Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/142449
By John Hipkiss The 13 year revival of speedway racing in America climaxes on the last Saturday in August, when the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum will be the site of the 1982 World Individual Speedway Championship. Race hungry southern California speedway fans will have 22 thei r feast as 16 of the world's best speedway riders, who have already fought their way th rough a multitude of qualifying rounds just for an airline ticket to L.A. , try to win the titl e in a single night. The 1982 World Speed way Final writes itself into the books as the first Final ever held outside of Europe. It 's a reward, one woul d thi n k, for the American s who have been compe tin g successfully in inte rnationa l competition, particularly in the tou gh British League, for the past fou r years. The most successful is southern California's own Bruce "The Fox" Penhall, who comes in to the race as the defending World Speedway Ch am p io n after having tak en the title a yea r ago befor e 92,000 people in London 's Wembley Stadi um . There are three Americans competing in the race, and all three cut their teeth on the tracks of the weekly southern California speedway circuit. But the majority of the finalists will be making their first appearance in the Vnited States. Since most of these riders will be making American debuts, and to refresh your memory on some of th e more familiar names, we'll take a br ief look a t the final 16 riders eligible for all the marbl es. United States of America Occupying the top of the tree at the mo ment, Bru ce Penhall certainly needs no introduction to speedway fans in southern California. Pen hall won the title in a glorious night in England last Sep tember, only dropping on e point en route to taking th e titl e in just hi s second attem p t. H is first was th e year before when he fin- ished a disappointing-to-himself fifth with nine points. Penhall was born May 10, 1957, in Anaheim, CA. When hi s parents were tragically killed in a 1975plane crash, Penhall dedicated his career to their memory. He became very popular on the small tracks of southern California, such as San Bernardino and Costa Mesa, before venturing over to ride for the British League team Cradley Heath in 1978. His first season saw him become rookie of the year, along with collecting thousands of fans (mainly girl admirers). The following years have seen him collect so much silv er that he could retire on its melted down value alone. He achieved his ambition of winning the V ..S. National title (which had seemingly been gl ued to Mike Bast) in 1980 and again in '81, so there are not many titles left to go for. Season-long rumors of Penhall's retirement (which were partiall y borne o ut by h is recent retire ment from the Cradley H ea th team ), seem to suggest that Pen ha ll is widening his horizons . H e will perform in several episodes of the TV seri es CHiPs next year, but let's hope Penhall still has tim e to continue as the best ambassador th e sport of speedway has had in a lon g tim e. In qualifyin g ac tio n thi s yea r, Penhall was seeded by the AMA straight into the Overseas Final where he scored II points. At the InterContinental Final in Sweden, h e scored nine points to qualify for the big night. Second of the three Americans to qualify for the Final is 23-year-old Dennis Sigalos from Garden Grove, CA. Like Penhall, Sigalos learned his trade on the small tracks before trying his luck in the British League. He started with the Hull team, then switched in 1981 to the Ipswitch Witches. . Winner of the American Final, " Siggy" had a hard time making it through the next round of competition at the Overseas Final, where he had to win his las t heat in a muchcriticized heat with the three other Americans. He finished tha t race with eigh t points and went on to the InterContinental Final, finishing that race with 10 points and then winning a run-off for third place. Los Angeles will be Siga los' first World Fin a l. Just days after q uali fying for the Final, Siggy broke a bon e in his left ankle. However, he still expects to be fit for his debut at the Coliseum. After having a terrific season in Europe, Sigalos must be regarded as on e of Penhal l' s main challengers. The last of the trio of sta tesiders is the happy-goo-lucky ma n from Hunt-