[ronmil]

Bill White was born this day in 1897. In the mid-1920’s, the man nicknamed “Hollywood,” owned “big cars” driven by Leon Duray and Jack Petticord. He won the Indy 500 in 1927 with dirt track specialist George Souders in the 90 cubic inch Dusenberg powered Duesenberg. Others driving for White at Indy included Shorty Cantlon and Elbert “Babe” Stapp. In 1931, Bill had a new Miller chassis and installed a new 220 cubic inch Leo Goossen/Harry Miller built engine for Hall of Fame drivers Francis Quinn and Ernie Triplett and the AAA Southwest championship. In 1932, the car was numbered 1 and dubbed the “Red Lion Special.” Triplett drove it to another title. They had much success until Triplett’s passing in 1934. Bill would take over promotion of what he named Ascot Motor Speedway after the American Legion Glendale Post dropped their support. He operated it for 18 months before closing after the deaths of his formers driver Al Gordon and Spider Matlock. His involvement as an Indy car owner continued with often multiple cars in the field through 1947. He was associated as either a builder and/or a promoter with three different speedway in Gardena, California: Carrell Speedway (1940), Gardena Stadium (1954) and Ascot Park (1957). His 250-lap midget race on August 17, 1946 at the Los Angeles Coliseum drew over 65,000 fans.

From two days ago in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame and Museum