by VenturaAlfa » Thu Oct 23, 2014 6:02 pm
Great little track and that video is outstanding!!
Harry, at the end of the video there is trailer figure 8 racing at Orange show speedway. You need to check that out for your trailer races.
The track in the video is, unfortunately, long gone. I remember that track very well from when I was a little kid. It is Ascot raceway in Gardena, CA the outside track was a 1/2 mile that held Grand National stock car races with a few guys some of you may know. There were names I grew up watching like Parnelli, Mario, Dan, Herchel McGriff, Petty just to name a few. Gurney and Jones both ended up with shops just a short distance from that track. They also held Sprint car, TT races and Motocross. If you look closely you can see the big jump for the motocross track in a couple of the figure 8 shots.
The best part was that they had ponds at either end of the track with Palm tree islands. No matter what was racing there somebody always managed to end up in the ponds. Used to be broadcast on the local TV channel.
The figure 8 guys were absolutely insane and that is being kind. Seat belts and roll bars were not mandated they were recommended and about 1/2 the guys had them. I still remember a hit that left me scarred for life. Car was turned around in the crossover and hit broadside on the driver's side. Driver's door opened as the car flipped and the seat, steering wheel, and driver all went flying out. He hit the fence near the grand stands. Did not make it. Horrible thing to see. Not to long after that they mandated that seats be bolted to the floor and that seat belts and roll bars be used in addition to making driver's side door hits out of bounds.
I was scheduled to drive a 360 non-winged sprint car in the final race there that belonged to an owner by the name of Mitch Culp. Unfortunately, he was injured in a wreck the week before that left him paralyzed and the car destroyed. He was 6'6' or so and hit the wall in between turns one and two top first. The roll cage was built for a 6 footer and his helmet hit the wall before the car did.
Ventura Alfa