Ascot Park, first named Los Angeles Speedway, and later New Ascot Stadium, was a
dirt racetrack located near
Gardena, California
Gardena is a city located in the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay region of Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 58,829 at the 2010 census, up from 57,746 at the 2000 census. ...
. Ascot Park was open between 1957 and 1990. The track held numerous
United States Auto Club
The United States Auto Club (USAC) is one of the sanctioning bodies of auto racing in the United States. From 1956 to 1979, USAC sanctioned the List of USAC Championship Car seasons, United States National Championship, and from 1956 to 1997 the ...
(USAC) national tour races and three
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...
Grand National (now
NASCAR Cup Series
The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, ...
races. The
Turkey Night Grand Prix
The Automotive Racing Products Turkey Night Grand Prix is an annual race of midget cars. It is the third oldest race in the United States behind the Indianapolis 500 and the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. It has been held on Thanksgiving nig ...
was held at the track for several decades.
History
Ascot Park was the fourth of four Ascot sites in Los Angeles after the original one-mile track at Central & Florence was open between 1907 and 1919.
A second site named
Legion Ascot Speedway
Legion Ascot Speedway was an American race track in Los Angeles, California that operated from 1924 to 1936. It hosted AAA Champ Car races.
History Early success under Bentel ends with a scandal
After the construction of a -mile dirt oval near ...
held races between 1924 and 1936.
Legion Ascot closed after 24 drivers died while racing at the track.
A third site named Southern Ascot held races between 1937 and 1942 in South Gate on a half mile dirt oval.
Los Angeles Speedway opened in 1957, on the site of a former
city dump. It was built less than from the former site of Carrell Speedway, which had been closed in late 1954 to make way for the
Artesia Freeway
State Route 91 (SR 91) is a major east–west state highway in the U.S. state of California that serves several regions of the Greater Los Angeles urban area. A freeway throughout its entire length, it officially runs from Vermont Avenue in ...
. The track was renamed to New Ascot Stadium in October 1958 as part of a management change. The track assumed the name it held until its closure, Ascot Park in 1961.
J. C. Agajanian promoted major races at the venue, and later leased the track from 1976 until his death in 1984, when his family continued operating the venue. His radio advertisements ended with the phrase "Come to Ascot, where the 110, the 405 and the 91 freeways collide!".
With seating for only 7,500, Ascot Park was smaller than the other tracks of the area including the
Ontario Motor Speedway
Ontario Motor Speedway was a motorsport venue located in Ontario, California. It was the first and only automobile racing facility built to accommodate major races sanctioned by all of the four dominant racing sanctioning bodies: USAC (and now In ...
(closed in 1980), and the
Riverside International Raceway
Riverside International Raceway (sometimes known as Riverside, RIR, or Riverside Raceway) was a motorsports race track and road course established in the Edgemont area of Riverside County, California, just east of the city limits of Riverside ...
(closed in 1989). However, the park was equally well-known, due to its being surrounded by freeways for easy access, its regularly scheduled races, and its heavy radio advertising.
The half-mile course featured tight semi-banked turns, long straight-ways, and a tacky surface that was conducive to dramatic
sprint car racing
Sprint cars are high-powered open-wheel race cars, designed primarily for the purpose of running on short oval or circular dirt or paved tracks. Sprint car racing is popular primarily in the United States and Canada, as well as in Australia, New ...
. Other motorsport events, such as
Figure 8 racing
Figure 8 racing is a form of stock car racing in which automobiles race on a track that purposely intersects itself, increasing the risk of collisions. Figure 8 racing is most common and popular in the United States and Canada. Because of the r ...
and motorcycle flat track, TT racing and motocross, were also held at Ascot.
The dirt racetrack hosted races in the
United States Auto Club
The United States Auto Club (USAC) is one of the sanctioning bodies of auto racing in the United States. From 1956 to 1979, USAC sanctioned the List of USAC Championship Car seasons, United States National Championship, and from 1956 to 1997 the ...
(USAC) sprint car championship, the
AMA Grand National Championship
American Flat Track is an American motorcycle racing series. The racing series, founded and sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) in 1954, originally encompassed five distinct forms of competitions including mile dirt track r ...
motorcycle series. Ascot was also the site of the annual USAC
Turkey Night Grand Prix
The Automotive Racing Products Turkey Night Grand Prix is an annual race of midget cars. It is the third oldest race in the United States behind the Indianapolis 500 and the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. It has been held on Thanksgiving nig ...
midget race on Thanksgiving.
Though he began doing stunt jumps in 1966 at small venues such as fairs and carnivals,
Evel Knievel
Robert Craig "Evel" Knievel (; October 17, 1938 – November 30, 2007) was an American stunt performer and entertainer. Over the course of his career, he attempted more than 75 ramp-to-ramp motorcycle jumps. Knievel was inducted into the Motor ...
