Allen Will Wing It at Ascot Park

Bobby Allen of Hanover, Pa., the only driver ever to turn in a 16-second lap around Ascot Park’s half-mile dirt oval, will return with the World of Outlaws winged sprint cars for the three-day $90,000 Pacific Coast Nationals starting Thursday night at the Gardena track.

Although the traveling sprint car series has previously sanctioned five programs at Ascot, with two of them featuring winged cars, this will mark the first time that wings have been used in the Pacific Coast Nationals.

Wings are the five-foot square airfoil that is fastened to the roll cage of the car and a three by three one over the nose of the opened-wheeled cars that are powered by up to 410 cubic inch engines.

Next Sunday night, the California Racing Assn., which uses Ascot as its home track and is one of only two sprint car associations that does not allow the wings, will challenge the Outlaws to take off their airfoils and compete in a challenge program.

Last Feb. 23, the 42-year-old Allen blistered his way to a 16.975 second lap, an average of 106.088 m.p.h. The next fastest lap that day were 17.729s posted by Brad Doty of Fredricksburg, Ohio, and Ricky Hood of Memphis, Tenn.

By contrast, the fastest lap without a wing was set three years ago by CRA driver Eddie Wirth of Hermosa Beach at 18.732 (96.092).

Allen, who builds his own chassis and acts as his own chief mechanic, is known as a specialist on dry-slick surfaces which prevail in the daytime.

This week’s programs are all at night and usually the track’s surface will remain moist and tacky, requiring the drivers to slide their cars more to get around, resulting in slightly slower lap times.

Although qualifications will take place on both Thursday and Friday night, only Thursday’s time trials will count in the Outlaws’ Autolite Pacesetter Award contest, a season long event for the fast qualifier at each meet.

For the last two season, Allen has not be able to do better than second in the Pacesetter contest, losing to six-time Outlaw champion Steve Kinser last year and to Sammy Swindell of Bartlett, Tenn., in 1984.

After 51 of 53 programs scheduled this season, Allen and Jac Haudenschild of Millersburg, Ohio, are tied for second with seven fist times, three behind leader Swindell. Doug Wolfgang of Sioux Falls, S.D. and Kinser of Bloomington, Ind., are right behind with six each.

The Pacesetter contest winner will collect $6,000 and the runner-up gets $4,000. The fastest qualifier at each race aslo collects $250 at each race.

By contrast, the winner of Saturday night’s 30-lap main event will earn $12,000. So, notwithstanding the prestige of being the fastest, Allen, who operates a comparatively low-dollar team, is coming to win.

Although it’s unlikely, this could be Allen’s year to win the Pacific Coast National, which is having its 20th running. Win or lose, this season has been his best season on the Outlaw circuit.

Allen, a come-from-behind driver who almost always uses the bottom of the race track, has won five main events this year, matching the total he won in 1982. In addition he has been very successfull in non-Outlaw programs in the Midwest and his home base of Pennsylvania.

Allen did not compete in the past two Pacific Coast Nationals, but did lead the race for 29 laps in the late 70s when the race was contested over 50 laps.

In the two Ascot Outlaw program he finished fourth in 1985 and was fifth in the February race.

Swindell, who has not competed in a full schedule of Outlaw events this year while trying to establish himself in either Indy or stock car ranks, won both of the races and is the driver to be again this week.

His chief challengers figure to be Kinser, headed for a seventh World of Outlaws championship, Bobby Davis Jr. of Memphis, Tenn., the No. 2 man in the standings.

Swindell is also a former winner of the Pacific Coast National, taking top honors in 1981 driving for Lavern Nance.

Another Outlaw who has won the Pacific Coast National is Ron Shuman of Tempe, Ariz., who has won it three times. Only retired Dean Thompson has won more, taking No. 4 last October.

The bearded Allen, who is known as “Scruffy” to his many fans and friends around the country, is has an unusual sponsor of his car. It is radio station WSBA in York, Pa. After each World of Outlaw race, Allen calls the station with race results.

“We approached Bobby (three years ago) knowing he was on the World of Outlaws circuit,” said station General Manager Chris Huber. “This Central Pennsylvania area is a hotbed for drit-track racing. There are about 12 tracks in a 30- 40-mile radius, each drawing somne 8,000 to 10,000 fans a week. We are appealing to a group of people who normally wouldn’t listen to our (adult contemporary music) program.”

And it’s working, accoring to Huber. The last time Allen, a former go-kart champion who migrated to Pennsylvania from Florida, was an in-studio guest on a sportstalk show, the station was swamped with calls from people wanted to talk with him and the two-hour show ran out of time long before it did people wanting to talk to him.