Product Description

This book provides a unique behind the scenes look at the 2005 speedway season. Jeff Scott travelled 10,000 miles, attended 70 meetings, & watched over 1,100 races. He has selected key meetings from his travels and created a fascinating speedway travelogue consisting of a cornucopia of historical, technical, sometimes whimsical information and impressions. It reveals his love and passion for the sport as he engages with its many participants.

• Coverage of 30 British League tracks
• Quirky stories galore, the odd rant and captivating photos
• Plus exclusive interviews with: promoters, managers, riders, obsessive collectors, a vicar, photographers, referees, start girls &, most importantly, fans & aficionados of speedway!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #109734 in Books
• Published on: 2006-08-17
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 512 pages

Frank Keating,Guardian, October 3, 2006
Showered in Shale is a strikingly hectic labour of love, an urban
odyssey, a bucking, breathless round-Britain whizz in pursuit of an
obsession.

Tim Hamblin, Wolverhampton Express & Star, June 28, 2006
Scott's love of the sport and of his fellow man shine out. Highly
recommended.

Brian Burford, Speedway Star, August 5, 2006
There is embarrassment, anger, excitement, humour and some
dead-pan remarks that could have only come from speedway people.

Customer Reviews

The Louis Theroux of Speedway
This book looks at speedway in Britain from a fresh and interesting perspective. Jeff Scott travels to each speedway track in the UK and shares his observations on the places he visits and people he meets. He reproduces, seemingly from memory, many of the conversations he had and these offer some amazing insights into the sport. Scott seems to model himself somewhat on Louis Theroux, he plays the naive interviewer who draws more from his subjects than they might have preferred to give away. It's not difficult to imagine some people cringing when they see their casual asides reproduced several months later in such an enduring form. The most interesting characters in the book tend to be those on the fringes of the sport, those involved in casual duties or who attend purely as spectators. They seem to be more willing to offer an honest comment than the riders and promoters who, with some notable exceptions, seem rather more cautious in what they'll say. I can't recommend this book highly enough, it makes for excellent reading in the present day and will perhaps be of even more interest as a historical piece in future years.

Showered In Shale
This is probably the best speedway book ever written, it's definitely the best speedway book I've ever read. Part travelogue, part social comment Scott digs deep into the aspects of speedway that are all too often ignored in the usual autobiographies - the people who keep the sport alive, the communities that speedway tracks exist within and the pure enjoyment that can be found in the spectacle of four men, a dirt track and 4 powerful motorcycles with no brakes. Whether it's a rained off meeting at Sheffield or a chance encounter with a world champion in a supermarket queue Scott conveys the enthusiasm of a fan, the attention to deatail of an obsessive and the humour of the terraces. Speedway has been waiting for a book like this for years, embrace it and treasure it!

I'd give it six stars if I could
Devotees of speedway literature owe a lot to Norman Jacobs for reviving speedway literature with the assistance of Tempus and new technology. However the genre largely consists of club histories and rider biographies, with a few exceptions like John Berry's "Confessions...".

Now we have something completely different. The nearest comparison is with Nick Hornby's "Fever Pitch" (a book I loved, despite having little interest in football, because it so clearly portrayed the obsession of the fan). But whereas Hornby's book deals with his own obsession Scott's book is only partly about his own interest. What this book is really does is paint a picture of all those who love the sport: the fans, promoters, referees, track staff, riders' wives.

The book doesn't always paint a favourable picture of our sport (decaying stadiums, sparse crowds, an ageing fan base), but helps articulate why we have a relationship with the sport. And in many cases it is an obsessive one!

Except for a few controversial incidents the racing takes a back seat. More typical are the observations of the minutiae. (For example the author's encounter with world number 2 Greg Hancock in Tescos with its musings on the contents of his shopping basket.) Above all though it recounts conversations (some formal interviews, but mainly casual encounters) with the people who make speedway tick. This is speedway how I feel it.

Ultimately this is social observation. Whatever speedway looks like in 30 years time it will undoubtedly have changed (or died out if it hasn't adapted). For anyone in 2036 who wishes to understand those changes and get a real feeling for what speedway used to be like in 2005 then this will be a must to read.