Riverside International Raceway
The dusty place
Facility statistics
Location	Riverside, California
Broke ground	January 1957
Opened	September 1957
Owner	(1983-1989) Fritz Duda
Operator	(1983-1989) Fritz Duda
Construction cost	$625,000
Architect	William L. Duquette
Former names
Riverside International Motor Raceway (1957-1960)
Major events
NASCAR Winston Cup Winston Western 500 (1974-1987) Budweiser 400 IMSA Los Angeles Times Grand Prix Formula One United States Grand Prix (1960) IndyCar World Series AirCal 500 / L.A. Times 500 (1981-1983) Updated version of the Riverside International Raceway logo File links The following pages link to this file: Riverside International Raceway Categories: Public domain images ... Nickname: The City of Trees Location in the state of California Coordinates: Country United States State California County Riverside Government  - Mayor Ron Loveridge Area  - City  78. ... ISO 4217 Code USD User(s) the United States, the British Indian Ocean Territory,[1] the British Virgin Islands, Cambodia, East Timor, Ecuador, El Salvador, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau, Panama, Turks and Caicos Islands, and the insular areas of the United States Inflation 2. ... The National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is the largest sanctioning body of motorsports in the United States. ... The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series is NASCARs top racing series. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Budweiser 400 was an annual summer NASCAR Winston Cup race held from 1970 to 1988. ... The International Motor Sports Association (generally referred to as IMSA) is an American auto racing sanctioning body. ... The Los Angeles Times Grand Prix was sponsored by the paper to produce money for its charities. ... Formula One - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... The United States Grand Prix is a motor racing event which has taken place at various times since 1959 in several locations, at first as a part of the American Grand Prize series and later as a race in the Formula One World Championship. ... Champ Car, a shortened form of Championship Car, has been the name for a class of cars used in American Championship Car Racing for many decades. ...
Seating capacity
Varies by race and track layout
Current dimensions
Track shape	Road Course
Track length	Varies, track designs are below
Track banking	Turn 9 - 10 degrees°

Riverside International Raceway (Sometimes known as RIR or Riverside Raceway) was a race track or road course in Riverside, California. A driver died during the first weekend after the opening and several more drivers perished while the track was in operation from 1957 to 1989. Possible meanings: Regional Internet Registry Richmond International Raceway Riverside International Raceway Riverside (Rubidoux) Airport Royal Irish Regiment This page concerning a three-letter acronym or abbreviation is a disambiguation page—a list of articles associated with the same title. ... A race track (or racetrack), is a purpose-built facility for the conducting of races. ... Road racing can be a term involving road running, road bicycle races, or automobile races. ... Nickname: The City of Trees Location in the state of California Coordinates: Country United States State California County Riverside Government  - Mayor Ron Loveridge Area  - City  78. ...

The track was built to accommodate several different races. By closing off certain sections of the track, the route drivers had to follow could be altered. The three options on Riverside Raceway were the long course (3.27 miles or 5.25 km), the short course (2.5 miles or 4.16 km), and the NASCAR (2.5 Mi. or 4.16 km) course. The original racetrack had a 1.1 mile backstretch from 1957 to 1968. When the track was redesigned in 1969, turn 9 was made wide and a dogleg was added. A race is a competition of speed. ... A mile is a unit of length, usually used to measure distance, in a number of different systems, including Imperial units, United States customary units and Norwegian/Swedish mil. ... km redirects here. ... The National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is the largest sanctioning body of motorsports in the United States. ... Look up Dogleg in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

1969 to 1989 version of Riverside International Raceway (RIR), the 1957 to 1968 version is shown below

Riverside Raceway (1969 to 1989 verson) under a rough skech through MS paint. ... Riverside Raceway (1969 to 1989 verson) under a rough skech through MS paint. ...

The five courses of Riverside

Before a racing event at RIR, track crews added traffic pylons to close off sections of the track. Track courses are shown in the illustrations below (the 1957 course is in black, while the 1969 course above is in blue). Traffic cones are usually used to divert traffic. ...

Diagram notes: The long course (shown below before the 1969 version) had the 1.1 mile backstrech. When the 1969 version was built, the dogleg was added as a speed scrubber to reduce speeds when approaching turn 9. The NASCAR course, 3rd from top left (light blue) illustration, would not use turn 7. In the short course, the track would use turn 7A rather than 8. The NHRA drag strip only used the backstrech from the runoff to the Bosh Bridge.

Riverside Raceway back from 1957 to 1968, complete with the 1.1. mile backstrech Image File history File linksMetadata RIR57. ...	Riverside Raceway long course (3.3 Mi) Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ...	Riverside Raceway NASCAR course (2.62 Mi) Image File history File linksMetadata RIRNASCAR.jpg‎ [edit] Summary Riverside International Raceway NASCAR course (2. ...	Riverside Raceway short course (2.54 Mi) Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ...
Riverside Raceway drag strip (¼ Mi) Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ...

