King's Lynn comeback rider won't take things for granted in Stars' colours
Comeback king Lewis Bridger will not take things for granted when entering his second life as a speedway rider in King’s Lynn colours, saying he has to think twice before buying a coffee.
The 31-year-old winter Minors and Brady Stars signing admits he “threw away” money as a youngster – by 2006 the teenage Bridger was already racing at Weymouth and top-flight Elite Leaguers Eastbourne – but is now more careful.
Following four years out of the shale sport the ex-Great Britain ace is trying his luck in kevlars again after finding a more stable home and work life.
He’ll compete on-track while continuing his security guard shifts.
Bridger said: “I took a lot of things for granted when young because at 16 I went straight into the first level, never in the middle. I never had to work a job.
“Now I’ve been grafting my a*** off for four years. I’m now working for £10 an hour: I have to contemplate when I buy a coffee! It’s a very different ball game.
“You could do a Richard Lawson (veteran whose clubs number Workington, Wolverhampton, Peterborough, Lakeside, Glasgow, Somerset and Ipswich) to make money out of the sport.
“The amount of money I threw away on stuff I didn’t need – going out to buy new equipment! The money isn’t there like it was.”
He says lockdown should make riders think about life outside speedway’s ‘bubble’, adding: “Some riders have been twiddling their thumbs but you need to have something after the sport.
“There is a lot outside speedway. People are scared almost to walk away, they think: ‘I can’t do anything else’.
“My best friend is a Polish lad. He was a DJ, and going all around Europe, but come lockdown he applied for work in social care.
“I don’t regret the time I had out from the sport. You’re in a speedway bubble.”
The Sussex-born and based racer says his focus now is on: “I think to just go away and enjoy it and really try it on at home.
“If you feel happy and enjoy your racing then things will be really good.”