Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

I Ascot's new (old) boss ~ J.C. Agajanian , By Maureen Lee 12 "I'm going to try and give the bikes the best deal they 've ever had at Ascot:" So spoke J. C. Agajanian on a chaotic Thursday morning, the week of the formal opening of Ascot Park underhis' management. It was a morning not soon forgotten, a first hand glimpse of the life of a noted race promoter, race car owner and track manager who has finally, after all these, years, got the chance to run Ascot as he always wanted to see it run. . The first thing that morning was to compliment Aggie on how he looks. It's no secret now that he had a bout with cancer that was very close to being fatal. That was the prognosis, but tests now show the disease has been whipped. It's no longer there , only the damage it caused. With care and exercise there is once more a future for Aggie and it looks good. There are many 'm em o ries I have of Aggie, some going back to before I really met him. Clad in his gold suit he handed out dash-placques to us women drivers at Pomona one year. I tactfully said, "Er, you were known as Old Gold Suit back then." More rapport was ' established as he laughed. "You remember that? I used to do flashy things like that in those days. With what time I've got left now I still want to bring back a lot of the color that's been missing." During the moments he was on the phone I found myself eyeing a silver miniature garbage can on the giant desk, reminding one that Aggie's main business still is trash collecting and hog farming. He told me that business , is still run by a partner he 's had for over 30 years with never a cross word between them. In speaking about the' bikes, Aggie is concerned. "I've always loved them even though one ran me over in 19 I 71 But I didn't like to see them go down the way they did. It was mismanagement starting .fro rn when I stepped down. I know it's not generally known, but for years the bikes. paid the bills for Ascot, rent and everything. " I asked about this year. "Can we generate interest again to keep a longer season going for the riders? .One , I mean that will bring in the public, not just friends?" Well, the answer to that one, although it kills me to tell you, has to remain "off the record" until a couple of details .are worked out. But that miserable short season of last year is in the past. How about TT's like we used to have, one a month to keep the TT riders busy and active? We reminisced over the monthly battles of the Bakersfield Brigade and our riders and the answer is again, Aggie wants to get the bikes going the way they were when he handled them. . When he handled them. That's the secret to the whole thing at Ascot. Many people over the years thought Aggie owned Ascot. He never did. Max Zeigler still owns the land as he has since the beginning. The technicalities are that Aggie owned stock in the corporation, and was hired by that corporation to manage and promote races, not direct the park. "I'd like people to know how many times I wanted to do something that would benefit the racers and wouldn't be allowed to do it . . . I'd be over-ruled. I was an employee and others still had the final say." It wasn't necessary to be told in words that this man , didn't like to see what happened to Ascot. Especially in the last couple of. years. Although he was very ill, he knew what was going on and it hurt. That track is a piece of his life. He practically radiates. "Do you realize that for the first time in all these years 1 will be running everything! Everything, even the concessions. I am the ' master leaseholder at Ascot' and I can run the ra ces for the boys the way I want them run. And remember, what's good for Aggie is good for them l" , "Will you tell everyone that 1 want to do the best I can and I want suggestions from people. Talk to me, tell me what you want and what you'd like to see. You know, Maureen, there '5 times when something is done in the way of a promotion when people pat me on the back and say great idea, when the truth is the idea came from someone else who knows a lot about the sport, and . wan ts to see it get better. My sons " are part of management now, so people can talk to them too. Most of the racers know them '" Another part of Aggie's makeup is the pride in his .. name. His word is his bond. I told him that when interviewing riders last year, time and again I heard, ~'W.hen Aggie was around we could go to him. We could always go to him." ' , "That makes me feel good, Maureen. 