Movies and television

RIR was also a prime spot for movie shoots. Parts of the television shows CHiPs, Simon and Simon,The Rockford Files, Knight Rider, and the HBO program Super Dave Osborne were shot on location at RIR. CHiPs is an American television series through Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios running on NBC from September 15, 1977 to July 17, 1983. ... Simon & Simon was the name of a detective series starring Gerald McRaney and Jameson Parker. ... The Rockford Files is an American detective (private investigator) television drama that had its first run on the NBC television network between September 13, 1974 and January 10, 1980 and is in constant syndication to the present day. ... Knight Rider was a popular US-American television series that ran between September 26, 1982, and August 8, 1986. ... HBO (Home Box Office) is an American premium cable television network. ... Super Dave Osborne in front of his trademark bulb wall Super Dave Osborne is a fictional character played by Bob Einstein. ...

RIR was also a location shooting in the following movies: The Love Bug, Roadracers, Fireball 500, On the Beach, Speedway, Stacey, Thunder Alley, Winning, and The Killers. Film is a term that encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. ... The Love Bug (1969) was the first of a series of movies made by Walt Disney Productions that starred a white Volkswagen racing Beetle named Herbie, a bug with a mind of its own. ... Roadracers is a 1994 made-for-television film directed by Robert Rodriguez, his second feature film following the success of his 1992 debut, El Mariachi. ... On the Beach is a post-apocalyptic end-of-the-world novel written by British author Nevil Shute after he had emigrated to Australia. ... In baseball, a pitcher is credited with a win (or W) when, in a game won by his team, he is the teams pitcher at the time that his team takes a lead that it does not relinquish for the remainder of the game. ...

Many advertisements are also shot at RIR.

Miscellaneous facts

The first weekend of scheduled races in September of 1957, a California Sports Car Club event, John Lawrence of Pasadena, California lost his life. Lawrence, a former Cal Club, under 1500 c.c. Production champion, went off at Turn 5. The MG A he was driving, went up the sand embankment, then rolled back onto the track. Though Lawrence survived the incident, and appeared slightly injured; he died later at the hospital of a brain injury.

Footage exists of classic races like the 1986 Los Angeles Times Grand Prix in which the Chevy Corvette of Doc Bundy hit the Ford Probe of Lyn St. James and the Jaguar of Chip Robinson at Turn 1. St. James' car caught fire and Chip Robinson nearly cartwheeled into the crowd. Fortunately, St. James survived the flames and Robinson escaped uninjured within the track bounds. 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Los Angeles Times Grand Prix was sponsored by the paper to produce money for its charities. ... C5 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 at the Memphis Motor Speedway, 2004 The Chevrolet Corvette is a sports car first manufactured by Chevrolet in 1953 and is built today exclusively at a General Motors assembly plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky. ... Doc Bundy is a race car driver with the International Motor Sports Association and is famous for causing a bad accident during the Los Angeles Times Grand Prix at Riverside International Raceway in 1986. ... The Ford Probe was a car produced by Ford, introduced in 1989 to replace the Ford EXP as the companys sport compact car. ... Lyn St. ... Jaguar Cars Limited is a British luxury car manufacturer, with headquarters in Browns Lane, Coventry, England. ... Chip Robinson in the Nissan ZX-Turbo GTP car at the IMSA Del Mar Grand Prix - October 1990 Chip Robinson (born March 29, 1954) is a retired race car driver. ...

Sadly, Riverside was the site of the only fatality in IMSA GTP history. In the 1983 Times Grand Prix, Rolf Stommelen's Joest-constructed Porsche 935 lost its rear wing at the Dogleg and hit two freeway-type barriers sending it into a horrific roll at Turn 9. The International Motor Sports Association (generally referred to as IMSA) is an American auto racing sanctioning body. ... Rolf Stommelen was a Formula One driver from Germany born on July 11, 1943. ... The Porsche 935 was introduced in 1976, as the racing version of the Porsche 930 (911 Turbo), prepared for FIA-Group 5 rules (similar to the Porsche 934 which was built for the more standard Group 4). ...

When the racetrack was proposed in the mid 1950s, Riverside International Motor Raceway (as it was called at the time) was planned to ultimately be 5.0 miles long, but the club extension was never constructed and the track's final length (after Turn 9 was adjusted in 1969 to a 10 degree banked sweeper) was 3.3 miles.

Of the entire road course races run at RIR, there was at least one that was run in a counter-clockwise direction sometime in the 1960s.

