chunky

Yeah, knowing how old most of us speedway fans are, they probably need to produce a large-print version of the mag...

Good call! Peter Karlsson began and ended his British career with Wolves, and while I can't specifically state the same for Wayne Carter, he did appear for Wolves in both his first and last seasons. James Grieves is another one at Glagow - and he had several spells back there in between. Martin Yeates at Poole and Les Rumsey at Canterbury. Kevin Hawkins at Peterborough.

Ooh, you disappoint me! He finished his career at Rye House!

With the Eastbourne alumni, you could also include Martin Dugard... Boston's Andy Fisher is another one to add to the list.

Another one from my era gone...

See, that's what I was thinking too...

To be honest, I can't say I remember that. Perhaps one of the "older" members on here can answer that? As far as I know, all times were taken from the finish post.

That was years before. The gate used to be on the back straight.

That's correct. They'd messed around with Ede, Stevens, Dugard, Hagon, Wickett, and a couple of one-offs, and then Tony came in - and stayed.

Thing is, once Tony was in - he stayed in! Do what you want, it's fine with me; I just posted the figures...

Good point - except that I didn't actually include Ted Ede's average in the team total! I just listed those who had an extended spell in the team... To be honest, I was expecting you to jump in and give us the stats!

Well, I had a quick run through the 'Ammers from '65 (BL)... Harrfeldt - 10.97 (H) - 9.77 (A) McKinlay - 10.93 (H) - 10.67 (A) Hunter - 10.53 (H) - 8.06 (A) Clarke - 7.2 (H) - 4.00 (A) Simmons - 7.06 (H) - 5.43 (A) Trott - 5.78 (H) - 3.12 (A) Leonard - 4.46 (H) - 2.64 (A) Ede - 2.5 (H) - 3.04 (A) 56.93 (H) - 43.69 (A) ...and Dukes from '66... Boocock - 10.85 (H) - 9.47 (A) Boothroyd - 10.67 (H) - 7.94 (A) Younghusband - 9.94 (H) - 8.37 (A) Roper - 8.18 (H) - 6.70 (A) Kingston - 6.64 (H) - 4.15 (A) Jameson - 6.56 (H) - 4.00 (A) Gavros - 5.49 (H) - 3.09 (A) 58.33 (H) - 44.15 (A)

And they dictate the condition (and depth) of the track surface...

Well, you know how many unofficial "World" Championships back then, so it wouldn't surprise me if we had some unofficial "US" Championships around. Plus, the history of speedway and the AMA hasn't always been that clear...

Ah yes, I remember that win! Pat Pawson rode that night, and scored a couple!

Oh, okay... Thing is, while I didn't witness any of the fatalities at Hackney, I get the idea that at least a couple of them were kind of "freak" accidents, and the only real issue was the lamp standards. If you look at my website, you will also see that Newcastle had several fatalities. When I commented on that once, I was told that I was being most unfair. The thing is, we know that crashes can be caused by a variety of factors, including collisions. Are these collisions a result of situations caused by the track, or the bikes? I just think that the big problem there was the lamp standards...

Trust me, there were MANY bad accidents happening before the mid-70's...

That sounds much more like it...

The way that modern bikes rev and kick, it needs to be! I still don't get why we need all that power, just for wheelspin, and then it picks up a bit of dirt, and they're over the fence... Thing is, Hackney was just one of many where the (or 'a') racing line moved out during the meeting - and it made for great racing. I grew up never hearing the term "blue groove", but it seems to be what the riders want these days.

Ah, that makes more sense, then! Thanks.

Thing is, even now, some riders love to ride out wide - often right up against the fence (we've seen certain riders actually USE the fence - so what do you do? By its very nature, speedway is a dangerous sport, and no amount of air fences, helmets, or padding will change that. In ANY motorsport, competitors will take chances, as they look for a little extra. Yes, it's risky, but that's why riders enjoy riding, and we enjoy watching ..

Well, this just means I have even more questions! I live in Cincinnati, and this is confusing. We did have a short-lived board-track in Sharonville (south-east of Hamilton), but that closed in 1919. Nearly all of the info I can find about "Cincinnati-Hamilton Speedway" refers to a track on the Dixie Highway - that didn't open until 1929! I have found reference to a track that supposedly opened in 1919, but I have no official name or location. Guess I'll have to dig a little deeper...

Well, I have just found some newspaper references to Wilbur Lamoreaux as the 1933 "National Champion", which does seem more likely than Ray Grant. They are all in the 'Fresno Bee'; from August 15, 1934, August 19, 1934, and October 18, 1935. Two of them also reference Miny Waln as 1932 Champ, and one mentions Cordy Milne as 1934 Champ. These tie in with the info on the 'Speedway Champions' website. Seems strange how the different resources agree on the other years, but not 1933.

Thing is, the US was really a prominent speedway nation in the early days of the sport. Having evolved from board-racing into Class 'A' racing (flat-track) into speedway, there was a ton of quality American riders (and Canadians) back then.

I love how you dig up these old articles!