimpse of what speedway racing has to look forward to. Ruml tallied 36 total series points finishing fourth and eighth in the third round Friday night with 9 points. Ruml came into the third round after scoring 18 points in the second round. Manzares finished third in overall championship points for the series with 42 and fifth place in the third round with 11 points. These two young men are part of a new group of very skilled riders moving up in the ranks and challenging the old guard in a major way. The national final race was filled by the four riders scoring the highest points during the third round that included Janniro, Hamill, Ruml and Bart Bast. Janniro choose lane four, Hamill choose lane three, Bast choose the inside lane one and Ruml took two. From the tapes going up Janniro grabbed the lead by going deep in the track. Hamill got inside first, but had a battle on his hands with Bast. A bike length ahead after lap one, Janniro just increased his lead over Hamill and Bast who were locked in a fierce race in second and third. Ruml pushed out on lap one and struggled just a bit behind them. Janniro, without a mistake all night, cruised to his fourth national championship. Bast, who only raced in the third round of the series, finished second racking up a respectable 15 points for the evening. Hamill finished third and Ruml was fourth. "This one has been the sweetest, because of the competition I had, I was giving 110 percent," Janniro said. "Billy Hamill and I, we pretty much battled for it all the way through, that's why it's so special to me," Janniro said. The evening began on emotional note as many of the Fast Fridays speedway family mourned the loss of longtime speedway family member Wendy Bast who passed away on Wednesday after a short battle with cancer. Hundreds of signed balloons were released into the night sky in her honor as a crowd of family and friends gathered in the center of the track to remember a very special lady that will be greatly missed by many. 2013 AMA National Championship Results 9-27-13 Round Three 1-Billy Janniro 3 3 3 3 3 3 3-21 2-Billy Hamill 3 3 2 3 3 3 1-18 3-Bart Bast 3 2 0 3 3 2 2-15 4-Charlie Venegas 2 3 3 3 2 1-14 15-Gino Manzares 3 3 1 2 2 0-11 6-Bryan Yarrow 1 0 3 2 3 1-10 7- Aaron Fox 2 1 3 1 2 0-9 8- Max Ruml 0 2 2 2 1 2 0-9 9-Bryce Starks 1 0 1 2 2-6 10- Eddie Castro 2 0 2 0 1-5 11- Mike Faria 0 2 2 1 0-5 12-Tommy Hedden 2 1 0 1 1-5 13-Bob Hicks 0 2 1 1 0-4 14-Tyson Talkington 0 1 1 0 1-3 15-Kevin Chapman 0 1 0 0 0-1 16-Jamison Dilkey 0 0 0 0 1-1 Total National Championship Points (three rounds) 1-Billy Janniro 21, 14, 21 - 56 2-Billy Hamill 18, 18, 18 - 54 3-Gino Manzares 17, 14, 11 - 42 4-Max Ruml 9, 18, 9 - 36 5-Aaron Fox 12, 9, 9 - 30 6-Charlie Venegas 5, 9, 14 - 28 7 Eddie Castro 10, 6, 5 - 21 8-Bryan Yarrow 4, 7, 10 - 21 9-Tommy Hedden 7, 4, 5 - 16 10-Buck Blair 5, 11, 0 - 16 11-Bart Bast 0, 0, 15 - 15 11-Bryce Starks 4, 5, 6 - 15 13-Mike Faria 0, 7, 5 - 12 14-Tyson Burmeister 11, 0, 0 - 11 15-Jason Ramirez 7, 3, 0 - 10 14-Josh Larsen 0, 10, 0 - 10 17-Tyson Talkington 4, 1, 3 - 8 18-Bob Hicks 0, 3, 4 - 7 19-Kevin Chapman 1, 0, 1 - 2 20-Bobby Schwartz 2, 0, 0 - 2 21-Jamison Dilkey 0, 0, 1 - 1 22-Shawn Eldridge 0, 0, 0 - 0

