VOL. 51 ISSUE 37 SEPTEMBER 16, 2014 P31
pions, starting with fellow Aus-
tralian Wayne Gardner then
moving to serial winners Mick
Doohan and Valentino Rossi –
but was controversially dropped
at the end of last season by
Rossi.
So is he really coming back?
Not according to Miller.
"I have only met him a few
times – somebody's been mak-
ing it up," he said.
Burgess himself was mysteri-
ously noncommittal when con-
tacted at his home in Australia.
"I can't say anything at the mo-
ment," he said.
The whole thing has the hall-
mark of a story emanating from
close to Rossi's team, still resent-
ful of the way the press broke the
story of Burgess's replacement as
crew chief at Valencia last year,
before Rossi had informed Bur-
gess.
A more likely candidate for
the Miller job at the LCR team is
Casey Stoner's former crew chief
Cristian Gabarrini, currently chaf-
ing in a role overseeing the pro-
duction-racer Honda RCV1000R
machines.
Michael Scott
SPEEDWAY FINALE SET
T
he final round of the
AMA Speedway Na-
tional Championship Se-
ries heads to the Gold
Country Fairgrounds in
Auburn, California, this
Friday night, September
19, with racing getting
underway at 8 p.m.
Defending AMA cham-
pion Billy Janniro of Ran-
cho Cordova, Califor-
nia, has dominated the
championship by win-
ning every heat in the se-
ries except one. Adding
to the challenge for Jan-
niro's competitors is the
fact that the Auburn Fast Friday's
track is his home track.
The sport of speedway motor-
cycle racing is going through a
rebirth with a number of young,
talented riders coming through
the ranks eager to prove their
worth against the established
stars. This year marks the sec-
ond year of the AMA Speedway
National Championship Series
after a short hiatus, but momen-
tum is building for the sport in
the form of second-year pro Max
Ruml and rookie Broc Nicol. The
17-year-old Ruml is fresh off his
first tour with Team USA at the
FIM Speedway World Cup held
in Great Britain and Poland.
Nicol, only 16, has dramati-
cally improved as the season has
progressed and looks to have
the talent and newly found con-
fidence to beat the top riders as
his gating has come around.
Two top level riders in conten-
tion for wins are veterans Charlie
Venegas and Bart Bast, both of
whom have called Auburn their
home track.
Tickets are $15 with discounts
for seniors, juniors and military.
Charlie Venegas is one of the riders
hoping to challenge Billy Janniro on
Friday night in Auburn, California.
