“Ole Olsen was the biggest fear to me,” Penhall recalled. Olsen, now a three-time world champion, and Englishman Kenny Carter, a bitter rival from Halifax, were Penhall’s main contenders for the title. He barely got on his bike after doing 35 television and radio interviews. Two days before the race, Penhall participated in a practice session at Wembley.

Penhall was the leading rider for Cradley Heath in the British Speedway League and the overwhelming favorite to win the world title in 1981. He dedicated the championship to the memory of his parents-LeRoy and Barbara Penhall-who had died in an airplane crash six years earlier. Penhall had cracked under the pressure of his first world championship, but he vowed to return at Wembley. Heartbroken, he wept in front of friends, family and an international television audience. In 1980, Penhall had been favored to win the world championship in Sweden but finished a disappointing fifth. Little did Penhall know that four years later he would be battling Olsen-”The Great Dane”-for speedway’s biggest prize on the same track. From that night on, I focused all my energy into winning a world championship.” “When I saw the crowd at Wembley and Ole win the world championship that night, that was a deciding point for me. “I was this snot-nosed kid from Newport Beach whose only thought was winning a national championship at Costa Mesa,” Penhall said.

Don spence professional bike racer 1981