1987 Winston Western 500 - Riverside, Death Of A Racetrack
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- Опубліковано 29 вер 2024
- Riverside International Raceway was known to be closing for sometime but in late 1987 it looks to be finally closing after one more race in 1988.
We take a look back at Riverside, Death Of A Racetrack.
November 8th 1987
"in 10 yrs it will be one of the biggest citties in america" lol, Moreno Valley now is nothing but an industrial park and a strip mall with a nail salon, and a dollar store.
auto club speedway is soon on its way out to build a nfl football stadium there to bring the steelers to california.
Went to the Moreno Valley mall yesterday. One quarter of the stores are empty, half the lighting is off (to keep bills down I guess). Not to mention all the stuff around there that is closed down. GREAT choice to tear out the track.
What a shame. A total shame., At one time this was one off the most challenging tracks in motorsports. I would love to see today's drivers try to conquer this circuit today. I almost can't watch this video.
The track should have been sold to someone that was a race promoter that will keep racing in town instead of a developer who want malls bulit in moreno valley.
How funny I worked out of the Riverside County Building and I would race my CRX around that area never knew that it was the old Sacred Riverside track. I always thought it was just a field with a mall. The mall today is empty and nobody really shopping there since the COVD. Stupid Developers that have killed the Passion for cars and racing. There are so many closed race tracks now. The youngsters that have a passion for racing now have to do Illegal Drag races and all sorts of things outside the law. Back then a youngster with an idea and a passion could dream of building and racing one day on a track like Riverside.
This was the town I was born in...glad I don`t live there now.
i remeber sitting in turn 6, the best seats at the track because you could se the entire course. all the suckers wanted to sit at the start/ finish line where the pits were. but we knew better. i miss the place and the memories.
The hill on the outside of turn 5 next to the chain link fence was the best place if you didn't fork out an extra $6-$8 for a grandstand seat. I sat up there about row 35 or so. That was high, could see the dogleg and Turn 9, which was over a mile away!
I remember my dad always driving over the Bosch bridge and turning left, go down a little ways passed the bathrooms and back up to the fence and that's where we were every race I almost remember walking across the bridge and watching for that blue Petty car to go flyin bye those were the days.
i wento every race held at riverside and ontario when i was growing up. i was born in 71 and remember going with my dad and uncles as early as 77 or so. they had nascar, indy, off road, hell even endurance races like for the can ams and such. it was the best track ever. if i remember right it was a 17 turn road course, but they could actually turn ot into a shorter 12 or 13 turn course as well.
I was fortunate to see the races @riverside raceway for many years including the last one...Winston Cup 1988 won by Rusty Wallace, Awesome Memories
Yep, a great track. In 1989 I took the last Skip Barber 3day racing schools at the track. What a rush to drive banked turn 9. My brother did some motorcycle club racing there as well. It was sad to see the track go. A mall and others commercial chopping now scorer the property. The only thing that remains is the mall's sign was built from the same structure of the RIR sign along the 60 freeway at turn 6 & 8.
i agree. my nephew lives there. it is a total dump. ghetto to the 10th power. ontario was an even worse story. it was torn down probably 7 or 8 years earlier, and that property sat there untoched for years. hell i think they actually started building on the riverside property before the ontario property. condos were supposed to go up there. i dont know what they ended up building there, but whatever it was, it was never going top replace ontario raceway.
I went to races at Ontario and it was a beautiful track but it didn't last long. As I recall it was built on an old Kaiser Aluminum plant grounds.
One thing that's built on Ontario Motor Speedway is a f****** CarMax had a couple of roads and just a bunch of little buildings and dollar stores it totally makes no sense why they done what they done to Ontario as a matter fact there's a video of it on here showing exactly what was there and part of it is not even developed at least the area around Riverside was closing in on it.
Another California success story!! ...Closing Riverside Raceway to replace it with a crappy mall and crappy track houses was a huge mistake.... I agree with one of the previous posts; bulldoze the mall and houses and replace the track...
