Legion Ascot Speedway

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Legion Ascot Speedway
LocationLos Angeles, California
Capacity12500[1]
OwnerGeorge R. Bentel [2]
OperatorGlendale American Legion
OpenedThanksgiving 1924
ClosedJanuary 25, 1936
Major eventsAAA Champ Car
5/8 mile oval
SurfaceDirt
Length0.625 mi (1 km)
half mile oval
SurfaceDirt
Length0.50 mi (0.80 km)

Legion Ascot Speedway was an American racetrack in Los Angeles, California that operated from 1924 to 1936. The track hosted AAA National Championship races.

History[]

George R. Bentel and publicist Bill Pickens opened Legion Ascot Speedway on Valley Boulevard/Soto Street in November 1924.[3] 25000 spectators attended the first races on Thanksgiving Day in 1924.[3] This first event was won by Ralph DePalma.[3] At that first race, Jimmy Craft was thrown from his Frontenac after running into the guardrail on a curve.[3] He started getting up and began waving to the crowd to show that he was okay.[3] Norris Shears ran into Craft and both drivers died.[3] Many drivers died at this curve which was nicknamed "King of the Grim Reapers."[3]

In 1926, Bill Bundy and Jack Peticord fatally crashed into Nick Guglielmi, but racing continued. In 1928, the Glendale American Legion Post 127 started promoting the track, giving it the name that it was best known.[3] Major drivers raced at the track such as Bill Cummings, Al Gordon, Ernie Triplett, Kelly Petillo, Wilbur Shaw and Rex Mays, from the American Automobile Association (AAA).[3] 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.[4] Actresses sometimes presented trophies to the winning driver.[3]

Deaths on the racetrack[]

Due to the speeds they obtained, there came notable and heavy spectacular crashes at the speedway. 24 drivers died in the twelve years that Legion Ascot Speedway operated, earning it the nickname “Killer Track."[3][5] It had the most deaths of any American race track in that time period.[3] By 1933, six drivers died as racing continued with Ascot's crowds growing larger.[6]

In 1934 a half-mile oval was built inside the old track. In 1935, Glendale American Legion stopped promoting the races because of the high number of deaths.[3] The final races were held on January 25, 1936.[3] Al Gordon and riding mechanic Spider Matlock were both killed in a crash.[3] The track was closed and padlocks installed.[3] Four months later the grandstands of the abandoned speedway burned down. Seven years later, Linden Emerson, a former janitor at the track, turned himself in. He confessed that he burned down the grandstand because (as described by the Los Angeles Times) "he didn't want to see any more of his friends die."[3] Today, Multnomah Elementary School and a tract of houses now cover the land that Legion Ascot Speedway had occupied. The dangerous "south curve" remains as a curve in Hatfield Place.[3]

Series of Ascot Race Tracks[]

Legion Ascot was the second of four Ascot sites in Los Angeles after the original one-mile track at Central & Florence was open between 1907 and 1919.[3] A third site named Southern Ascot held races between 1937 and 1942 in South Gate on a half mile dirt oval.[3] The fourth track in the series was Ascot Speedway in Gardenia.[3] It operated from 1957 until 1990.[3]

Further reading[]

  • John R. Lucero, Legion Ascot Speedway, 1982. Book on the history of Legion Ascot Speedway

References[]

  1. ^ Theobald, Mark. "George Bentel". National Sprint Car Hall of Fame. Retrieved April 28, 2021.
  2. ^ "George R. Bentel Co. George R. Bentel Company, Geo. R. Bentel Co. - 1912-1919 - Los Angeles, California". Coachbuilt. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v CECILIA RASMUSSEN (October 10, 1994). "Life--and Death--in Fast Lane at Ascot". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
  4. ^ "EL SERENO: Legion Ascot Speeway". EL SERENO HISTORICAL SOCIETY. Retrieved November 4, 2019.
  5. ^ "The "Killer Track" once attracted fans of cars and speed to El Sereno". The Eastsider. January 14, 2015. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
  6. ^ "Ascot Motor Speedway #2, Lincoln Heights, Los Angeles, CA". PCAD. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
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