1 want the riders to have the best, and I never go back on my word. I am proud of my name and when I could no longer function here I would not let my name be used in anything in conjunction ,with Ascot unless I was there . My name cannot be bought, I am always responsible for it. "I must tell you this. Years ago when I was starting to promote races and would be out of town and my sons would be at Ascot, my father would show up with two-three thousand dollars in his pocket, tell the boys he was there and sit in the stands to watch. That was the • • •• " o:. • • • • e . ~ guarantee that whatever the crowd, the racers would get paid. We're proud of that reputation and when I first had my cars you wouldn't believe the nights we drove for no~~ing; the promoter skipped when the, races started. , J: C. Agajanian who isone of the all-time superstars in the racing field. In a way it's an American success story . Aggie's father James T, was a man with no . fo rrnal schooling but he believed in the work ethic for his sons along with a great deal of love. The sense of family love is so deep and honest it makes one a believer again . Aggie ' an d his wife were married right out of high school, she seventeen he eighteen. There are now three sons and one daughter. , The children had all the benefits money could buy including the best of educations, yet there is something ' between them and their parents that is not often found in affluent families. James T. Agajanian refused to let his son be a race driver. But, he did concede to Aggie owning a race car, as long as someone else drove it. That established a pattern. Without going overboard, it's very apparent that racers are a special breed Aggie is destined 10 take care of. A Novice friend of ours who met the Ascot wall one Friday hardly believe it next morning when a concerned Aggie was on the phone to his hospital bed seeing if everything was O.K. and he didn't need for anything. . He's a complex man. A phone call was put through froma man in Atlanta.vGeorgia, who had seen Aggie on "The Hour of Power" and wanted to .spe ak with him. There is no embarrassment when he .talks about his faith in the power of God. For Aggie it's very necessary to give his testimony when and wherever he can and he is making public appearances doing it. It is a fact that his cancer was diagnosed as terminal. Not only that, it was inoperable. Too much was involved within the body and cobalt was used as a stop-gap measure. Today there is no trace of the disease, only the effects of wh at it did to him. You may call it what you will, perhaps a man's determination not to give up . whatever the pain and degeneration and fighting it mentally with everything he had. Or that God simply stepped in and said it wasn't his time yet. He is absolutely sincere when he talks about it being a miracle . And he considers that his being allowed to run Ascot on his own is also part of God's plan for him. The new program for bikes at Ascot was printed elsewhere but we discussed it at length. He reminded me that the season would open with the classic 100 lap TT, an event dropped from the program previously. "Now about those Novices. It was always one of my rules that every Novice who ' showed up should have a chance to ride. Even when I was no longer here Chub stilladhered to that. But all those heats hurt the program. I want people to be able to count on being out of here at eleven o'clock, so they know they can get home at a'decent time, especially when they work the next day. Baby sitters cost money too, and it's not right people have to sit through long draggy programs running up those fees. , I realize how tight money is. I also hope the fans realize the -days have gone when I need charge only $2 ticket but I'm going to be as fair as I can." ' I asked about purses for the youngsters riding in the Thursday qualifiers. "There will be some very nice gift certificates for them. In the $400-500 class so they can get something from the parts house for their bikes. I :know how expensive maintaining racing equipment is and I want them to be able to ' get something instead of just another trophy. The cash purse will be paid Friday night, but the ones running Thursday will not just be qualifying; it will be worth their time." Phones were still ringing; conversations going on and Wide World of Sports had just arrived at Ascot and were waiting for Aggie ,t o get there. A couple of more things as "we headed for the door. How about other types of bike racing? He thought CMC would be running their races there under Stu Peter's guidance. And how about the things that had been said about the AMA in the first part of this article? A nerve had been hit. There is certainly not any animosity between Aggie and AMA referee Chub Kellam. But between Aggie and the AMA? That's differen t. What we hair been told last. year was indeed true. The AMA's fees were entirely too high compared with others including NASCAR grand national races. ' The smile was' gone from Aggie's face. "Whenthere's a National and they send out the big shots from back East who is supposed to pay their way? Me. It's thought that I should pay their way to have them at the National. Now you tell me, do you think that is right?" We were in mutual agreement. We parted and chased each other down the street to the freewayvrne in my Fiat and Aggie, famous hat firmly in place, in his smaller Cadillac. I got to thinking on the way home that Aggie, with his reputation for fairness, could almost go the route of throwing his own motorcycle races (except for the Nationals of course) and probably get good support from the riders. Smaller tracks have done it. Hmmm! Wish we had had time to go into that one . . . • a . .. . . . .. . .. . 1 11 • • • • •

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