Forum: SCRAFAN.COM Forum (go)
Moderators: ljennings

CRA SPRINT CARS
ASCOT PARK - GARDENA, CA
SEPTEMBER 6, 1986

TIME TRIALS:
1. Brad Noffsinger, 96, Gardner- 19.478, 2. Gary G. Howard, 26, Bartosh- 19.729, 3. Mike Sweeney, 91, Lewis- 19.886, 4. Rip Williams, 19, Lee- 20.013, 5. Eddie Wirth, 77, Davis/Wirth- 20.058, 6. Clark Drake, 93, Gardner- 20.072, 7. Bill Beavert, 17, Robertson- 20.117, 8. Bobby George, 92, George- 20.131, 9. Mark Sokola, 27, Sokola- 20.163, 10. Jimmy Oskie, 00, Hicks- 20.196, 11. John Redican, 1, Bromme- 20.235, 12. Duane Feduska, 79, Bright- 20.272, 13. Jerry Meyer, 28, Meyer- 20.323, 14. Don Burke, 61, Burke- 20.346, 15. Bubby Jones, 5, Morales- 20.461, 16. Brian Campbell, 40, Campbell- 20.490, 17. Dan Moore, 9, Germo- 20.502, 18. Roger Newell, 82, Cleveland- 20.538, 19. Terry Singleton, 94, Singleton- 20.826, 20. Alan Wexler, 97, Gaffney- 21.030, 21. Steve Ostling, 75, Ostling- 21.156, 22. Dan Schuck, 16, Schuck- 21.262, 23. Ron DiDonato, 57, DiDonato/Napolitano- 21.523, 24. Gary W. Howard, 86, Jones & Sons- 21.764, 25. Tom Stahl, 42, Cope- 21.794, 26. Mike Crawford, 99A, Crawford- 21.921, 27. Dennis Howell, 62, Howell- 25.339, 28. Roy Bleckert III, 64, Bleckert- NT.

TROPHY DASH: (3 laps)
1. Mike Sweeney, 2. Rip Williams, 3. Brad Noffsinger, 4. Gary G. Howard.

FIRST HEAT: (10 laps)
1. Jerry Meyer, 2. Brad Noffsinger, 3. Steve Ostling, 4. Eddie Wirth, 5. Mark Sokola, 6. Tom Stahl, 7. Dan Moore.

SECOND HEAT: (10 laps)
1. Roger Newell, 2. Jimmy Oskie, 3. Clark Drake, 4. Gary G. Howard, 5. Don Burke, 6. Dan Schuck, 7. Mike Crawford.

THIRD HEAT: (10 laps)
1. Bubby Jones, 2. John Redican, 3. Mike Sweeney, 4. Terry Singelton, 5. Bill Beavert, 6. Ron DiDonato, 7. Dennis Howell.

FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps)
1. Bobby George, 2. Duane Feduska, 3. Gary W. Howard, 4. Brian Campbell, 5. Alan Wexler, 6. Rip Williams.

B-MAIN: (12 laps)
1. Mark Sokola, 2. Don Burke, 3. Dan Moore, 4. Bill Beavert, 5. Alan Wexler, 6. Tom Stahl, 7. Mike Crawford, 8. Dan Schuck, 9. Dennis Howell, 10. Roy Bleckert III.

FEATURE: (30 laps - With Starting Positions)
1. Mike Sweeney (5th), 2. Gary G. Howard (8th), 3. Eddie Wirth (6th), 4. John Redican (9th), 5. Brad Noffsinger (7th), 6. Jimmy Oskie (10th), 7. Bubby Jones (13th), 8. Jerry Meyer (11th), 9. Bobby George (1st), 10. Steve Ostling (17th), 11. Gary W. Howard (20th), 12. Roger Newell (15th), 13. Dan Moore (16th), 14. Terry Singleton (18th), 15. Mark Sokola (2nd), 16. Clark Drake (3rd), 17. Bill Beavert (4th), 18. Don Burke (14th), 19. Brain Campbell (19th), 20. Duane Feduska (12th).
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Interesting, so many of us talk about the great days of Ascot Park and yet there are only 28 cars on a Labor Day show. I don't see Dean Thompson as an entry.

I think Dean retired at the end of the previous season after winning the Don Peabody Classic.

I'd take 28 cars @ Ascot vs. 50 cars at any other track in the country at any time!

Ascot Park = Sprint Car Heaven

AMEN to that.

Take away the top 7 cars in the main in the above race, and the top 7 in any main this year at the PAS and then compare. I'll take what we have now, add to that the possibilites in store for 2007. Ascot was a great track, ruts so deep you could lay down in them and hide, danger was excessivly high. Bathrooms that you could swim in, and some fool yelling "are we having fun yet" week in and week out. I say sprint car racing has moved up a notch or two, and the PAS was a big part of that movement, speakers that you can hear, a much safer track, sports bar, toilets you can sit on and bleachers that your purse etc. won't fall through. Most of all, the field of talent is a dream come true. Ascot years you could almost pick the champion every year on the first race, Shu, Dean Brad or Bubby. 2007 could be a list of 10 with another 10 in the top three, maybe a comparison would be a 57 Chevy to a 2007 Lexus, both great cars but give me the comfort and safety of progress any day.

I don't remember there being a lot of ruts at Ascot. In fact I thought it was famous for being super smooth...unless you got into the cushion. Even the legendary cushion was no longer much of a factor towards the end. The humper tire took care of that.

I would have to agree that Perris is the better track. The facilities are so much nicer that they simply can't be compared. Perris is a real racy joint. Even though the surface there isn't quite as good as Ascot's it's pretty darn close. The banking helps a lot too and Ascot didn't have that. The visibility for the fan is better at Perris, too. The main problem with Perris is its location (unless you happen to live out there). It just takes too long to get there and the traffic just plain sucks. Ascot was easier...of course traffic wasn't as bad 20 years ago, either so maybe it really wouldn't be that much different.

Looking at the field, I am surprised by how few cars there were. Quite a few of them are pretty weak, too. I think the fields are stronger from top to bottom now than they were then. I count 9 people capable of winning (based on their names) in this field along with a couple of wild cards. These days we have fewer who actually win but probably more that are capable of it at any given time IMO. I think the days of the really big car counts were mostly in the late 70's and early 80's, but I could be wrong. I remember that quite a few of the cars back then were real pigs. Remember the Marines? I don't think they ever got that thing to run. :)

OK, I'll play along. Here's my top seven that I saw @ Ascot on a REGULAR basis (week in and week out).

1. Ron Shuman

2. Leland McSpadden

3. Dean Thompson

4. Bubby Jones

5. Brad Noffsinger

6. Eddie Wirth

7. Jimmy Oskie

If I were to pick Perris' 7 best, I would go with:

Griffin, Kruser, Gardner, Yeley, Spencer, Williams, Kirby. I put Rip in this group since most of his success has come from Perris. Nice group but the Ascot group carries a little more clout.

As for comparing the features of the two tracks, that's like comparing a 30yr. old football stadium to a newer, more modern stadium. I'll take Ascot and it's 'quirks' anytime!!

KOP, I really do respect your opinion, but I'm justwondering, have you been to a race at the PAS recently and watch Sheridan, Gaunt, Davis jr to name a few? I can't tell you how many years straight that I never missed a race at Ascot and what I'm seeing at the PAS almost every night is nothing short of spectacular, every once in a while there is a ho-hum race, I'm justwondering if that is because the level of talent is so good. Happy New Year to everyone, I'm justwondering if 2007 is going to have a whole new set of "Super" stars. Go Rickie!

Hauling into turn 3 at Manzy is a whole new ball game compared to Ascot but especially Parris. I spent many years at Ascot and Manzy and I think in some way's Manzy separated the men from the boys. Where were the AZ boy's for that race? Must have been something else going on. Oh yeah,Boat needs to be in that picture somewhere not that year but with the names mentioned.. Kenny

Half the lies they tell about me aren't true. 

I'd have to agree with that.. AMEN..

No doubt Manzy takes some balls to run wide open, interesting as well is how many 'names' consider Perris a tough track, especially turn 3. When it is a heavy track the mid-west guys have a hard time with it, dry slick they seem to do pretty good. One of the grand-daddy's of 'em all was the original Imperial fair grounds, that one seperated the men from the real men.

Yeah some do,they run more dry /slick back that way but there is one Indiana boy who has no problem and he's won the last two oval nationals and throw in a couple of Western"s worlds and you have Dave Darland. Nuff said!

Half the lies they tell about me aren't true. 

Shame on the bunch of you! All this talk and not a mention of the Slic Trac. I seem to remember being caught-up in some pretty hairy competition before my tickets ran out. Raced against some of the best, too. They didn't fool me. I recognized them without their helmets and fancy driving suits.

Everything you know is wrong.

Given the fact that Ascot has been GONE for 16 years, it isn't hardly fair to compare the facility..... If comparing the racetrack (and racing on it) I would take Ascot, hands down. There's nothing better in motorsports than sprinters on dirt, but LA area racing lost some of its luster when Ascot closed and will never fully recover.