USA World Cup team manager Billy Hamill takes the narrowest of points leads over rival Billy Janniro going into Friday's final round of the 2013 AMA Series at Auburn, but it was his two protégés Gino Manzares and Max Ruml who stole the show with first and 2nd at Victorville. Despite the sometimes difficult track conditions in the daytime event, the large crowd on hand was thoroughly entertained with some fabulous racing. The 2nd of the 3 round AMA Series once more used the Speedway Grand Prix format which produced high drama throughout. Billy Janniro lead home State Champion Charlie Venegas in heat 1 to extend his unbeaten series run to eight races. Hamill answered back with victory over Tyson Burmeister in heat 2. Heat 3 produced more position changes than your typical entire British league match. Mike Faria led Buck Blair before a mistake let Max Ruml into the lead and track favorite Eddie Castro into 2nd. Blair got 2nd spot back on the line. The first round was completed with Aaron Fox putting points pressure on Manzares by leading his rival home. Heat 5 saw Burmeister lead home Castro, who made a trademark outside pass on Manzares, who was now under pressure on 3 points. Hamill lead his protégé Ruml home ahead of Fox and Venegas in heat 6. Jason Ramirez made a stunning outside pass on Mike Faria to win heat 7, with Janniro having to also use the outside to get by Blair to win 8. Round 3 began with Hamill going 3 for 3, defeating Faria. Heat 10 saw Burmeister move onto 8 points with victory over a hard working Bryce Starks and Blair, with Venegas in trouble having run a 2nd last place in a row. Fox took his 2nd win of the day ahead of Tommy Hedden, who suddenly found his groove in 11. Heat 12 was another stunner - Janniro led but Ruml found more grip on the inside, and made a pass that stuck and brought the crowd to its feet. Meantime Manzares was 3rd and needing a rally to make the semi finals. Heat 13 saw Ramirez score his 2nd win of the day from Fox in a re run race after Fox and Blair tangled in turn 3 of lap one. Blair received medical attention and did not take his last two rides. Heat 14 saw Venegas lead Manzares before Charlie's bike stalled momentarily which was enough for Gino to take a much needed win. Bryan Yarrow, on just two from his first three burst to life and was never troubled in his win over Ruml and Burmeister. Heat 16 saw the battle of the Billy's, Janniro got the gate and restored his 3 point series lead over Hamill. The final round of heats saw Ruml lead home Tyson Talkington in 17, giving him 13 of 15. Next up Venegas made late claim for a semi final spot, leading home Yarrow. Hamill beat a close challenging Manzares in 19, whilst Mike Faria produced a vintage ride to beat Janniro, Burmeister and Fox in 20. This led to the semi finals - 4 riders tied on 7 for the last two spots and the count back rule eliminated Faria (defeated by Venegas in heats) and Yarrow (less 2nd places) per the Supplementary rules. Ramirez, the only rider to get two wins, was the leader of the pack. Semi 1 saw a real upset on the cards with Hamill leading from Ramirez. Both riders were pulling away before Ramirez hit the fence on the back straight of lap two and had a hard fall. Despite being okay, Ramirez was excluded. Hamill gated again in the re run with Manzares defeating Burmeister for the last spot. Semi 2 was another upset - Ruml got his now almost expected win but it was Venegas who also out gated Janniro and left a stunned championship leader eliminated, with Fox 4th. The Big Final saw Manzares out of 1 and Ruml from 4 out gate their professor Hamill. The track by now was very blue grooved and despite the fact all three were very close, it was AMA Long Track National Champion Manzares who led home Ruml in one of the biggest upsets of the season. In Support of the Main Show were four other classes. Dave Troutt won both Support Class