ESPN taped the June 12, 1988, Budweiser 400 race at RIR and caught racer Ruben Garcia crashing hard off turn 9 and his car went through two cement barriers before coming to rest near a catchfence where fans were sitting. No fans were hurt during the incident. ESPN (which formerly stood for the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American cable television network dedicated to broadcasting sports-related programming 24 hours a day. ... June 12 is the 163rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (164th in leap years), with 202 days remaining. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Ruben Garcia has crashed hard at the Budweiser 400 at the Riverside International Raceway, this screenshot is from the race that was shown on ESPN on June 12, 1988. ...

NASCAR lost racer Joe Weatherly at the track in January 1964. For a final tribute, the old version of Riverside Raceway was etched on his headstone as a final joke since Joe was a joker. Joe Weatherly (May 29, 1922 - January 19, 1964) was a two-time NASCAR championship driver. ...

After 14 years of NASCAR as a driver and later a car owner, Richard Childress won his first NASCAR race in 1983, when Ricky Rudd drove his #3 Piedmont Airlines Chevrolet to victory in the 1983 Budweiser 400k. Richard Childress (born September 21, 1945 in Winston-Salem, NC) is a former NASCAR driver and successful team owner in NASCAR Nextel Cup competition. ... Ricky Rudd in 2005, courtesy of the U.S. Air Force Ricky Rudd racing at the Chevy Rock and Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway. ... Piedmont Airlines Logo Piedmont Airlines began flying in 1948. ...

From 1981 until 1987, NASCAR's championship race was at Riverside. The USAC Championship Trail also held their season ending race from 1967 to 1969. USAC Logo The United States Automobile Club (USAC) is an open-wheel auto racing sanctioning body. ...

Riverside was home to track announcer Sandy Reed and (along with former LA Rams player Les Richter) Roy Hord Jr. Sandy Reed (died February 5, 2004) was a track announcer with Ascot Park in Gardena, California, and the Riverside International Raceway in Riverside, California. ... Roy Hord Jr. ...

NASCAR Car owner Rick Hendrick drove a select few races at Riverside in his own cars. In the final race in 1988. He got out of the car and let Elliott Forbes-Robinson take over. Elliott Forbes-Robinson (born October 31, 1943) is a road racing racecar driver from La Crescenta, California. ...

Closure and RIR's transformation into a shopping mall

Ruben Garcia (car 32, Pick Your Part Chevrolet) crashes hard coming off turn 9 at RIR, this was at the NASCAR combination Cup-West 1988 Budweiser 400K that was shown on ESPN on June 12, 1988. Screenshot by Jason Trew

After former Los Angeles Rams player Les Richter sold the property to Fritz Duda, 1988 would be the final year of racing for Riverside International Raceway. On June 12, 1988, NASCAR held its final race at RIR - a race won by Rusty Wallace (a caution flag was out for Ruben Garcia when he came off Turn 9 and lost control of his car and hit a wall, missing the grandstands). In 1989, after the SCORE International held its last race, the track finally closed its gates after 32 years of racing after SCCA Cal Club racer Mark Verbofsky died and the track ended the way it started: with a dead racer. Fritz Duda turned the "House that Dan Gurney built" into a shopping mall which opened in 1992. The Moreno Valley Mall at Towngate is on the northern end of the former Raceway Property and houses now occupy the southern end of the old racetrack (where Tim Richmond and Dale Earnhardt raced). In a 1994 topographical map, the remains of Riverside's Turn 9 and a wall were still visible. However, today nothing is left of the Riverside International Raceway except for memorabilia from the racetrack. The old Administration Building remained until 2005, when it was torn down to make way for a complex of townhomes. Ruben Garcia crashes hard coming off turn 9 during the 1988 Budweiser 400 at RIR. (C) 2005 Jason Trew File links The following pages link to this file: Riverside International Raceway Ruben Garcia ... Ruben Garcia crashes hard coming off turn 9 during the 1988 Budweiser 400 at RIR. (C) 2005 Jason Trew File links The following pages link to this file: Riverside International Raceway Ruben Garcia ... ESPN (which formerly stood for the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American cable television network dedicated to broadcasting sports-related programming 24 hours a day. ... The St. ... Les Richter is a former Los Angeles Rams football player turned auto racing president of the Riverside International Raceway. ... June 12 is the 163rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (164th in leap years), with 202 days remaining. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Russell William Rusty Wallace (born August 14, 1956 in Fenton, Missouri) is a former NASCAR champion, NASCAR Busch Series car owner, and television broadcaster with ESPN and ESPN on ABC. Wallace had his first live broadcast of the Indy 500 on May 28, 2006. ... Ruben Garcia has crashed hard at the Budweiser 400 at the Riverside International Raceway, this screenshot is from the race that was shown on ESPN on June 12, 1988. ... SCORE International is an off-road sanctioning body in the sport of desert racing and is famous for its flagship event, the Baja 1000. ... Daniel Sexton Gurney (born April 13, 1931) is one of the most important figures in the history of American auto racing. ... It has been suggested that Retail park be merged into this article or section. ... The Moreno Valley Mall at Towngate is a shopping mall located on the former site of the Riverside International Raceway in Moreno Valley, California. ... Tim Richmond (June 7, 1955 - August 13, 1989) was a NASCAR race car driver who had his career cut short when he contracted HIV and died of complications from AIDS. Wich resulted in Richmond only racing for 7 years. ... This article is about the elder Dale Earnhardt. ... A souvenir stall in London, England A souvenir (from the French for memory) is an object that is treasured for the memories associated with it. ...

