Maximum man David Norris today revealed why his latest big night at Arlington meant so much.

The Eastbourne Eagles veteran was very businesslike as he went unbeaten in six rides to help his side thump old foes Wolverhampton 57-35 on Saturday.

Then, on a lap of honour with Nicki Pedersen after a heat-15 5-1, Norris suddenly thrust both fists into the air in an explosion of joy and relief as he went down the back straight.

He was still punching the air as he went past the fans around the finish line.

Norris, who has had a couple of tough years trying to emulate his great form of 2004, was flying out of the start gate all night on Saturday.

He shared threee maximums with Dean Barker and, crucially, remained ahead of the pace all the way through, including in the extra ride he took for injured Davey Watt.

That sort of staying power has not been in evidence too often in the last two campaigns. And Eagles' record points scorer knows it.

He said: "Normally I crumble away before six rides so I just tried to change my attitude towards what was happening in the meeting. I knew everything was working well and it was down to me.

"I didn't get het up until it was over. Then I thought crikey, that's good'."

Norris was given the customary bumps by team-mates and mechanics after going through the card for 18 paid points.

Eagles' 22-point home win was their biggest over Wolves for five years and came as surprise to most people given these two teams usually have close matches.

Norris admitted: "The celebration wasn't just about getting a maximum.

"I was also really pleased because it was against Wolverhampton.

"They pulled a really good one by having Travis McGowan as guest (for the unwell David Howe).

"No disrespect to them. I love them all to bits because they are all great guys but we really made them look second rate and they aren't.

"We just rode fantastic, the whole team.

"People will look at it as if they had an off night. They didn't.

"They rode well. They didn't get out of starts, simple as that, and we all rode great."

Norris was not the only one celebrating.

Pedersen's time of 55.8sec in heat one was his personal best at Arlington, shaving 0.3sec off his previous fastest set in 2005.

But Tony Rickardsson's track record of 55.1secs remains intact.

A broken chain in his third heat cost Pedersen his unbeaten record in the Polish league.

The Dane won four out of five for Rseszow as they beat his old club Zielona Gora 55-34 on Sunday.

Eagles asset Edward Kennett had an outstanding 7+1 (5) in Czestochowa's battling 48-42 defeat at Bydgoszcz, including a heat win over the home side's GP rider Andreas Jonsson.

brian.owen theargus.co.uk