Shawn Moran’s Journey Home Has Been Rough

Shawn Moran, a speedway motorcycle racer from Huntington Beach, hopes he’s more successful tonight on the 190-yard oval at the Orange County Fairgrounds than he was traveling from London to Southern California to participate in the U.S. Speedway championship.

Moran was unsuccessful in reserving a nonstop flight from London’s Heathrow Airport to Los Angeles after a race at Cradley Heath and opted for a layover in New York on Monday morning instead.

But his flight from New York was canceled after a two-hour delay on the runaway when the plane encountered fuel problems. Moran and Ronnie Correy, who also is scheduled to ride at 8 tonight, were bumped on another flight from New York and had to accept a flight to St. Louis before arriving in Los Angeles nearly 24 hours after departing from London.

“I’m a little tired,” Moran said. “Normally we don’t have problems coming home to race, but you never know.”

Moran’s travel delay was typical of his 10th season of racing in the British Speedway League. Earlier this year, he was banned from all world championship events by the governing Federation of International Motorcyclists after testing positive for alcohol during a qualifying race for the world long track championship in West Germany.

The ruling meant that Moran, one of the top five riders in the world, was not allowed to compete in the long track world final, team cup and pairs championships. Saturday, Moran earned a measure of success in an otherwise disappointing season when he became the first U.S. rider to win the British League Riders’ Championship.

The race pits the top scoring rider from each team in the league, with 16 riders competing in five scratch races. That format will be used tonight at the Orange County Fairgrounds to determine the national champion.

In the British championship, Moran was tied with Hans Nielsen after four rounds of racing and they met in the final heat of the meeting. Nielsen drew the pole position, with Moran starting on the outside and two riders sandwiched between them.

Moran guessed correctly that Nielsen, the newly crowned world champion, would drift outside to a layer of dirt through the first turn, and he slipped underneath Nielsen to gain the victory in the four-lap race.

“It was my world championship,” Moran said. “The race is more difficult to win than the world championship. You generally have a couple of riders in the world championship from Eastern Bloc countries who would never qualify for this race. It was great winning on my home track.”

Moran has ridden only once at Costa Mesa. He said adjusting to the fairgrounds’ smaller track won’t be easy.

“You’re talking about a distance of maybe 30 yards from the starting gate through the first turn at Costa Mesa, while we have about 80 yards on the tracks in England,” Moran said. “The starts are so important here.”

Moran adjusted just fine in 1982, when he won the U.S. Championship after spending the season in Europe. But he was a champion in absentia, opting to return to Europe. If Moran wins tonight, will he decide to stay home and race in Southern California next year?

“I’ve given that a lot of thought,” he said. “Initially I thought about riding here next year. I’ve spent 10 years in England . . . that’s a long time to be away from home. But I’ve decided to go back next year.

“I’m going all out to win here, I’m going to do my very best. I’m not just showing up to get some more Mexican food and then go back to England.”

Speedway Notes

In the 21st season of racing at the Orange County Fairgrounds, total attendance for 27 weeks was 104,477. The average attendance was 3,869. . . . The leading scratch riders for the season at Costa Mesa were Mike Faria, Billy Hamill and Alan Christian, all with five victories. Bobby Schwartz, the top qualifier for the championship with 107 points at five tracks, won only two scratch mains. . . . The prospects of Steve Lucero repeating as champion are slim. Only two riders--Bruce Penhall and Kelly Moran--have repeated in the 1980s.

PAST CHAMPIONS 1969 Steve Bast

1970 Rick Woods

1971 Mike Bast

1972 Rick Woods

1973 Mike Bast

1974 Steve Bast

1975 Mike Bast

1976 Mike Bast

1977 Mike Bast

1978 Mike Bast

1979 Mike Bast

1980 Bruce Penhall

1981 Bruce Penhall

1982 Shawn Moran

1983 Kelly Moran

1984 Kelly Moran

1985 Alan Christian

1986 Bobby Schwartz **

1987 Brad Oxley ***

1988 Steve Lucero

* Bast defeated Mike Konle in a runoff.

** Schwartz defeated Robert Pfetzing in a runoff.

*** Oxley defeated Bobby Ott in a runoff.