Speedway Racing : Collins’ Win Highlights Season Opener

In six weeks, speedway motorcyclist Phil Collins will return to his home in Manchester, England, where doctors will remove a pin from his left leg, which was badly broken in a crash last season.

The impending surgery, however, does not seem to affect Collins’ ability to race speedway motorcycles. Friday night, Collins won the scratch main event to highlight the 20th anniversary season opener of racing at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa.

Collins held off Alan Christian of Huntington Beach and the reigning U.S. champion, Brad Oxley of San Clemente, to win the four-lap race in front of 6,480 fans.

“I had a few lucky breaks in the semifinal,” Collins said. “I’m riding with a bit more confidence these days after riding in Australia all winter.”

Collins, who rode in Southern California last season, had planned to compete in a newly formed Danish racing league this season. But Collins’ deal in Denmark fell through, and his top priority is having the pin removed from his leg.

The surprise winner of the eight-lap handicap main event was Kevin Krugh, 28, of Lake Elsinore. Krugh started at the 20-yard line and went wire-to-wire to capture only the second Costa Mesa main event victory of his career.

Krugh has won only 10 main events overall in his career but missed the national championship race two years ago by only six points. Ed Castro of Ojai finished second in the handicap main event, with Tuff McBride of Grand Terrace, Calif., third and Gary Hicks of Glen Avon, Calif., fourth.

Bobby Schwartz of Costa Mesa, who won 56 main events last season, had to be content with winning the scratch consolation race. Jason Chism of Paramount won the second division main and Mike Reed of Riverside won the third division main.

Former television star Billy Gray of Topanga provided the most excitement of the evening. Gray, 50, who once starred in the series “Father Knows Best,” won his opening handicap heat race and was leading in his semifinal when he drove far outside on turn two on his fourth lap and failed to qualify for the main event.

An anticipated meeting between Oxley and Bobby Ott, the rider he beat to win the championship in a runoff, never materialized. Ott failed to advance from either his handicap or scratch heat races.

Schwartz failed to advance to the scratch main event, but he did beat Oxley in a best two-out-of-three match race series during halftime.