heats but it was Steve 'Beachball' Brown who led home Jeremy Dunn in the final. Nick Dion defeated Kayle LeoGrande in the trophy dash for Division 1 riders who did not qualify for the main show. The Juniors raced for the Nick Varner Memorial Trophies to honor their former colleague who passed away in 2011 from injuries sustained after a Motocross crash. Broc Nicol won his two heats and the Final. Dillon Ruml won the other heat. In the 150 class 2 trophies were awarded as riders were mixed from their divisions. Sebastian Palmese won the final as well as heat 1, Sara Cords, who won heat 2 and was 2nd in the final got the 2nd Division trophy. This was the first and only Speedway race of 2013 at Victorville and first Speedway only race since the AMA National Series last visited in 2004. The track plays host to 14 Speedway Sprint Car races this year and occasionally runs Sidecars. The AMA National Series concludes on Friday September 27th at Fast Fridays Speedway in Auburn with the title still very open. Results - AMA NATIONAL SERIES ROUND 2 8. Bryan Yarrow................0 1 1 3 2..........7 9. Mike Faria.....................0 2 2 F 3..........7 14n Billy Janniro...............3 3 2 3 2 1.......14 14s Eddie Castro................1 2 1 1 1...........6 24. Gino Manzares.............2 1 1 3 2 2 3....14 26. Tyson Burmeister........2 3 3 1 1 1........11 39. Buck Blair...................2 2 1 Fn -..........5 40. Tommy Hedden...........0 0 2 1 1...........4 43. Charlie Venegas...........2 0 0 2 3...........7 45. Bryce Starks.................1 1 2 0 0...........4 46. Aaron Fox....................3 1 3 2 0 0........9 48. Tyson Talkington.........1 X 0 1 2..........4 66. Jason Ramirez..............1 3 0 3 F X.......7 104. Billy Hamill................3 3 3 2 3 3 1.....18 215. Kevin Chapman..........0 0 0 0 1...........1 308. Max Ruml...................3 2 3 2 3 3 2.....18 145n Jamison Dilkey (res)..0 0....................0 145s Davey Shaw (res).......0.......................0 Heats 1: Janniro, Venegas, Talkington, Chapman 2: Hamill, Burmeister, Ramirez, Hedden 3: Ruml, Blair, Castro, Faria 4: Fox, Manzares, Starks, Yarrow 5: Burmeister, Castro, Manzares, Dilkey. Talkington Fell exc 6: Hamill, Ruml, Fox, Venegas 7: Ramirez, Faria, Starks, Chapman 8: Janniro, Blair, Yarrow, Hedden 9: Hamill, Faria, Yarrow, Talkington 10: Burmeister, Starks, Blair, Venegas 11: Fox, Hedden, Castro, Chapman 12: Ruml, Janniro, Manzares, Ramirez 13: Ramirez, Fox, Talkington, Shaw fell, Blair fell non restart 14: Manzares, Venegas, Hedden, Faria fell 15: Yarrow, Ruml, Burmeister, Chapman 16: Janniro, Hamill, Castro, Starks 17: Ruml, Talkington, Hedden, Starks 18: Venegas, Yarrow, Castro, Ramirez fell 19: Hamill, Manzares, Chapman, Dilkey 20: Faria, Janniro, Burmeister, Fox Semi 1: Hamill, Manzares, Burmeister, Ramirez fell exc Semi 2: Ruml, Venegas, Janniro, Fox BIG FINAL 24 Gino Manzares 308 Max Ruml 104 Billy Hamill 43 Charlie Venegas TROPHY DASH 233 Nick Dion 185 Kayle LeoGrande 145s Davey Shaw 349 Dan Eddy SUPPORT MAIN 211 Steve Brown 376 Jeremy Dunn 351 Pam Bennett 210 Dave Troutt 176 Michael Bretzing (20) 117 Tim Dion (20) 250cc JUNIOR NICK VARNER MEMORIAL MAIN 98 Broc Nicol 104 Kurtis Hamill 10 Gage Geist (20) 222 Dalton Leedy 214 Michael Wells (20) 1 Dillon Ruml ret 150cc MINI NICK VARNER MEMORIAL MAIN 18 Sebastian Palmese (40) 14 Sara Cords 144 Travis Hamilton 419 Dakota Shockley 16 Anthony Dion AMA SERIES POINTS AFTER ROUND 2 OF 3 (Top 8 Automatically Qualify for 2014) 1 Billy Hamill - 36 2. Billy Janniro - 35 3. Gino Manzares - 31 4. Max Ruml - 27 5. Aaron Fox - 21 6. Buck Blair - 16 = Eddie Castro - 16 8. Charlie Venegas - 14 9. Bryan Yarrow 11 = Tommy Hedden 11 = Tyson Burmeister 11 12. Jason Ramirez 10 = Josh Larsen 10 14. Bryce Starks 9 15. Mike Faria 7 16. Tyson Talkington 5 17. Bob Hicks 3 18. Bobby Schwartz 2 19. Kevin Chapman 1 20. Jamison Dilkey 0 = Davey Shaw 0

