Four-Way Tie in American Final Racing

Shawn Moran, Billy Hamill, Greg Hancock and Rick Miller all tied for first place with 18 points in five heat races of the American Final of speedway motorcycle racing Saturday night at Long Beach Veterans Stadium.

That was the number of riders who will advance to the next qualifying round that ultimately leads to the world championship.

A scheduled four-lap runoff was halted after two laps when Hancock fell and was hit by Miller. Hancock suffered a broken arm and probably will be replaced by Ronnie Correy in the next qualifying round. It was the second time that Hancock was hit during the course of the evening.

Hamill and Hancock were successful for the first time in their bid for the world championship.

Correy tied Kelly Moran for fifth place with 16 points and then defeated Moran in the first of two runoffs to earn the reserve spot at the Overseas Final on June 24 at Coventry.

Hancock survived a crash in his first heat race when he took the lead going into the second turn on the quarter-mile track but lost control and was side-swiped by Correy.

Hancock flipped off his Weslake motorcycle and was hit squarely in the face by Hamill. Hancock laid on the track for five minutes but got up and won the restart.