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Legion Ascot Speedway

Legion Ascot Speedway was an American race track in Los Angeles, California that operated from 1924 to 1936.[3] It hosted AAA Champ Car races.[4]

Legion Ascot Speedway
LocationLos Angeles, California, U.S.
Coordinates34°04′01″N 118°11′28″W / 34.067°N 118.191°W / 34.067; -118.191
Capacity12500[1]
OwnerGeorge R. Bentel[2] (1924–1925)
OperatorGlendale American Legion (1928–1935)
OpenedJanuary 20, 1924
ClosedJanuary 26, 1936
ArchitectPaul Derkum (track)
Jack Prince (grandstands)
Former namesAmerican Legion Speedway (1929–1930)
Legion Ascot Speedway (1930–1935)
Major eventsAAA Champ Car (1935–1936)
5/8-mile oval
SurfaceDirt, later asphalt
Length0.625 miles (1 km)
1/2-mile oval
SurfaceDirt
Length0.50 miles (0.80 km)

History

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Early success under Bentel ends with a scandal

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After the construction of a 5⁄8-mile dirt oval near Lincoln Park had been announced in early December 1923,[5] the new Ascot speedway, which was built by promoter George R. Bentel and his publicist Bill Pickens,[3] opened on January 20, 1924, when 35,000 spectators attended the inaugural event, which featured both auto and motorcycle racing.[6][7]

The next racing program, which was held two weeks later, was marred by the tracks' first fatality when Jimmy Craft was killed on the southeast turn.[8] Many drivers would die at this curve,[3] which was immediately nicknamed "death curve."[8]

The promotion of Ascot during the first months of its existence was a popular and financial success.[9] However, the Ascot Gold Cup, a road race held on Thanksgiving Day 1924, saw its outcome challenged by drivers contesting both the eligibility of other competitors to participate and the official race distance.[10] Drivers also charged that prize money had been withheld.[9][11] Bentel and other officials of the Ascot Speedway Association were handed suspended 30-day jail sentences for false advertising in April 1925.[9][12]

In the meantime, Ascot had been taken over by the creditors' committee of the association, the new management being headed by its trustee John S. White, who scheduled the next racing event for late January 1925.[9][13] The site was run unsuccessfully by various promoters in the years that followed, occasionally serving as a venue for boxing matches.[14][15]

Fame and mounting deaths under the American Legion

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The American Legion Post 127 of Glendale, which had started promoting the track in the fall of 1928, entered into a long-term lease of the property in early March 1929, having secured AAA sanction for the American Legion Speedway.[16] 15 months later, it was renamed Legion Ascot Speedway based on the legionnaires' assessment that they had rehabilitated "Ascot,"[17] giving the track the name it would be widely known by.[3] Major drivers raced at the track such as Bill Cummings, Al Gordon, Ernie Triplett, Kelly Petillo, Wilbur Shaw and Rex Mays.[18] It also attracted celebrity spectators such as Bing Crosby, Andy Devine, Loretta Young, Clark Gable, Charlie Chaplin, Edward G. Robinson, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Clara Bow and Carole Lombard. Actresses sometimes presented trophies to the winning drivers.[3]

The high speeds the racers reached contributed to heavy and spectacular crashes at the speedway.[18] About two dozen people died in the twelve years that Legion Ascot operated, earning it the nickname "killer track."[19] It had the most deaths of any American race track in that time period. In 1933 alone, six deaths occurred, stirring turmoil in the newspapers as racing continued before large crowds.[3]

The Legion leaves, final fatalities and fire

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In July 1934, a flat half-mile dirt oval was opened.[20] It was built inside the old track,[21] the banked five-eighths-mile oval, which at some point had been paved with asphalt[20][22] and was reopened in November of the same year after its south curve had been refurbished for safety purposes.[22] With the bulk of its tenure a profitable effort, the Glendale American Legion post had been facing a host of problems since 1934: anti-racing sentiment in the public, upcoming competition from midget car racing luring away popular drivers and waning interest among the fans as a consequence, as well as disagreements with the lessors on rent and other issues.[23] Hence the leasing contract was not renewed and expired at the end of September 1935.[24]

Management of Ascot was then assumed by former race car owner and promoter Bill S. White, who was asked to do so by his peers.[25] The last race was to be held on January 26, 1936, when both Al Gordon and his riding mechanic, Spider Matlock, suffered fatal injuries as a result of a crash.[26] The track was closed, being denied an AAA license.[27] In late April 1936, a quarter of the grandstand of the abandoned speedway was destroyed by fire.[28] Seven years later, Linden Emerson, a former janitor at the track, turned himself in, confessing that he had burned down the grandstand because he did not want to see any more of his friends die there.[3][29]

Today, Multnomah Elementary School and a tract of houses cover the land that Legion Ascot Speedway had occupied.[18] The dangerous "south curve" remains as a curve in Hatfield Place, being the only trace of the track[3] and its checkered history.[30]

