Backtrack Issue 44

ALAN CARTER � new light on Carter tragedies

The younger brother of the late Kenny Carter opens his heart to reveal a life of pain and suffering in his astonishing new book, Light in the Darkness . . .

Twenty-five years have elapsed since speedway was stunned by the tragic deaths of Pam and Kenny Carter at their Bradshaw, West Yorkshire farmhouse on May 21, 1986.

Even now, whenever the former Halifax, Bradford and England No.1 is mentioned in conversation, people still shake their heads and ask the same question: why?

Why did the 25-year-old reigning British Champion shoot his wife and then end his own life on that horrific Wednesday evening?

It is the same question Alan Carter has been asking himself about his brother, too, and for him the chilling events have rarely been far from his mind.

Since the age of six, when his younger brother was killed in a car driven by his mother Christine, who was paralysed from the waist down in the same accident, Alan has had to live with a succession of family tragedies.

In 1979, aged 15, he was called from a school disco in Halifax to be informed that his mum had taken her own life after spending nearly a decade wracked in pain caused by her fatal crash.

In 1986, aged 21, Alan lost his other brother when Kenny lost the plot and did what he did.

And in 2002 he suffered another devastating blow when his baby daughter, Charlie, died just moments after being born.

Uncle Alan has also seen his nephew Malcolm � Kenny�s son � imprisoned for causing death by dangerous driving.

The loss of a loved one is too much for most of us to bear under any circumstances, so we cannot begin to imagine what father of three Alan Carter has been through.

KENNY v BRUCE � the final disgrace

Everyone has had their say about the infamous bruising battle between Bruce Penhall and his bitter rival Kenny Carter that made the 1982 World Final so memorable. Now Kenny�s equally outspoken brother Alan Carter has the last word in this compelling extract from his brilliant new book.

GRAHAM PLANT INTERVIEW

A hard rider who had a bit of �wild man� reputation, Graham Plant looks back on his career with Teesside, Leicester, Halifax, Newport and Milton Keynes.

COLIN MEREDITH INTERVIEW

Track curators often get the dirt thrown at them when conditions are less than perfect, but former rider and team manager Colin Meredith has built a reputation as one of the best in the business. He�s talking here about graders, granite and quarries and also looking back at his riding days for Bradford, Wolverhampton and Oxford.

JOHN JACKSON INTERVIEW

He was one of the outstanding stars of the National League, so why didn�t John Jackson move onwards and upwards to top flight fame? We talk to the Crewe, Ellesmere Port and Stoke star to try and solve the puzzle.

HEAD2HEAD � PETER COLLINS versus MALCOLM SIMMONS in 1976

In the first of a new series comparing two track giants of a certain era, we look back at the 1976 season when Peter Collins and Malcolm Simmons were riding high for England. They met 15 times throughout that sizzling summer in meetings for their clubs and as individuals, so find out how they scored.

MALCOLM SIMMONS COLUMN

Super Simmo pays a moving tribute to his former friend, hero, mentor and rival, the late Don Godden, whom he describes as �the Ivan Mauger of grass-track.�

BRUCE PENHALL COLUMN

Bruce and Kenny Carter were bitter rivals in the early 80s who hated each other, so read here what columnist BP makes of Alan Carter�s sensational new book.

THE BOSS: STUART BAMFORTH

He is mainly remembered as the man who closed down the original Belle Vue, but Stuart Bamforth upset plenty of others in different ways. Here we look back at the controversial impact made by the no-nonsense �Bammy�.

Plus Q&As with . . . ROBERT MOUNCER, CHRIS ROYNON and DARRELL BRANFORD.

And Another Thing . . . JOHN BERRY recalls the days when Englishmen considered it an honour to race for their country.

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This article was first published on 21st July 2011