4 replies to this topic

[Rob Semmeling]

Can anyone tell me more about the original Ascot Park in Los Angeles, specifically about the paving of the track in 1916 ?

The Los Angeles Times of January 23, 1916 writes that "the contract has been let for the paving of the entire mile circle, which was once the world-famous Ascot Park race track [for horses]." The newspapers speaks of a "composition of concrete and asphalt." An article of February 24 states the paving of the course was not completed, but despite this practice for Sunday's races got underway.

The New York Times of July 16, 1916 mentions that...

"[...] Ascot Speedway is the only one of its kind in the world. Having been converted from the old horse race course of that name. This was done by eight weeks of rushed construction work last winter. The turns were banked to a height of eleven feet, and then the entire course was paved. Because the 'greenness' of this paving last winter ate up tires, But George R. Bentel, Chairman of the Contest Committee at Ascot, this Fall will resurface the track. In addition to the smoothing of the track surfacing, large bleachers are to be erected because of the immense popularity with which the racing has been received in this section. Ascot is the widest course of its kind, also the fastest, and its popularity has been heightened by the fact that the cars are in sight all the time."

Was this track really paved with concrete and/or asphalt in 1916 ? Board tracks aside, I think this would make Ascot the fourth paved track in America, after Indianapolis Motor Speedway (late 1909, bricks), Twin City Motor Speedway (September 1915, concrete) and Narragansett Park Speedway (September 1915, asphalt).

The reason I ask is because some sources still refer to the track as dirt after 1916. Can anyone offer more from period sources ?

[Boniver]

Was this track really paved with concrete and/or asphalt in 1916 ? Board tracks aside, I think this would make Ascot the fourth paved track in America, after Indianapolis Motor Speedway (late 1909, bricks), Twin City Motor Speedway (September 1915, concrete) and Narragansett Park Speedway (September 1915, asphalt).

The reason I ask is because some sources still refer to the track as dirt after 1916. Can anyone offer more from period sources ?

---------------

was Ascot Park = Ascot Speedway

Ascot Speedway
1 Mile Dirt Oval
Los Angeles, California
All races AAA sanctioned

Race # Date Race Miles Winner
1 2/7/1915 Ascot Race 100 - dirt oval - Eddie O'Donnell
2 11/30/1916 Ascot Derby 150 - dirt oval - Eddie Rickenbacker
3 3/4/1917 George Washington Sweepstakes 100 - dirt oval - Earl Cooper
4 11/29/1917 Ascot Race 2 10 - dirt oval - Louis Chevrolet
5 11/29/1917 Ascot Race 3 50 - dirt oval - Eddie Hearne
6 3/23/1919 Ascot Race 150 - dirt oval+oiled - Roscoe Sarles


ASCOT SPEEDWAY 1903-1920 ( added by Barry Lake) As with most horse venues, owners refused to allow pressing, oiling, or even watering of the track. They were fearful of hardening the surface and thus rendering it useless for horses. Once betting on horses became illegal, the dust was alleviated. Racing became faster, yet safer, more exciting, and easier to view from the grandstands. The racing surface was banked and covered with cement in 1916. Race cars making regular podium appearances at the Vanderbilt Cup and other long distance road races rarely finished well at Ascot. Then as now, machines designed for one type of course found themselves outmatched when the rules changed. The last event for Ascot was held on Thanksgiving Day, 1919.

DIRT TRACK AUTO RACING - 1919-1941 - DON RADBRUCH 2004
The track surface was completely oiled in 1916 and, thereafter, auto races were held on a regular basis. At this point it might have been called Ascot Speedway

[Rob Semmeling]

Thank you Boniver, but those quotes only illustrate my point: sources do not agree about what surface Ascot had from 1916 onwards: cement or oiled dirt.

I'd be interested in what period race reports have to say, but the lack of replies here is disappointing...

[Michael Ferner]

You have to see this in the context of the time - "paved" was basically any road surface on which you didn't run the danger of stepping into horse manure every ten feet or so. Basically, what would have been called "city pavement" at the time - remember those old silent movies, where cars would trail huge clouds of dust, and the Keystone Cops would literally dust off their clothes every time they fell down on the road? That was even in a big city like Los Angeles, and even well into the twenties. I think that really sealed surfaces were coming in vogue roughly about the same time that talkies began to take over, at least in the bigger cities. Out in the boondocks, you'd have "city pavement" much, much longer - I recall growing up in the rural Eifel back in the seventies, we still had some of those "dust roads" around.

So, a "paved circuit" back in 1916 would not describe a sealed surface, but rather a well groomed dirt track, maybe "black-topped" with road oil. It was meant to distinguish between a dual purpose (horse) racing track, and a proper automobile racing track with a macadam surface, but not asphalt/bitumen. Oh, and by the way, Narragansett Park was concrete, too - not asphalt!

Edited by Michael Ferner, 17 July 2013 - 15:35.

[carl s]

Link to a closer look at the track surface c1917
(you can enlarge photo)
http://s1011.photobu...942895060106176

Edited by carl s, 19 July 2013 - 16:52.