United States national speedway team
| USA | |||||
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| Nation color | White | ||||
| SWC Wins | 5 (1982, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1998) | ||||
| World Championships | |||||
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The United States national speedway team are an international motorcycle speedway team governed by the American Motorcyclist Association. They compete in the major international speedway competitions, including the Speedway World Cup and Speedway of Nations and the former events the Speedway World Team Cup and the Speedway World Pairs Championship.
History
After Jack Milne and his brother Cordy had finished first and third at the 1937 World Final (with another American Wilbur Lamoreaux finishing second),[1] the USA 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. After World War II, Scott Autrey's appearance in the 1976 World Final in Poland was the first American appearance since Ernie Roccio had finished 15th in 1951.[2]
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 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.[3]
Speedway World Cup
The USA national speedway team has won the Speedway World Team Cup on five occasions, including their first win in 1982 which gave the USA the "Triple Crown" of speedway by winning the Individual, World Pairs and World Team Cup in the same year (the WTC was actually the first victory of the three).[4][5] The USA 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 cup has eluded the USA since 1998 and the team has become weaker due to the retirements of Sam Ermolenko and Billy Hamill, and a lack of recognised experienced riders in Europe.
The finals of both the 1985 and 1988 World Team Cups were held at the Veterans Memorial Stadium in Long Beach, California.[6][7] In the 41-year history of the WTC, these were the only times that the finals were held outside of Great Britain or Europe.
| Year | Venue | Standings (Pts) | USA Riders and Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 |  London White City Stadium |
1.  USA (37)2.  Denmark (24)3.  West Germany (18)4.  Czechoslovakia (17)
|
Kelly Moran | 10 |
| Bruce Penhall | 10 | |||
| Bobby Schwartz | 9 | |||
| Shawn Moran | 8 | |||
| Scott Autrey | 0 | |||
| 1990 | Pardubice Svítkov Stadion |
1. USA (37) 2.  England (34)3. Denmark (30)4. Czechoslovakia (19)
|
Kelly Moran | 12 |
| Sam Ermolenko | 11 | |||
| Shawn Moran | 10 | |||
| Billy Hamill | 4 | |||
| Rick Miller | 0 | |||
| 1992 |  Kumla Kumla Speedway |
1. USA (39) 2. Denmark (33)3. England (31)4. Sweden (17)
|
Greg Hancock | 11 |
| Sam Ermolenko | 10 | |||
| Billy Hamill | 10 | |||
| Ronnie Correy | 5 | |||
| Bobby Ott | 3 | |||
| 1993 | Coventry Brandon Stadium |
1. USA (40) 2. Denmark (38)3. Sweden (28)4. England (14)
|
Sam Ermolenko | 11 |
| Bobby Ott | 11 | |||
| Billy Hamill | 10 | |||
| Greg Hancock | 10 | |||
| Josh Larsen | - | |||
| 1998 | Vojens Vojens Speedway Center |
1. USA (28) 2. Sweden (24)3. Denmark (23)4.  Poland (17)5. Germany (14)6. Czech Republic (14)7.  Hungary (6)
|
Billy Hamill | 16+1 |
| Greg Hancock | 12+5 | |||
| Sam Ermolenko | - | |||
| Key: +1,2... - bonus points gained by finishing behind teammate +1j,+2j... - extra points gained in joker ride | ||||
Titles
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.[8]
| Rider | Caps |
|---|---|
| Autrey, Scott | 22 |
| Bast, Bart | 3 |
| Bast, Steve | 5 |
| Burmesiter, Tyson | 1 |
| Chrisco, Keith | 1 |
| Cook, John | 49 |
| Correy, Ronnie | 23 |
| Curoso, Mike | 1 |
| Ermolenko, Charles | 9 |
| Ermolenko, Sam | 51 |
| [[]] | 0 |
| [[]] | 0 |
| [[]] | 0 |
| [[]] | 0 |
| Sigalos, Dennis | 52 |
See also
References
- ^ "HISTORY SPEEDWAY and LONGTRACK". Speedway.org. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
- ^ Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. pp. 20–21. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
- ^ "WORLD FINALS 1936-1994" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
- ^ Matthews/Morrison, Peter/Ian (1987). The Guinness Encyclopaedia of Sports Records and Results. Guinness Superlatives. p. 290. ISBN 0-85112-492-5.
- ^ "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
- ^ "1985 WORLD TEAM CUP". International Speedway. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
- ^ "1988 WORLD TEAM CUP". International Speedway. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
- ^ "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
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| National Leagues | ||
| Ice speedway |
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| National sports teams of the United States | |
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