Jeff Scott's latest book, entitled "Shale Trek" is now available for purchase at all good track shops and also can be ordered via paypal at www.methanolpress.com.
"Shale Trek" affords another Snapshot of the State of the Speedway Nation: endless speculation, whiffs of intrigue, daring do, plain speaking, spills, thrills, longueurs, lungfuls of methanol and oodles of excitement
The latest book includes:
Inaugural meeting of the Mallett Newport era
Speedway poetry
Virtual Platinum Helmet competition
Gaby Logan, Bob Willis & British Sports Book awards ceremony
Pav on philosophy behind the formation of the NL
Michael Addison on speedway promoters & sponsorship in the 70s
Bob Dugard blast against Coventry
PL & NL Pairs, EL & PL Play-offs, GP qualifier, NLRC, Cardiff 2009
Darcy Ward’s cooking skills analysed
Neil Machin on engine standardisation, tuners & much more besides
Rob Godfrey on averages manipulation allegations
Absolutely no jumping up & down on the centre green like a cartoon character
Rob Lyon on GB Team Manager role
Grass roots experience at Sittingbourne
Seven Workington riders in one Suzuki Swift
Featuring super performances from Justin Sedgmen, Darcy Ward, Jason Crump, Jason Lyons, Zorro & many others
A brief ponder on the philosophy of speed
George Barclay on rider training
Up close & personal: every British speedway track visited in glorious black & white
Pav on the rise of the new style speedway fan
Famous speedway vegetarians
Finance, Blazing Saddles & Newport speedway
In conversation & overheard comments, observations and insights from promoters, fans, officials & riders
All your favourite presenters’ foibles laid bare including those of Coombes, Barrie, Max, Sultan of Cheese, Porky, Saul, Andrews, Leigh, Tagg & many Moore
Nigel Pearson on what a speedway world without Sky would look like
Pom Pom girls, dance troupes & insect circuses
Speedway weather slip sliding away – meetings in the rain, postponements in the sunshine
Watching alongside Robert Bamford, Graeme Lemon as well as an extensive cast of fans, volunteers & officials
Campaign for a real pits perspective vaguely launches
Ringside with the Blunsdon Blog
Speedway gamesmanship
Beginner’s guide to track prep with Jason Lyons
Crouch on life in speedway & at Somerset
Obsessive collectors from badges to programmes via pylon photographs
The good, the bad & ugly of speedway programmes plus autobiographies written by the author
A cornucopia of speedway os’s: Pathos, bathos & ethos
Local (& National) Politicians and speedway do mix
Energy drinks promotions at a track near you – Generate & Monster but, so far, no Red Bull
A bluffers guide to refereeing and start marshalship
Those independent inquiries & carpets: in full
Charles McKay on sudden rulebook changes throughout the years
Injuries, ailments & botched operations
Speedway attendances
Planning appeals uncovered
Trackshop merchandise extravaganza & chitchat
Those Ronnie Russell team tactics for the ELPOF2L revealed (& a word on diets)
Jon Cook & John Anderson on the new attitudes at Lakeside & Berwick
Behind the scenes in the GP qualifier VIP press room
Solo safe sex practitioner promoter outlines his trusting, customer friendly PoV
Gary Patchett on Troy Batchelor transfer
Triumph of the ‘kids go free’ campaign week
Rider grading versus averages revisited
Mick Bratley on fan initiatives & how BSI could stage better meetings
For one night only Reading, Oxford & Cradley race again
Inside goss on the Lukas Dryml merchandise design debate
BoMo bested at St Boniface
Speedway journalists in action with Burbidge, Chard, Owen & Hamblin
Sky broadcast at Redcar
All the Facebook campaigns you were afraid to ask about
Trevor & Granddad on the mislaid passport
John Louis & Ronnie Russell outline track reconfigurations at Foxhall & Blunsdon
ORDER INFORMATION Available at all good track shops and also can be ordered via paypal at www.methanolpress.com.
BOOK DETAILS Shale Trek Jeff Scott
Paperback
306 pages
120 black & white photos
£20.00
Methanol Press
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Shale Trek joins Jeff Scott’s other critically acclaimed works on British Speedway: Showered in Shale, When Eagles Dared, Shifting Shale, Shale Britannia, Quantum of Shale along with Concrete for Breakfast, nominated for the 2009 British Sports Book of the year (Biography section). Together they constitute a body of work unique in its dedication to a sport as well as the social and cultural scope of its subject.
CHAPTER LISTING CHAPTER 1
Newport: “It just looks like there’s been a lick of paint but, behind the scenes, so much has gone on!”
CHAPTER 2
Swindon: “I know I sound a bit of an anorak but I’ve got my own virtual Platinum Helmet competition.”
CHAPTER 3
London: “All the best looking girls used to go and, if you wanted to see them on a Friday night, you had to go too!”
CHAPTER 4
Isle of Wight v. Bournemouth: “I don’t apologise that I’m patriotic. We need to help British youngsters reach a world stage at a lot earlier age and we have to do it as a nation!”
