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Bruce Penhall Place of Birth: Balboa, California - USA 2011 - Inducted into The Motorsports Hall Of Fame YouTube Bruce Penhall's speech at the Motorsports Hall of Fame Awards in Detroit Below is from Bruce Penhall on Wikipedia Bruce first rode Speedway when he was 16 at Irwindale Raceway on the American west-coast. From novice status, he quickly established himself in the US National Championships, twice finishing in the top three positions. In 1976 he toured Israel and in 1977 Australia and New Zealand, before being lured to Cradley Heath Heathens in 1978 by Dan McCormick and Derek Pugh. On his Dudley Wood debut against Sheffield in a challenge match, he notched just a single point. Never again in his British career would he score less than four for the Heathens. In his second match - his league debut - he scored nine; within a month he clocked double figures and topped the scorechart for the first time with 13; in July he took over as club captain following the departure of Bruce Cribb and hit his first Heathens maximum; and by the end of the year he had achieved a season average of over 9.00 points per match. In 1979 he won the Master of Speedway competition around Europe, as well as becoming the first American holder of the Golden Helmet match race championship. He was runner-up to John Louis in the British League Riders Final and led Cradley to Inter-League Cup success and their highest ever league position. By 1980 there were more cup victories, along with SWAPA Overseas Rider of the Year, American National Champion, a first World Final appearance (scoring nine points). The 1981 season was Penhall's all conquering year. At the World Final at Wembley, 92,500 people witnessed Penhall come from behind to pip both former World Champion Ole Olsen of Denmark and later another Dane Tommy Knudsen on the finish line. His only loss of the night was finishing second to England's Kenny Carter when he only needed to finish third to clinch the title. Also in 1981 Penhall partnered fellow American Bobby Schwartz to win the Speedway World Pairs Championship in Poland. He also led Cradley all the way to their first ever league title victory, topping the individual league averages on the way. On top of a clean sweep of all the SWAPA personality awards was a special citation from US President Ronald Reagan. However, he had less than one year left in speedway before moving on, firstly to the world of Hollywood movies and later to powerboat racing (where he would become a world champion again). In 1982 he won the World Team Cup with the USA and then his one last speedway ambition was achieved – World Individual success on his home soil in America, when he won his second world title at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. He effectively retired on the rostrum.
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