U.S. Speedway Championships : Schwartz, at 33, Becomes Event’s Oldest Champion

Speedway motorcyclist Bobby Schwartz, 33, became the oldest rider to win a U.S. Championship Saturday night by scoring 14 points in five races for his second national title before 7,810 fans at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa.

Schwartz, of Costa Mesa, won four of his five races and finished second in the other to win the title. He won his first national title in 1986 when he also scored 14 points.

Billy Hamill, a 19-year-old from Monrovia, finished second with 13 points and Phil Collins, a transplanted British rider now living in Balboa, won a four-lap runoff against Brad Oxley of San Clemente and Shawn Moran of Huntington Beach after trio tied with 10 points.

Schwartz came close to sweeping the program, but he lost control in his first race on the third lap with a solid lead and went wide into the fourth turn, losing the race to Jim Sisemore. It was his only defeat of the evening.

Schwartz’ most important race in an entertaining night of racing came in the second round when he defeated Hamill. Hamill finished third in the race and it ultimately cost him the title.

It wasn’t long ago that Schwartz would have self-destructed after leading a race and failing to finish first at the checkered flag. But the veteran rider kept his cool to become speedway’s most successful senior citizen.

“Yeah, there was a time when losing a race like that would have really bothered me,” Schwartz said. “But I think in the last three years, I’ve learned to deal with adversity. I knew I could come back. It was only my first race and there would be other chances.”

Some expected Hamill, the new kid on the scene, to win the title, signaling a changing of the guard. But Schwartz said he will return for another season.

“It looks like I’ll be back for at least another year,” he said. “I think the new blood in speedway is good for the sport, and it’s time for a change. But I still have a few good years left, don’t I?”

Collins, once a top rider in the British Speedway League while riding out of Birmingham, was a sentimental favorite with the big crowd and later announced his retirement after defeating Moran and Oxley in a four-lap runoff.

Shawn Moran, a 10-year veteran of riding overseas since leaving Huntington Beach, was in the hunt for the title until he finished third in his last race. Moran had to settle for fourth while Oxley was fifth.