There is a viewpoint amongst some fans that if you don't make top 8 you should be OUT unless you make it through challenge. The logic in this is that each year there are up to 7 GP riders that should be replaced by up to 7 more next year. The facts of the matter are that each year there are likely 11-12 of the current series who should be retained. You always want new blood in the series and it should get its chance, but just because a rider finishes below 8th doesn't mean they should be booted out. Yes, sometimes a commercial angle gets a rider another chance or three - its been the Brits now the Swedes may fall into that, but its not like Freddie and AJ are not worthy of re-earning back their previous positions - all 15 riders can't score double figures in every GP. And as far as the wild card system not being fair, there are many riders that come through qualifiers who simply don't belong in the series - Many a Pole who came through qualifiers in Eastern Europe who lasted a year in the series of painfully low scores. The current system of top 8, 3 open spots and 4 nominees is about right in my opinion.

I would prefer an old style GP challenge that put the bottom 7 in the standings, if fit, against 9 non GP riders who come through the quali rounds. Have the top 4-5 go to the next years series with 2-3 spots available for nominated wild cards. Also go back to regionalized qualifying meetings (Overseas Final / Scandanavian / Continental, etc) to cut down on riders travelling and make these meetings more appealing to fans. JMO.

This is an FIM event, not BSI as stated above. Surely if another spot opened up for a Brit it should go to Edward Kennett who I believe went the furthest in the qualifiers.

6500 fans at the Monster Invitational between Xmas and New Year (when lots of Californians travel) would say otherwise. Ditto the same kind of crowd for the US National at Costa Mesa.

A true World Champion should be able to win on all track sizes

The tradition of British tracks is inside greyhound tracks, the tradition of American ones is US rodeo arenas. Bigger tracks like Venura are car tracks that need a lot work done to them to make them ready for a Speedway race.

Costa Mesa is not FIM sized as are none of the weekly USA tracks.

This weekend for the first time in almost 13 years the USA has a race on an FIM sized track at Ventura for Round 1 of the AMA National Series. All of the top domestic based USA riders will be there on a track which staged Speedway weekly until 1987 and held the American final in 1994. The track is around 300 meters and is KIng's Lynn / Bradford ish in shape. Not sure the stadium is suitable for a GP but a race on such a track is a step in the right direction. The Monster Invitational race last December got an estimated 6,500 fans between Xmas and New Year, though the tickets were prices at $18 a head, an unviable amount for a GP. Given that 90% of US Speedway Activity is in California and 75% of that in Southern California, a venue in LA or around is the logical choice.

Scott Campos has an American passport so he is one of us!

Can you make it if they open a pie and mash shop on the 2nd bend?

Well said mate! Of course Gino being out and then losing Rocco took away too future PL riders from the fixture, but that's racing. The squad has 5 US passport holders and one Kiwi guest. Well done to Buxton on the big win. Our turn to win next year!

Your welcome! But surely two riders getting hurt racing speedway so they cant race speedway is understandable?