Humans of Speedway

He conquered the world of Speedway, then he conquered TV screens across the World. 🇺🇸🏍️ In this episode, we explore the incredible, dual-career life of Bruce Penhall. From his meteoric rise as America's golden boy of Speedway to his shock retirement on the podium at Wembley, we trace the steps of a true sporting icon. Join us as we look back at his back-to-back World Championship victories (1981-1982), his legendary days with the Cradley Heathens, and the moment he traded his leathers for a badge to star as Cadet Bruce Nelson in the hit TV series "CHiPs." In this video, we cover: 🏁 How Penhall broke the European dominance in Speedway. 🏆 The 1981 & 1982 World Finals. 🎬 The controversial decision to quit racing for Hollywood at age 25. 📺 His life on the set of CHiPs and post-racing career. Don't forget to hit subscribe for future episodes. Audio only version also available on Spotify and all other podcast apps. Was Bruce Penhall the most charismatic rider in Speedway history? Discuss in the comments! BSN Australian Championships: Here's the link for more info on the 2026 Australian Champs being shown live on British Speedway Network https://bit.ly/bsnpass #Speedway #BrucePenhall #CHiPs #MotorsportHistory #CradleyHeath #BritishSpeedway Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kyle Howarth captained the Sheffield Tigers to their first top flight championship in 2023, and in 2024 celebrates his testimonial at Owlerton with some of the sports top stars racing against the Sheffield 24 line up. He'll also race for Scunthorpe in the Championship too where he starts as the Scorpions number 1. In this podcast we get to know Kyle a little better, how he found his way into the sport and his personal highlights. Born in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, Howarth competed in grasstrack and motocross before starting his speedway career in 2008 in amateur competitions, gaining a National League place with Scunthorpe Saints in 2009, scoring 13+2 on his debut.[3] He averaged 4.62 over the season and finished as runner up in the British Under-15 championship that year.[3] In 2010, he became a Poole Pirates asset and rode for Bournemouth Buccaneers in the National League, averaging 7.43, and also made guest appearances in the Premier League for Somerset Rebels.[3] Also in 2010, he finished in third place in the British Under-18 Championship.[3] In 2011 he rode in the National League for Belle Vue Colts, and he also rode for Edinburgh Monarchs in the Premier League, averaging 5.11, and was named at number eight for the Belle Vue Aces Elite League team.[3] He spent the winter riding in Australia, and won the Queensland Under-21 Championship.[4] In 2012, after initially signing for King's Lynn Stars, he rode for Poole in the Elite League and Workington Cometsin the Premier League, and signed for both teams in 2013.[5][6][7][8] He finished in third place in the 2012 British Under-21 Championship and represented Great Britain at under-21 level.[9] From 2013 until 2020 he rode for numerous clubs including Swindon Robins, Workington, Poole Pirates and Coventry Bees. He joined Sheffield Tigers and Wolverhampton Wolves in 2016, staying with both clubs until 2020. As a Sheffield rider he won the SGB Championship Pairs, partnering Lasse Bjerre, during the SGB Championship 2017 season.[10] and then the following season won it again partnering Charles Wright, during the SGB Championship 2018 season.[11] In 2021 and 2022, he returned to Sheffield in the SGB Premiership 2021 and SGB Premiership 2022 and signed for the Leicester Lions in the SGB Championship 2021 and SGB Championship 2022.[12] He helped Sheffield win the 2022 League cup and reach the Play off final.[13] In 2023, he re-signed for Sheffield for the SGB Premiership 2023[14] and won the league title with the club.[15]He also signed for Plymouth Gladiators for the SGB Championship 2023.[16] In 2024, he re-signed for Sheffield[17] and re-signed for Scunthorpe (his first club) for the 2024 Championship season #speedway #gniezno #sheffield #sheffieldspeedway #britishspeedway Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Charles Wright is a former British Champion, and has won league titles at both professional levels of British Speedway, and 2024 marks his testimonial year in the sport! Of course his brother has been a top level rider too, but both are very much following in their grandfather's footsteps, Jim Yacoby was a rider with Belle Vue Aces in the 1960's and that's where the family routes in the sport lay. We'll hear how it hasn't always been easy for Charles who despite finding himself without a team at times in his early career, has battled to the top of domestic speedway in Britain. 