United States national speedway team

History

After Jack Milne and his brother Cordy Milne had finished first and third at the 1937 World Final (with another American Wilbur Lamoreaux finishing second), the U.S. went into the speedway wilderness until the early 1970s, when international riders such as world champions Barry Briggs and Ivan Mauger from New Zealand began visiting the Costa Mesa Speedway in Los Angeles. Scott Autrey's appearance in the 1976 World Final in Poland, was the first American appearance since Ernie Roccio had finished 15th in 1951.

Autrey, who in the mid-1970s had campaigned hard and successfully to have American riders included in the Speedway World Championship, signalled an American resurgence in speedway and was soon followed by others, such as 1981 and 1982 world champion Bruce Penhall, brothers Kelly and Shawn Moran, Bobby Schwartz, Dennis Sigalos, Lance King, 1993 Individual Speedway World Championship world champion Sam Ermolenko, Rick Miller, 1996 world champion Billy Hamill, and four times world champion Greg Hancock all going on to be regarded as some of the world's best speedway riders.

Major tournament wins

Speedway World Cup

The team has won the Speedway World Team Cup on five occasions, including their first win in 1982 which gave the U.S. the "Triple Crown" of speedway by winning the Individual, World Pairs and World Team Cup in the same year. The U.S. were a major force in the early 1990s, winning 3 out of 4 tournaments. Key riding members of the title wins include Billy Hamill (4 wins), Sam Ermolenko and Greg Hancock (both 3 wins).

The finals of both the 1985 and 1988 World Team Cups were held at the Veterans Memorial Stadium in Long Beach, California.

Titles

1993 (4th title)

World Pairs Championship

International caps (as of 2022)

Since the advent of the Speedway Grand Prix era, international caps earned by riders is largely restricted to international competitions, whereas previously test matches between two teams were a regular occurrence. This means that the number of caps earned by a rider has decreased in the modern era.

References

References

1. "HISTORY SPEEDWAY and LONGTRACK".
2. Oakes, Peter. (1981). "1981 Speedway Yearbook". Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd.
3. "WORLD FINALS 1936-1994".
4. Matthews/Morrison, Peter/Ian. (1987). "The Guinness Encyclopaedia of Sports Records and Results". Guinness Superlatives.
5. "Speedway riders, history and results".
6. "1985 WORLD TEAM CUP".
7. "1988 WORLD TEAM CUP".
8. "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022".