When Riverside closed in 1988, it followed in the footsteps of Ontario Motor Speedway (in nearby Ontario) which closed in 1980. Ontario Motor Speedway located in Ontario, California, was a 2. ... Ontario is a city located in San Bernardino County, California. ...

A shot of RIR in 1989 during the transformation from racetrack to shopping mall, note the new section of pavement for racing to continue

In 2003, the remainder of the old Riverside International Raceway was torn up, the sign that was at California 60 and Day Street was removed to make way for a Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse. The old Turn 9 of the old track is now home to houses and the legendary site of the old Riverside International Raceway where you could have heard the roar of engines is now a shopper's heaven and houses. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... “Lowes” redirects here. ...

Ironically, in 2003, plans were announced in northern California, near Merced, to build a 3-mile road course with a similar design to the famed Riverside layout, with a major difference in a chicane and Turn 9 (the track will be known as the Riverside Motorsports Park). Riverside Motorsports Park Riverside Motorsports Park [1]is a 1200-acre, motorsports-themed family entertainment park in development in Merced County, California. ...

Races held at Riverside International Raceway

• The NASCAR Winston Cup Series and Winston West: Motor Trend 500, NASCAR Winston Western 500, and NAPA/Budweiser 400K (The Cup and West series raced together in those races.)
• The CART PPG/Indycar World Series (now Champcar): AirCal 500 / L.A. Times 500 (1981-1983)
• USAC Championship Trail (Indycar) Rex Mays 300 (1967-1969)
• The Los Angeles Times Grand Prix of Endurance
• The 1960 United States Grand Prix
• (Unofficial) 24 hours of Riverside, testing the Chevy Corvair
• IROC
• NHRA drag racing in the mid sixties.
• SCORE International Off Road World Championships, the last one was held in August 1988.
• IMSA and SCCA car races
• Rex Mays 300

The National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is the largest sanctioning body of motorsports in the United States. ... The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series is NASCARs top racing series. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Budweiser 400 was an annual summer NASCAR Winston Cup race held from 1970 to 1988. ... A simple wooden cart in Australia A cart transporting watermelons in Harbin, China. ... Champcar has been the name for the class of cars used in the United States premier open wheel auto racing series for decades. ... Air California, later AirCal, was a regional airline serving different points in the state of California and some neighboring western U.S. states. ... USAC Logo The United States Automobile Club (USAC) is an open-wheel auto racing sanctioning body. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The Los Angeles Times Grand Prix was sponsored by the paper to produce money for its charities. ... The 1960 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on November 20, 1960 at Riverside International Raceway in Riverside, California. ... The Chevrolet Corvair remains one of General Motors most unusual creations. ... Sam Hornish, Jr. ... The National Hot Rod Association, known as the NHRA, was founded by Wally Parks in 1951 in the State of California to provide a governing body to organize and promote the sport of drag racing. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... SCORE International is an off-road sanctioning body in the sport of desert racing and is famous for its flagship event, the Baja 1000. ... The International Motor Sports Association (generally referred to as IMSA) is an American auto racing sanctioning body. ... The SCCA could be considered the grass-roots level of auto racing in the United States. ... Rex Mays (born March 10, 1913 - died November 6, 1949) is a former AAA Championship Car race driver from Riverside, California. ...

References

• Riverside Raceway, Palace Of Speed by Dick Wallen

• Motorsport Memorial entry on Rolf Stommelen (2005), [1]. Retrieved February 1, 2005.

Video footage of Riverside

• Video game footage from Grand Prix Legends

External links

• Riverside International Raceway's Yahoo! Group
• Riverside International Raceway's Picture Pages from Frank Sheffield, a former RIR corner worker
• Dick Wallen's Racing Classics - Contains videos and books related to Riverside Raceway.
• The Riverside Today message board at AtlasF1.com
• The old Riverside Raceway property back in 2002
• NASCAR track history at racing-reference.info