[Scott Daloisio]

Today's Speedway Grand Prix round from Sweden will stream live at 10:00 a.m. PDT. The cost to watch is around $2.50 and you can do so at the following link https://watch.recast.tv/video/64Ll7

[flagboy55]

Scott. What is the status of Speedway bikes in America?. It seems it used to be more popular. I always loved watching it whenever I would come across it

[Scott Daloisio]

Sorry it took so long to get back to you. Swamped with work. Sadly Speedway here in California is a mere shadow of what it used to be. It has been on a downhill slide since 1985. I worked in Speedway from 1980 through 1992. I went into it blind, but immediately fell in love with the sport. In 1980 when I first got involved, there were four tracks in So Cal. Tuesday at Ventura, Wednesday at San Bernardino, Thursday on the Ascot quarter mile at Ascot and Friday at America's most famous track, Costa Mesa. The sport was spectacular. Flash forward to 1985 and the racing week started off every Tuesday at Ventura, Wednesday at San Bernardino, Thursday at the new, specialty-built Ascot South Bay Stadium, Friday at Costa Mesa, Saturday at Speedway USA in Victorville and Sunday at Carlsbad by San Diego.

Those tracks all ran weekly from the first week in April until the end of September. About 24 events at each track. However, attendance started taking a noticeable hit in the grandstands in 1985. So, and understandably, the promoters had to do something. So, they cut the purse. Mind you with overage guarantees, when a rider had a good night at San Bernardino, Ascot and Costa Mesa at that time, he could take home over $3,000.00. Not bad on a $35.00 tire and a gallon of methanol. When the promoters cut the purse, the guarantee dropped to $350.00 or $375.00 to win each of the First Division mains. The move ended up backfiring as many of the riders had to get jobs. Things have slid downhill from that day on.

There are only two regular tracks if you can call them that now. Costa Mesa is still in business and the City of Industry (which is a wonderful arena that has a roof over the top so they can race rain or shine) has been around for about 15 years. The problem is, Industry has about 12 races a year and Costa Mesa has eight or nine. Those two promoters work their butts off and are amazingly loyal to the sport. There is a gentleman from England who puts on a dozen or so races throughout the year at a variety of different tracks. That helps out a lot.

There is no Handicap racing and the tracks are pretty much void of deep dirt. Back in the day, the tracks had a deep cushion and Handicap racing produced three and four abreast action. I hear a variety of reasons about why that happens, but just shake my head when I hear the reasons. Both equal exciting races and the sport badly needs some excitement now.

Back in the days when I first started working at Speedway, there were over two hundred licensed riders in So Cal. The top First Division riders were always on the program. However, for the other riders, if they did not transfer out of their heats, they may not get to ride at that particular track for three or four weeks as there were so many other riders waiting in the wings for their chance! There is nowhere near that many riders nowadays and it is hard to get a full field to show up on any given night. The level of competition is nowhere near what it used to be. Heck, there are guys my age (66) and older racing. Speedway is a young man's sport.

Back in the day, there was a strong USA contingent riding overseas. This season only two. Luke Becker rides on teams in England and Poland and Gino Manzares races in Sweden.

I have to say, when they get down to the four-rider scratch main at the end of the night, it is like the old days. The guys who make it to the final are extremely good and would give all the stars from the 1980s all they could handle.

I was kind of surprised to recently see how badly things have slipped in Northern California. New York has a program that seems to be on the upswing. The promoter there is past NHL hockey player Jason Bonsignore.

Sorry, I rambled on so long. While I do not have much to do with Speedway anymore, I still have a huge passion for the sport.

[flagboy55]

Wow Scott. Thanks for the history lesson. Sorry to hear about the hardships that have ensued, but I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t be entertained by it, I know we were.