Series of Ascot race tracks

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Legion Ascot was the second of four Ascot sites in Los Angeles after the original one-mile South-Central oval was open between 1907 and 1919.[3] Ascot Park was then replaced by a Goodyear tire factory.[21] A third site, which opened as Southern Speedway near South Gate in June 1936,[31] was renamed Southern Ascot in January 1938[32] and held races on a half-mile dirt oval until 1942.[3] The fourth track in the series was Ascot Park in Gardena, which operated from 1957 through 1990.[3][21][33]

Further reading

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References

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  1. ^ Theobald, Mark. "George Bentel". National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum. Archived from the original on April 28, 2021.
  2. ^ Theobald, Mark (2004). "George R. Bentel Co". Coachbuilt. Archived from the original on November 5, 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rasmussen, Cecilia (October 10, 1994). "Life – and death – in fast lane at Ascot". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on April 30, 2021.
  4. ^ "Legion Ascot Speedway". ChampCarStats.com. Archived from the original on January 31, 2022.
  5. ^ "Motor racing events on dirt track to be staged weekly in Los Angeles". The Los Angeles Times. December 6, 1923. Archived from the original on February 1, 2022.
  6. ^ Frayne, Ed. (January 21, 1924). "Dirt racing proves huge success at Ascot". Los Angeles Record. Archived from the original on February 1, 2022.
  7. ^ "Press agent did his bit". The Pomona Progress. United Press. January 22, 1924. Archived from the original on February 1, 2022.
  8. ^ a b "Jimmy Craft is killed in Ascot Speedway crash". The Los Angeles Times. February 4, 1924. Archived from the original on January 31, 2022.
  9. ^ a b c d "Speedway suit filed in court". The Los Angeles Times. November 10, 1925. Archived from the original on February 1, 2022.
  10. ^ "Drivers protest Frank Lockart's victory in Ascot road race". The Los Angeles Times. November 29, 1924. Archived from the original on January 31, 2022.
  11. ^ "Bentel faces felony charge". The Los Angeles Times. December 11, 1924. Archived from the original on February 1, 2022.
  12. ^ "Speedway officials get suspended terms". San Francisco Examiner. April 28, 1925. Archived from the original on January 31, 2022.
  13. ^ "Ascot Speedway reopens Sunday with fast bill". Illustrated Daily News. Los Angeles, California. January 20, 1925. Archived from the original on January 31, 2022.
  14. ^ Ziff, Sid (December 20, 1929). "The inside track". Evening Express. Los Angeles, California. Archived from the original on January 31, 2022.
  15. ^ Ziff, Sid (December 23, 1929). "The inside track". Evening Express. Los Angeles, California. Archived from the original on February 1, 2022.
  16. ^ "Legionnaires to take over Ascot track". Los Angeles Times. March 3, 1929. Archived from the original on January 31, 2022.
  17. ^ "Speedway's name is changed officially". Los Angeles Times. June 6, 1930. Archived from the original on January 31, 2022.
  18. ^ a b c "El Sereno's Legion Ascot Speedway". El Sereno Historical Society. Archived from the original on February 1, 2022.
  19. ^ "The "Killer Track" once attracted fans of cars and speed to El Sereno". The Eastsider. January 14, 2015. Archived from the original on November 5, 2019.
  20. ^ a b Price, Paul (July 11, 1934). "Speed merchants set as Ascot track reopens tonight". Hollywood Citizen-News. Archived from the original on February 1, 2022.
  21. ^ a b c "Ascot". The GEL Motorsport Information Page. Archived from the original on January 14, 2020.
  22. ^ a b "Old track, made safer, re-opened at Legion Ascot". Covina Citizen. November 23, 1934. Archived from the original on January 31, 2022.
  23. ^ Coughlin, Gene (September 5, 1935). "Legion drops auto racing at Ascot". Los Angeles Evening Post-Record. Archived from the original on January 31, 2022.
  24. ^ "Auto racing bows out at Ascot". Los Angeles Evening Post-Record. September 26, 1935. Archived from the original on January 31, 2022.
  25. ^ "Bill White to reopen Ascot saucer Sunday". Los Angeles Times. October 13, 1935. Archived from the original on January 31, 2022.
  26. ^ "Gordon, mechanic die in crash". Oakland Tribune. Associated Press. January 27, 1936. Archived from the original on February 1, 2022.
  27. ^ Hertel, Howard (April 14, 1936). "City council okays new auto track". Illustrated Daily News. Los Angeles, California. Archived from the original on January 31, 2022.
  28. ^ "Fire damages Ascot track". The San Bernardino Daily Sun. Associated Press. April 27, 1936. Archived from the original on February 1, 2022.
  29. ^ "Ascot Motor Speedway #2, Lincoln Heights, Los Angeles, CA". PCAD. Archived from the original on November 5, 2019.
  30. ^ Newman, Claude (April 29, 1936). "For what it's worth". Hollywood Citizen-News. Archived from the original on January 31, 2022.
  31. ^ "South Gate auto racing oval opens tomorrow". Illustrated Daily News. Los Angeles, California. June 6, 1936. Archived from the original on January 31, 2022.
  32. ^ "Southgate track to change name to Ascot today". Los Angeles Times. January 23, 1938. Archived from the original on January 31, 2022.
  33. ^ Glick, Shav (November 17, 1990). "End of an era". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 23, 2021.
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