CHAPTER 5
Poole v. Eastbourne: “Often after a meeting, Charles would have the officials and everyone for tea and Penguin biscuits.”
CHAPTER 6
Eastbourne v. Coventry: “I think they honestly deserve to win the league because they have bought and paid for it!”
CHAPTER 7
Somerset: “The little tractor from the farm they use wouldn’t pull your plonker but it’s better than nothing.”
CHAPTER 8
Cardiff: “Cardiff has an amazing atmosphere but poor racing! It’s very different from all the other speedway meetings I’ve been to in this country.”
CHAPTER 9
Newport: “I’m sure they’d let him park his caravan here if he wanted!”
CHAPTER 10
King’s Lynn v. Rye House: “You can have anything you like to drink so long as it comes out of the fridge!”
CHAPTER 11
Sheffield v. Birmingham: “Most Premier League riders are only two engine blow-ups away from retiring!”
CHAPTER 12
Scunthorpe v. Workington: “It’s all hearsay. Some rider’s dad says it’s happened! Where is the proof? There isn’t any! It doesn’t make any business sense.”
CHAPTER 13
Workington v. Glasgow: “Twenty seconds! Go straight to the tapes but not over the grass!”
CHAPTER 14
Glasgow v. King’s Lynn: “He’s a real speedway fan. Not a celebrity one – he fills in the programme! Unfortunately, his wife doesn’t like speedway!”
CHAPTER 15
Belle Vue v. Swindon: “He’s so professional and hardworking. You should see his pits area and his lift!”
CHAPTER 16
Stoke v. Glasgow: “The forum has links to about seven different forecasts. Some of them say that and some of them don’t!”
CHAPTER 17
Birmingham v. Workington: “If any rules are being broken – and I’m not saying they are – then they’re not going to enforce them are they?”
CHAPTER 18
Weymouth v. Plymouth: “I think she only comes down here ’cause she thinks you’re flirting with her.”
CHAPTER 19
Wolverhampton v. Coventry: “CVS once said to me if he could order it to rain the night before – or in the morning – he would, as it really helps the track bind together properly!”
CHAPTER 20
Peterborough v. Wolverhampton: “There’s no shale on the GP tracks ’cause they don’t want to obscure the adverts! It’s mad but true!”
CHAPTER 21
Coventry v. Poole: “Ben Wilson is like Filip Sitera. Once he gates, out in front he’s happy to block anyone no matter who they are!”
CHAPTER 22
Eastbourne v. Lakeside: “I think we have to go to two nights a week every fortnight. All the riders would want to ride then.”
CHAPTER 23
Ipswich v. Poole: “My husband said ‘I’ve got a surprise’ and Chris Schramm walked in in his kevlars and presented me with some flowers!”
CHAPTER 24
Mildenhall v. Plymouth: “The atmosphere is better than last year and the track looks much better than last year too!”
CHAPTER 25
Edinburgh v. Sheffield: “You just know that when he finishes second when he gets back to the pits the tool boxes go flying!”
CHAPTER 26
Berwick v. Edinburgh: “The surface has now gone from motocross to smooth. The riders say it’s excellent - not just our riders either!”
CHAPTER 27
Glasgow v. Edinburgh: “It’s one of the safest safety fences in Britain but, now, we’ll go to some music!”
CHAPTER 28
Isle of Wight: “You see it all, simple children, people from Macclesfield who cut short their holiday in the South West due to the death of their guinea pig.”
CHAPTER 29
Redcar v. Edinburgh: “The riders here tonight at this level earn a living from speedway but, without Sky, it would become an amateur sport or semi-professional, at best!”
CHAPTER 30
Plymouth v. Bournemouth: “Speedway isn’t so much of a rich tapestry, nowadays it’s more like a shabby carpet!”
CHAPTER 31
Stoke v. Rye House: “It’s so scary and exciting! They just keep going till they stop.”
CHAPTER 32
Buxton v. Weymouth: “Speedway rule changes and general strangeness have always gone together.”
CHAPTER 33
Lakeside v. Ipswich: “There’s a lot behind the scenarios and that.”
CHAPTER 34
Sittingbourne: “The first time I ever ran here was in late ’94. We had 65 riders and we ran 89 races in one afternoon in December! Tim Mount had 12 rides that day.”
CHAPTER 35
Swindon: “You have to admire Adam Shields – he’s had so many injuries but still races like he never has had!”
CHAPTER 36
Coventry: “You see the nerves in their eyes and in their faces.”
CHAPTER 37
Eastbourne v. Ipswich: “Are you saying I’m small and appear to have no body strength?”
CHAPTER 38
Rye House: “I thought they were professionals and would laugh it off but Moggo had other ideas!”
CHAPTER 39
Newcastle v. Edinburgh: “Whenever any rider falls off, he runs over and signals for the ambulance – whether they want it or not!”
CHAPTER 40
Wolverhampton v. Swindon: “Will Steve Johnston – who has Rosco’s car keys – take them to the pits immediately!”
CHAPTER 41
Swindon v. Wolverhampton: “I’m not saying we can, but, if we can hold the two tacticals and win heat 15, then we can!”
