Ascot Draws Largest Crowd for Final CRA Sprint Car Race
The last California Racing Assn. sprint car event at Ascot Park drew its largest crowd--8,224--for the 13th annual 50-lap Don Peabody Classic Saturday night.
The three drivers battling for the season’s points championship--Ron Shuman, Brad Noffsinger and Rip Williams--started nose to tail in that order on the outside of the first three rows. After 34 years, Ascot’s lease expires Dec. 31, and new leaseholders will convert the 40 acres to industrial use.
The little dirt track in Gardena was awash in nostalgia. It seemed that everybody--fans and drivers alike--wanted to be there.
Fifty-eight cars showed up--the largest turnout in years. The parking lots were full long before qualifying started, and the fans who weren’t in their seats were buying souvenir T-shirts and caps--even certified Ascot dirt.
They were there to relish every moment, and 24-year-old Billy Boat of Phoenix set them off with the only 100-m.p.h. lap ever run by a non-winged sprint car on the not-quite-a-half-mile oval.
Boat twice broke his own record of 18.305 seconds. His first lap was 18.089, then he turned 17.958, which computes to 100.234 m.p.h.
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