Ascarate Park (El Paso)

El Paso’s recreation department budgeted money to build a drag strip. It was first meant for sports cars, but hot rodders quickly asked to be included. In April 1960, $15,000 went into paving a half-mile straightaway. The Bel Air Optimist Club volunteered to run the races, which began on June 12, 1960, and ran every Sunday, sponsored by the El Paso Timing Association with the El Paso Jaycees. Admission was $1, but with no fence around the strip, many spectators simply watched for free. The timing association objected to the county ruling that kept it from putting up a fence. On May 22, 1961, county officials decided to ban drag racing after June because it interfered too much with public use of the park. Around the same time an El Paso County judge proposed building a drag strip in a new county park in the Lower Valley. Despite the ban, a race was held on August 27, 1961, drawing many racers including super stock winner Dickie Harrell in his 1961 Chevy. That was the last drag race at Ascarate Park.