Los Angeles herald., 1909-10-17
AUTO RACES AT
ASCOT NEARING
FIRST EVENTS SCHEDULED FOR
TWO WEEKS HENCE
Magnificent Trophies Are to Be Con-
tested For, as Well as Llb-
eral Cash Prizes Of
Interest

Track racing has always been popu-
far in Los Angeles, and the two Gays
of automobile speed contests sched-
uled for Ascot park. October 80 and 81,
will be no exception. These races Will
he q. forerunner of a series of events
hich Walter Hempel and Les Henry
have planned for the Los Angeles
sporting public this winter. After the
close of the fall racing season IN tne
east many of the leading drivers IN
the country will be headed westward
and. due to Hempels efforts Whlle IN
the east last summer as manager LOT
Barney Olddeld, such men as Oe
Palma and Chevrolet will appear on
California tracks. The news lhal
strang will come west will also cause
much interest in motoring circles, as
he has shown himself TO be one OF the
country's best drivers and can be eX-
pected to appear at Ascot behind
speedy Issota. III,
The races October so and 81 will
bring out the fastest cars in Calitor-
MIA. Entries are expected from san
Francisco, as many cars have been
stripped and made ready for the Por-
tola races, and it will be small mat
ter to put them on the boat and ship
to Los Angeles in plenty of time TO
tune up the cars for the Ascot races.
A Comet car which was built for
track racing will be another contest
ant. The career of this car Will be
well remembered by all motoring fans.
The first Comet appeared in the north.
It was such a little affair 1t caused
much amusement and few thought
that it would do anything worth while
on the track, but, to the surprise Of
-, n Rnnlan
under the minute mark and defeated
some of the most powerful cars on the
track.
The Buick company has two cars
here stripped and ready for racing.
With these cars and such able drivers
as the Nikrent brothers to pilot the
cars there is no reason why the Buick
should not be prominent in the local
events. The large Buick is being
stripped and made ready for the des-
ert race. The little car which won two
races at Santa Ana will be ready for
the track.
The Pennsylvania is another fast
car which is stripped and ready. This
car won the fifty-mile race recently at
Santa Ana, making fast miles and
demonstrating that in such track
events it will always be a contender.
The Corbin is another of the fast
ones which is here and ready to go.
This is a very fast car and can be de-
pended upon TO make some fast miles
around the Ascot track. Who will
drive the Corbin if it is entered has not
been decided.
Other probabilities for the races are
the Royal, which will be driven by AL
Livingston; the Oldsmobile, the r. NJ.
F. and a Cadillac.
Hempel says he will make the Ascot
track the best in the country for mo-
tor racing. For the past couple of
years it has been used more or less,
but at each meet rough places have
developed at different points which
have made driving dangerous. At the
last few meets there has been a soft
place on the back stretch at the half
mile post. This was cut down six
inches or more by the cars and the
racers were forced to slow up each
round. There was another bump just
past the grandstand which caused q
general humping and straining. All
these bad places will be removed. The
preliminary work has been done, and
when the track is ready for the rolling
a twelve-ton roller will be put to work
giving the course the beating down it
has needed for over year.
This has always been an easy track
on tires, and if the surface is i'm
proved some fast time in the long
races can be expected. There is no
reason why car should change a
single tire in the fifty-mile race and
not more than one in the hundred-mile
event.