(Robert Craig Knievel) gained international attention with his first televised jump on ''
ABC’s Wide World of Sports'' at Ascot Park Raceway on March 25, 1967, successfully clearing 15 cars.
The racetrack was also used in movies and TV shows like the original ''
Gone in 60 Seconds'', ''
A Very Brady Christmas'', ''
Pit Stop
In motorsports, a pit stop is a pause for refuelling, new tyres, repairs, mechanical adjustments, a driver change, as a penalty, or any combination of the above. These stops occur in an area called the pits, most commonly accessed via a pit la ...
'', ''
T J Hooker
''T. J. Hooker'' is an American police drama television program starring William Shatner in the title role as a 15-year veteran police sergeant. The series premiered as a mid-season replacement on March 13, 1982, on ABC and ran on the network u ...
'' and ''
CHiPs
''CHiPs'' is an American crime drama television series created by Rick Rosner and originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977, to May 1, 1983. It follows the lives of two motorcycle officers of the California Highway Patrol (CHP). The serie ...
''.
The 50th annual Turkey Night Grand Prix for USAC
midget cars
Midget (from ''midge'', a tiny biting insect) is a term for a person of unusually short stature that is considered by some to be pejorative due to its etymology. While not a medical term like "dwarfism", a medical condition with a number of ca ...
became the last of more than 5,000 main events held since the track opened. Ascot Park was closed in November 1990.
It remained unused after a failed development project occupied the former site for a number of years. The track site was later replaced by Insurance Auto Auctions building and storage yard.
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
was hosting live races of ''
Thursday Night Thunder'' sprint car racing from 1988 to the track's closing in 1990 and later went over to
Indianapolis Raceway Park
Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park (formerly Indianapolis Raceway Park, O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis, and Lucas Oil Raceway) is an auto racing facility in Brownsburg, Indiana, United States, about northwest of Downtown Indianapolis, do ...
and the show was later moved to Saturday night, some of the most famous driver to race at Ascot was
Jeff Gordon
Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, who is the Vice Chairman for Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick M ...
,
Sleepy Tripp
Ron "Sleepy" Tripp is an American Hall of Fame midget car driver. Tripp got his nickname as a youth when he would fall asleep in his quarter midget car while waiting for his next race to start.[Dick Mann
Dick Mann (June 13, 1934 – April 26, 2021) was an American professional motorcycle racer. He was a two-time winner of the A.M.A. Grand National Championship. Mann was inducted in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1993, and the Motorcycl ...]
among others.
NASCAR race results
Three
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...
Grand National Series The name NASCAR Grand National Series refers to former names of the following NASCAR series:
*National-level stock car series:
**NASCAR Cup Series (known as NASCAR Grand National Series between 1950 to 1970, then the NASCAR Winston Cup Grand Nation ...
events were held at the track. The 1957 event was held on the track. It was won by
Eddie Pagan
Eddie Pagan (August 1, 1918August 1, 1984) was an American stock car racing driver. Pagan was born in Midland, Texas on August 1, 1918. According to an entry in the 1940 U.S. Census, Pagan was living in New Mexico with his wife Marian by the ye ...
. The second NASCAR event was a 500 lap event on the track, and it was won by
Parnelli Jones
Rufus Parnell Jones (born August 12, 1933) is an American former professional racing driver and racing team owner. He is notable for his accomplishments while competing in the Indianapolis 500 and the Baja 1000 desert race. In 1962, he became the ...
. The final event was held in 1961 on the track.
Eddie Gray lapped the field for the win.
Ascot Stadium
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...
results, Retrieved November 27, 2007
See also
* Eddie Gray (notable Ascot Park weekly series alumni)
* Christopher J.C. Agajanian
*Figure 8 racing
Figure 8 racing is a form of stock car racing in which automobiles race on a track that purposely intersects itself, increasing the risk of collisions. Figure 8 racing is most common and popular in the United States and Canada. Because of the r ...
References
External links
*
*
Garbell.com: Ascot Park track photos & video
Facebook — Ascot Park Fan Page
"Impact '66"
— ''vintage Chevrolet sales film; one segment depicts figure 8 racing at Ascot Park''.
{{USAC Stock Car racetracks
Sports venues in Los Angeles County, California
Dirt oval race tracks in the United States
Motorsport venues in California
NASCAR tracks
Gardena, California
Sports venues completed in 1957
1957 establishments in California
1990 disestablishments in California
Defunct speedway venues in the United States
Defunct motorsport venues in the United States
Demolished buildings and structures in Los Angeles
Demolished sports venues in California