2023 also saw a dramatic end to his season, after he was selected to race for Wroclaw in the Ekstraliga final, but after a good start to the night it ended with a high speed season ending crash! Hear more of the story of Charles and his testimonial plans in the latest episode of Humans of Speedway! Charles Wright, British Speedway, Bellevue Aces, Championship League Riders Champion, Speedway Testimonial, Ty Woffinden, Manchester Speedway, British Champion, Speedway Promoter, Redcar Speedway, Freddie Lingren, Peter Craven Memorial, Jim Yacoby, Buxton Speedway, Grass Track Racing, Somerset Rebels, Speedway Pairs, Oxford Spires, Speedway Grand Prix, Ecco Arena Redcar, Ekstraliga, Wroclaw Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hans Nielsen has been recognised by the FIM as an icon for very good reason..! In his career he won 22 World Championship medals in all competitions, including 4 individual World titles. It could however have been so many more were is not for the fickle finger of fate, as he claimed many more silver medals, missing the top step by the smallest of margins. We discuss Hans' stellar career which saw him dominate British speedway through the 80's and 90's, in fact we was the top averaged rider from 1983 to 1990, NO rider delivered more. We also look at what is next for Hans, having stepped down from Danish national management and heading to Polish league management! Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Craig Ackroyd is one of the World's top speedway referees, and one of the few on the Grand Prix circuit in addition to officiating across British Speedway's leagues. Craig himself had ambitions of being a speedway rider, and was involved in Grasstrack alongside the likes of Carl Stonehewer and Garry Stead. However he eventually followed in his Dad's footsteps and entered the referee's box and hasn't looked back since. He has taken charge of some of World speedway's biggest clashes, including the Speedway World Cup and title deciding Grand Prix rounds. In this podcast learn more about his journey to the top, handing massive situations involving the world's best riders, and what is required to become a top referee in speedway. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alun Rossiter is in a very select group of people in British Speedway, as one of the few to have won a top level league title as both a rider and manager. On the bike Rosco represented his home town club Swindon Robins through the 80s, with a spell at Coventry Bees in between, along with spells at Exeter, Weymouth, Wolves King's Lynn and Peterborough among a few. His most success as a rider came at Poole Pirates where he won 3 league titles and 2 cups, and remains among the club's all time top 50 points scorers. As a manager he took the helm of Swindon to begin with, but it was Coventry where he secured his first title in 2010, in that epic comeback at Wimbourne Road as Chris Harris picked himself up from the deck and dragged the Bees over the line. Rosco also claimed 3 further titles with Swindon, the most recent in 2019 which became the clubs final year. Alun talks about his journey from young fan to club legend, and he talks us through how his own dream speedway meeting would look including his all time 1-7 team. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Steve Worrall rides for Wolverhampton Wolves in the British Speedway Premiership, and is the 2023 captain of reigning champions the Poole Pirates in the Championship. 2023 sees Steve celebrate his testimonial year, with a early season Champion of Champions meeting at Poole Stadium where the Championship title holders Poole face a Belle Vue Aces side featuring 5 of the 2022 Premiership winning team. Steve of course has ridden for both teams, 7 seasons with the Aces including the last year at the old Kirkmanshulme lane, and the first year at the National Speedway Stadium. He's also won a league and cup treble with Edinburgh Monarchs in 2014, back to back league and cup doubles with the Pirates, as well as time at Swindon Robins, Newcastle Diamonds, and Scunthorpe Scorpions. Steve along with his twin brother Richie started out in motocross, and a passive interest in watching speedway on TV or the occasional GP ended with him giving it a try at Scunthorpe and the rest is history..! Since then he's also represented Great Britain at the Speedway World Cup, and narrowly missed out on claiming a British Championship title in 2017. Steve tells us more about all of that and much more, plus of course letting us in on his dream 1-7 lineup, and other things which would feature in his dream speedway meeting..! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode we head down under to chat with Australian speedway star Justin Sedgmen. In 2023 Sedgy will be lining up in British Speedway's Premiership with newly promoted Leicester Lions, and in the Championship once again with the Birmingham Brummies. Over his career he's raced for some of the most respected teams in the UK including Swindon, Somerset, Sheffield, Glasgow and Edinburgh Monarchs where he won the treble in 2014 and back to back league titles in 2015. Speedway runs deep in the Sedgmen family and you'll also discover why they're responsible some giving speedway at least 2 of the sport's all time greats..! Plus Sedgy names his dream team, and dream track before the end too. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode not just 1, but 2 guests..! Berwick Bandits Team Manager and Co Promoter Gary Flint, and his son, British U21 & U19 Champion, Leon Flint. 2023 sees Leon take the proud role of captaining his hometown side under his Dad's leadership, whilst also taking the rising star position at Premiership side Wolves. We chat about the upcoming season an also a little about how the speedway life came their way. Gary is also himself a former rider who plied his trade mainly in the old conference league, but we'll also find out why speedway wasn't a forgone profession for Leon. Also discover why a modern day speedway hero is to thank for setting Leon off on his course to speedway stardom. The 2022 British Grand Prix in Cardiff saw the proudest moments for both Gary & Leon, and hear the story of how it felt to be heading to the tapes to line up next to Zmarzlik & Woffinden in his first ever GP race..! Plus we will discover who would make Gary & Leon's all time dream team as they create their dream speedway meeting's before the end of the podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Peter Collins MBE is without doubt one of the most successful British riders of all time, and a Belle Vue Aces legend. He's finally put together his autobiography called Keeping It On The Tyres, and recently at his book launch at Longsight Sports on Social Club on Kirkmanshulme Lane, I managed to get some time with him beside his world title winning bike..! His book is over 500 pages and documents everything you could ever want to know, and you can get hold of it at retro-speedway.com An overnight sensation when he burst onto the Cheshire grasstrack scene as a 16-year-old, Mancunian PC quickly shot to speedway fame, too, as a Rochdale rookie in the early 70s and became the most famous graduate of the Belle Vue training school. His 16 loyal seasons with Belle Vue – the local club he supported from the age of eight when he dreamed of emulating his boyhood hero Peter Craven – brought him the highest league and cup honours and, thanks to his trademark thrilling bursts from the back, a permanent place among the pantheon of Aces and England greats. He was beyond compare, the supreme racer who took the breath away, admired by fans and TV audiences worldwide. No other rider in the history of speedway has dominated the front and back pages of top-selling English tabloid newspapers as Peter did the day after his biggest triumph in front of a capacity 120,000 crowd at Katowice, Poland in 1976. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Katie Gordon is a rising star in British Speedway, and aiming to be the first finale rider to race in one of the top 3 leagues in British Speedway. Currently racing for Redcar Cubs at youth level, she's already beating many of the boys, and is proving that speedway is not all about strength, but also skill and mental attitude. Speedway is a male dominated sport, and she reveals some of the obstacles and stereotypes she's had to face on her journey, but the tide is starting to turn. Denmark led by Hans Nelson have recently named a female in their national U23s side, and so is it a matter of time before we see more females taking on the men on the shale? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Josh Auty raises the curtain on the British Speedway season in 2022 with his testimonial meeting on March the 19th at Scunthorpe. In his career he has raced for some of British Speedway's best knows teams including Coventry Bees, Sheffield Tigers, Leicester Lions, and Birmingham Brummies, whom he returns to this year. He's best known for racing with Scunthorpe Scorpions who he spend 9 seasons with, and before that learned his speedway craft there as a youngster. Find out about his career which has included appearances at the British Speedway GP in Cardiff, and winning the Queensland solo title in Australia! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices