Ascot Park

Ascot Park can refer to:

Ascot Park (race track)

Ascot Park was an American horse racing track located near Cuyahoga Falls, Summit County, Ohio.

Originally known as Northampton Park, the track was built in 1923 along Ohio State Route 8 on 63 acres of farmland. The unusual track was only 3/4 mile long. Three-quarter-mile tracks are proving exceptionally popular in Canada, having the advantage from a spectator's standpoint that in races of almost any official distances, the start is made near the grandstand, the Akron Beacon Journal reported in 1933. In addition, the three-quarter-mile track allows spectators to see the horses and jockeys clearly when on the backstretch. The track closed at the onset of the Great Depression, and was purchased out of receivership by Barberton businessman Bill Griffiths and his associates for $17,500.

The new owners renovated and reopened the facility in 1935 and changed the name to Ascot Park in 1938. They also created the two-mile Ascot Gold Cup race, that became the oldest continuously run stake in Ohio history. Cleveland businessman Horace Adams bought the track for $1.3 million in 1954 and spent another $900,000 for upgrades, resulting in a record 12,525 fans for opening day in 1955. When Adams died in 1966, the track changed hands several times, and was used for fairs, auctions, circuses, motorcycle races and pageants. By 1975 the track had become a safety hazard, so local firefighters burned down its grandstands and other buildings in 1976 as a training exercise. The site is part of a 200-acre industrial park.

Ascot Park (speedway)

Ascot Park, originally Los Angeles Speedway, was a former dirt racetrack located near Gardena in Los Angeles, California.

History

The Ascot Park track opened in 1957, as Los Angeles Speedway, on the site of a former city dump.

With seating for only 7,500, Ascot Park was smaller than the other tracks of the area including the Ontario Motor Speedway (closed in 1980), and the Riverside International Raceway (closed in 1989). However, the park was equally well-known, due to: its location was surrounded by freeways for easy access; its regularly scheduled races; and its heavy radio advertising. The half-mile course featured tight semi-banked turns, long straight-ways, and a tacky surface that was conducive to dramatic sprint car racing. Other motorsport events, such as Figure 8 racing and motorcycle flat track and TT racing, were also held at Ascot.

The dirt racetrack hosted the United States Auto Club (USAC) championship series, the AMA Grand National Championship motorcycle series and was used in movies like the original Gone in 60 Seconds, A Very Brady Christmas, and CHiPs. Ascot was also the site of the annual USAC Turkey Night Grand Prix midget race on Thanksgiving.