22 replies to this topic

[Marvin]

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone remember Rosecrans Speedway in Compton and if so do they have any old pictures of It. It's part of my childhood that I really enjoy and miss.

[Marvin]

Now I'm trying to remember... was it Raceway and not Speedway?

[TSR]

It was, and "Pops" Pearson was the owner and a heck of a nice guy. Great Engleman 220' track...

[S.O. Watt]

It was a custom track of 173' length. Originally at J&Js.

You are mistaken about this track again, Dokk.

[TSR]

Tom,

I was always told that it was a 220 Engleman... and it's been a long time!

I only won one race there, the competition was stiff...

[S.O. Watt]

I raced on that track quite a few times. When it was at J&Js, the Tuesday night races were frequented by all the big names in LA, a run-what-ya-brung race, and competition was always great. That's the track that Gene's anglewinder was birthed at. John C and Tore A won like 26 races with it. I got to race those nights a few times in I think '67 and '68. J&J closed in Dec '68 and Pop got the track and set it up at Rosecrans.

The only pic I know of the track was in MC&S or CM (it's covered somewhere on this blog), coverage of a R&C race maybe? Tom Daniel's drawing of the track is wrong and the error is easily noticed when comparing it to the picture. That article has the lap length mentioned in it.

The wire chassis you have of mine at the LASCAM could very well be the cover car from a race I won there. The cover where your HO car shares the cover with mine.

[TSR]

Yep! In fact I am reviewing the 1969 races as we converse, and I am sure I will run into that pic soon.

[tonyp]

Wasn't the track that looked like an Engleman but with no crossover?

[S.O. Watt]

Wasn't the track that looked like an Engleman but with no crossover?

You got it.

[idare2bdul]

That track was probably the most challenging track I raced on. I did manage a USRA win there and beating the locals there was an accomplishment. Pops saved a lot of kids in that neighborhood.

[hjames]

he sure did

[S.O. Watt]

I would have to put Pops somewhere around the top of the list for best raceway owners. A true gentleman that worked hard to help his community and especially the kids.

Were you one of them, Herman? If you were, I'd say he did a good job. One of the disadvantaged kids I helped back in the '80s is now a slot track propriator. Pay it Forward.

[hjames]

Yes Pops was the first of my mentors in Slot racing since about 71. Wow that was a lifetime ago....All of the original Rosecrans kids are doing quite nicely, Ira Clark, Calvin Williams, Scotty Johnson, Peter Verdo, Me, and last but not least Jimmy Barnett. We all need to get together again some day and swap stories

[TSR]

Herman, I KNEW you were a bad boy!
Yes, Pops was really a good man...

[obnoxious001]

Yes Pops was the first of my mentors in Slot racing since about 71. Wow that was a lifetime ago....All of the original Rosecrans kids are doing quite nicely, Ira Clark, Calvin Williams, Scotty Johnson, Peter Verdo, Me, and last but not least Jimmy Barnett. We all need to get together again some day and swap stories

How about the late Cliff Kendrick, didn't he race there too?

I ran on that track a few times,, don't let Pops see you putting any glue on your tires!

[ThunderThumb]

I still have my Pops built Mura G20 NCC 20 tagged arm , it has a Stork flex arm chassis AKA Bob Crane as engraved on the chassis , motor is installed as by Pops and has never been out , the original body is gone but the car still runs , I ran it at Rosecrans , Bellfower , Downey Archery Lanes , Monaco , Pismo Beach , Hagginwood , the car was built in late 74 and I remember at Rosecrans I think the guide had to be thinned down , fun times

[drrufo]

Where was this track.I remember racing on a track that was in a shooping cennter on Long Beach Blvd. I would walk there from my mom's aunts motel that up the blvd. 

[ThunderThumb]

Rosecrans Raceway was on Tamarind Street in Compton CA , I think the cross street was Compton Blvd , there was Speed Sport in Long Beach Blvd and Imperial Hwy in Lynwood , there was another track at Dooleys hardware store or close to that or by Shady Acres miniature golf in Long Beach , there were so many tracks back then

[Phil Hackett]

Rosecrans closed when Compton declared the area a redevelopment area. That they did as nothing looks like it did in the 70s or early 80s. Tamarind Street no longer connects with Compton Blvd. The raceway was replaced by a parking lot.

[ThunderThumb]

Yes that sounds right

[Jason Holmes]

Pop's was the Best I was lucky to race there many time's won Quite a few race there loved the Place 

 

jason

[Jesse Gonzales]

Way back in the day Dave Fortner from Tucson and I (from Phoenix) would drive all night to get to LA for racing, often just slept in the car when we got there, not in Watts where Roasecrans though. I loved that track, my winds were pretty well suited to that track, I used to loan out a lot of arms to racers. Many years ago Gary Mayeda was doing his telephone interviews and someone told him about one race where seven of the eight in the main were my armatures. Pops was a good man, he reminded me a lot of Wayne Tanner who owned Miniature GP in Scottsdale.

 

Jesse Gonzales

[Chris Burlew]

Pops was truly special, always enjoyed going there in the 70's and racing. Recall Herb Wade coming in from a race in Texas and he had super thin mylar side wings that would fold down and hold the car to the track. Set the new track record and won the race as none of the rest of us could fit them on our cars in time.

 

I enjoyed racing there because I was always competitive and recall winning a race there against Bob Crane, who I had lent a chassis to prior to the race, silly me. We both came off late in the final heat racing side by side and the corner marshal put me back on first, hahahahaha, maybe my last race there. I do recall coaching Dan Debella of Pro-Slot fame to a victory there as winning there was more about racing the track than the other competitors and most did not understand this. Frankly do not recall Phillip ever racing there... but he was the very best builder of slot car equipment I ever saw so perhaps he did. Someone may have been faster, aka Joel Montague in 1977. However his cars were by far always the best designed and assembled by a long, long way.... perhaps he was the greatest as he would often mention...