Historical Motorsports Stories writes:

"Looking Back on the Los Angeles Street Race"

Posted by nascarman on March 14, 2019

Viewed 2174 times Tweet It was supposed to be a tremendous spectacle: NASCAR competition on the streets of the nation's second largest city. The Los Angeles street race lasted only three years and quickly faded away into forgotten obscurity. Why wasn't it successful?





(Kirk McKoy/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)



After years of planning, the Los Angeles Street Race was organized by Bill Burke, a man who also organized the Los Angeles Marathon. The very first version of the event began on Labor Day weekend in 1997 as a series of vintage races for exotic antique sports cars.



"This is a dream we've been working on for more than seven years," Burke said at the time. He had a vision that someday the event could be as impactful as the marathon. In addition to tourism, the event raised money for the Inner-City Council for Abused and Neglected Children and the Urban League's Automotive Training Program.



Looking to grow even bigger in 1998, Burke was able to schedule a NASCAR race for the event. On Labor Day, the Featherlite Southwest Tour Series would run on the streets of Los Angeles on a 1.1 mile road course through Exposition Park, past the L.A. Memorial Coliseum and the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum. Workers installed "10 million pounds of concrete flat rail, 9 miles of fencing and steel rope and 200 tire pallets." With the overall event titled the Ford L.A. Street Race, it received a lot of attention and optimism from everyone involved.



"I believe having NASCAR running here is as productive for the city of Los Angeles as NFL football would be," Burke declared. In addition, the TV show "Baywatch" filmed an auto racing themed episode at the event.



The inaugural race attracted many star drivers. After running in the Southern 500 on Sunday, Mark Martin, Ken Schrader and Chad Little flew cross-country to compete in L.A. the very next day. Road racing stars Boris Said and Willy T. Ribbs showed up as did current and future NASCAR stars Ron Hornaday, Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick, and Matt Crafton.



Greg Pursley won the pole with Kurt Busch starting second. The ringers who flew in for the race were forced to qualify on Monday morning. When the event began, Pursley led the first 31 laps as several cautions flew. Kevin Harvick fell out with electrical problems and Kurt Busch lost an oil pump. Mark Martin worked through the crowded field with precision and took the lead on lap 52.



Willy T. Ribbs was one of the biggest names in road racing during the 1980s but stopped racing after 1994. He came out of retirement to compete in the street race and was running second on lap 56 when he fell out of the race with rear end problems.



Steve Portenga passed Martin for the lead on lap 66. Four laps later, Martin tried to retake the lead but slipped in turn one and hit the wall. The race stayed green and Martin slowly pulled off the track.



"I was trying to put more and more pressure on him trying to get him to slip," Martin told the L.A. Times, "but I was the one that did the slipping instead.



"The street course was a bit of a challenge for me," he continued. "With a road course, I'm not used to having the walls. I'd used to being able to get right on the edge of the track without skinning the wall like I did today."



Ken Schrader got up to second but blew an engine on lap 80. A green-white-checker finish extended the race from 89 to 90 laps. Ron Hornaday took over second position but lost power on the final restart and fell to 13th. Portenga beat Boris Said by one second to win the first race in Los Angeles. 10 cautions slowed the race and only 17 of the 40 cars that started were able to finish.



The race returned in 1999, but this time with a redesigned track so people wouldn't be blocked from getting to the nearby museums. The second street race featured many more crashes and was called a "demolition derby" by the L.A. Times as 11 cautions slowed the race to average speed of 46.943 mph. Kevin Harvick led 34 laps before he ran into problems. Kenny Irwin and Ken Schrader flew to Los Angeles after racing in the Southern 500 and both were taken out in accidents. Irwin finished 10th with no right-side door or fenders. Most all cars were described as suffering some sort of damage. A.J. Alsup led 68 laps and won the event.



It was reported that the second event had much fewer spectators than the first. Perhaps for this reason, the race was moved from Labor Day to mid-July for 2000.







Once again, the L.A. Times called the 2000 race a "demolition derby". 12 cautions for 49 laps slowed the race to an agonizing 46.272 mph average speed. Crashes, stalled cars, pit fires, and even a dog on the track stretched out the action. Craig Raudman beat Matt Crafton by two seconds to win the race.



Unfortunately by the end of 2000, people began to lose interest in a Los Angeles event and the idea of NASCAR racers repeatedly crashing on a tight street course. Ford pulled their title sponsorship and the event didn't have the money to continue.



Despite hopes the event would be long-term, the L.A. street race lasted only a few years. Los Angeles got their NFL team but lost their race.





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