MOTOR RACING / VINCE KOWALICK : Wheels in Motion to Open Track in Lancaster

Ascot Park Raceway in Gardena was for years the dirt-oval domain of sprint cars. When it closed in 1990, enthusiasts of the front-engine, single-seat, open-wheel vehicles were left without a Southern California track.

They might have a new one as early as next spring. The site: Antelope Valley Fairgrounds in Lancaster.

For the past year, Acton-based RIZE Productions has been negotiating with fairgrounds officials over a plan to renovate the fairgrounds’ 3/8-mile dirt track to accommodate auto racing.

In October, the nine-member board of directors for the fairgrounds is expected to vote whether to approve the project. If the plan is approved, construction could begin as early as December, with racing scheduled to begin in March.

“Since Ascot closed, sprint-car people have been looking for a home,” said Jeff Zee, managing partner of RIZE Productions.

The project calls for importing 10,000 cubic feet of clay designed for racing, building perimeter walls and fences, and installing lights and a sound system at an estimated cost of $500,000. No plans have been made to increase the 5,500 seating capacity of the state-owned arena, which has been the site of motocross and monster truck events about four times a year.

The new track would stage about 60 events from March through November and also would accommodate stock cars, Midgets and open-wheel race cars, Zee said.

According to Zee, the new track could generate as much as $40 million annually for the local economy, based on a study of Mesa Marin Raceway in Bakersfield. In addition, the fairgrounds would receive more than $200,000 annually in a percentage of ticket sales and concessions, Zee said.

Before the first green flag drops, however, there is the matter of appeasing local residents who have voiced concerns about noise, dust and traffic. Last month, members of a neighborhood bordering the fairgrounds collected more than 100 signatures on a petition of opposition.

“We’ve responded to several letters,” said Jim Pacini, the fairgrounds’ general manager. “It’s the board’s responsibility to listen to their concerns.”

RIZE Productions is expected to submit a final report at a Sept. 10 board meeting at which the concerns of local residents will be addressed, Zee said. Promoters are making efforts to address concerns, including building a 24-foot-high sound wall and arranging a weekly schedule that calls for the conclusion of racing by 10 p.m.

A public hearing on the matter is tentatively scheduled for late September. The board is expected to vote at its Oct. 8 meeting.

“I felt at the last meeting that we had a lot of supporters,” Zee said. “Race cars with mufflers are not as loud as people perceive them to be.”

Trivia question: Lance Hooper of Palmdale has won five consecutive Sportsman division main events at Saugus Speedway, tying three other drivers for the track record for consecutive main-event wins.

Who shares the record with Hooper?

Answer below.

Going places: The Southwest Tour and Winston West, NASCAR’s showcase series on the West Coast, both will venture into unfamiliar territory for their next scheduled events.

The Southwest Tour, which regularly makes stops in California, Nevada and Arizona during its 18-race season, will make its first visit to Colorado tonight for a 100-lap race at Colorado National Speedway in Dacono, several miles north of Denver.

The 3/8-mile paved oval is the home track of Rick Carelli of Denver, currently third in the tour’s standings. Ron Hornaday Jr. of Palmdale is the points leader after 12 races.

The Winston West, which runs in California, Arizona, Oregon and Washington, will be making its first appearance in Texas since 1971. After a five-week break, the series will resume Sept. 20 with a 100-lap race at Texas World Speedway in College Station.

“It’s some added exposure and a chance to expand,” NASCAR Promoter Owen Kearns said. “And there will be some attractive purses.”

Add Winston West: Bill Schmitt of Redding, Calif., a four-time Winston West champion, assumed the series’ points lead after last weekend’s victory at Cajon Speedway near San Diego.

Schmitt, 56, entered the race seven points behind leader Bill Sedgwick of Granada Hills, then edged Sedgwick at the checkered flag by a quarter-second to post his first win of the season. Schmitt leads Sedgwick, the series’ defending champion and winner of three races this season, by three points after eight of 11 events.

Since 1989, Schmitt and Sedgwick have crossed the finish line either first or second in nine races. Schmitt was the winner in six of those races.

“It’s kind of neat when you run with Bill Sedgwick,” said Schmitt, who posted his 19th career victory at Cajon Speedway. “It seems like it’s him and me, and me and him.”

Trivia answer: Oren Prosser (1972), Dan Press (1978) and Dave Phipps (1988) each won five consecutive main events. Press, now a resident of Vader, Wash., and a competitor on the NASCAR Northwest Tour, won five Modified main events in a row and a track-record 15 in a season in 1978. Prosser, currently retired, and Phipps, a three-time Saugus Sportsman champion and currently the track’s Grand American Modified defending champion, each won five consecutive Sportsman division main events.