Speedway Changes Gears : Promoters Move to Counter Sagging Attendance and Profits by Revamping Race Program and Reducing Riders’ Purses

Speedway motorcycle racing has been a fixture at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa for more than 18 years.

Only the California Angels and Los Alamitos Race Course have been in the sports business longer in the county than the Friday night races.

The program is the largest-attended weekly motorcycle racing program in North America. However, last season, speedway began to show signs of losing its popularity. Crowds that generally averaged 5,500 in the past dipped to 3,000 in August and September.

Costa Mesa wasn’t the only track suffering from declining crowds. Promoters at San Bernardino, Victorville and Ventura suggested they would cease operation unless some changes were made.

In 1969, Costa Mesa promoter Harry Oxley revived the sport, which was popular in the 1930s and ‘40s. He has enjoyed many prosperous seasons and isn’t the kind of guy who would sit around while his dream slowly vanished. He called together the operators of five Southern California tracks and proposed a few ideas that he thought could help resuscitate the sport.

Oxley’s proposals--involving changes in purses and race programs--were accepted and will be introduced at 8 tonight when speedway racing begins its 19th consecutive season at the Fairgrounds.

The biggest change involves the purses available to riders. Traditionally, riders shared the profits with promoters under an average system. When the crowds were good, the riders’ paychecks were good.

In past years, it wasn’t uncommon for the winning rider to earn about $1,100 if he won the scratch and handicap main events at Costa Mesa with a crowd of 6,000 or better. Those days are over.

Under a new system, a rider who wins the scratch and handicap main events at Costa Mesa will earn $774 no matter how many fans attend the race. Promoters will offer a guaranteed purse of $4,600 each week.

“I figure I can still make $1,000 (actually $1,075) on a Friday night if I win every race (four qualifying and two main events) at Costa Mesa,” said Mike Faria, Speedway Magazine’s rider of the year for 1986. “But it’s going to be tough.

“I make my livelihood off speedway. I figure I’m going to have to win a lot more races to earn what I did last year.”

Faria won the track championships at Ventura and Ascot’s South Bay Stadium and earned $5,000 for winning the riders’ points fund by capturing 54 main events on the Southland’s five tracks during the six-month season.

He said he would continue to ride at the less profitable tracks at Ventura and Victorville, but only because he has worked hard during the off-season to secure more sponsors.

“Ventura will be paying $180 for winning the handicap and scratch mains, which hardly makes it worth driving up there, by the time you pay for travel expenses, tires and your mechanic,” Faria said.

Alan Christian, 1985 U.S. champion, said he reluctantly accepted the rider pay cuts in an effort to help keep the five tracks alive.

“My initial reaction was like everybody else, I was pretty upset,” Christian said. “But after discussing the matter with several people, I decided I’m willing to give a little to help the sport.

“I’m compromising this year with the idea that better years are ahead of us. If I didn’t have a major sponsor (STP), I’d think twice about riding. Under this new system, I don’t see how anyone can race fulltime without a major sponsor.”

Several other changes are in store. For openers, the popular handicap portion of the program has been totally revamped. The handicap main event will feature eight riders racing for eight laps, instead of the customary six riders going five laps.

The second- and third-division races were eliminated. The races offered beginning and novice riders the opportunity to learn or improve their racing skills and earn a few dollars.

Second-division riders will now compete with first-division riders in handicap races. If a second-division rider is lucky enough to win the race, he’ll earn $25.

Third-division riders will compete in two support-class races with winners earning trophies. In the past, third-division winners earned $25. Also, there will no longer be any handicap or scratch consolation races.

Notes

Bruce Penhall, who retired after winning the 1982 World Final to pursue an acting career, made a triumphant return to England last weekend to ride in Peter Collins’ farewell appearance at Belle Vue. Penhall defeated Collins in three consecutive, four-lap match races on the sprawling track at Belle Vue before 13,000 fans, the largest crowd to attend a race at the venue in five years . . . Penhall said he is negotiating with Oxley to ride at a special meeting in June in Long Beach Veterans Stadium. The event will celebrate Jack Milne’s 50th anniversary of winning the world championship in 1937.