The last time I was there was in 1985 for the SCORE off road championships. I was 10 and every year I would get excited knowing that i was going to spend a weekend out there, staying up late, looking at all the drunk people and hanging out with my cousins. I remember watching Mickey Thopmspon and his monsterous buggy, his son raced class 7 and tried to clear a rhythm section but flipped his truck by clipping the last jump. the best was seeing Roger Mears and Walker Evans battle for class 8
that city is NOT one of America's 100 largest cities. i checked in an almanac
hahah they thought moreno valley was gonna be one of the largest citys... hahahha that did not happen, we are hurting like hell right now during the recession
Umm wasnt it the last nascar race a year later lol .....
Anybody recall seeing the Can-Am vacuum cars in 1970 (or 71)? They were a sports car tub with a big engine but had flexible skirts to the ground and a separate snowbmobile engine to suck air out from under the car. Boy could they turn on a dime but when vacuum engine quit the car had a hard time turning like they expected.
Noo but if I can get in contact with you since you know how it was back then that would make my day I’m 15 btw
I'm ashamed to have grown up in Moreno Valley (known Sunnymead to some), knowing such a great track was thrown to the trash for a shopping center...
I lived in Sunnymead 69-71 and Riverside track was my second home. Sorry to read about its demise back in 88.
Moreno Valley Mall has been a debacle since the day it opened
What a waste! All that overbuilding was a total fraud. Now anyone still with employment lives so far from their job they can barely afford the fuel to get there. Anyone with half a brain could see it coming too. Bulldoze all that crap and put a new Riverside Raceway back in its place.
With all the development there the owner probably got tired of rising property taxes that could only be offset with revenue on weekends. Thanks slapdicks in Sacramento!
It is too bad that the "new" Riverside complex never came to be. :-(
A lot of it was smoke and mirrors from a couple people who had a shady past to begin with, the theory is that they paid a 3D artist to make a racetrack mockup and presented it to investors to cash and dash them.
I was lucky enough to be part of the last race at Riverside International Raceway. It was a SCCA race weekend and I was racing a first gen RX7 in ITS. The following year construction at the track was delayed and they created Riverside Regional Raceway. Part of the track was already torn up so they paved a section to connect the remaining parts. So I ran a few more races there and ran in the last race at Riverside Regional Raceway also.
How was it back thenn?
It was a great time to be racing with the SCCA. Big fields, with all Showroom stock and Improved Touring classes in one race group we maxed out cars allowed per mile of the track (75 cars I think). After that they split the race group. The tire and auto manufacturers were more involved too. I ran Goodrich tire and was always behind the guys with Yokohama tire. Then Goodrich came out with the R1 and started working with new compounds. I dropped over a second off lap time and was ahead of the Yokohama guys. After that everyone’s tires got better and better.
Moreno Valley's currently ranked 117th, so it wasn't that inaccurate.
The departures of This Rockingham and North Wilkesboro are What's wrong with Nascar
they KILLED one of the best tracks ever...sad
I went to the Budweiser 400 in 1988 I wish it was there today lots of fun the mall is a ghost town and sucks
This awesome track was DESTROYED so a stupid mall could be built!
HA. They killed the track because some speculators thought they could make money on it. Its nothing but an industrial complex that has nothing to offer anyone. If they'd waited long enough they could have entertained some great races there, including possibly Indy cars and Formula One. But instead we get industrial eyesores and an even longer drive out to Fontana, where ticket prices are through the roof because of OTHER kinds of speculation. Speculators, speculate this.
It wasn't so much speculation as it was that California was growing in population and they were running out of room for retail space, Ontario Speedway's old location is a thriving shopping center now.
@ToroRosso20 fontana needs to close anyways that is one of the most boring races on the schedule
I live in Moreno Valley and this place is a total shit hole.
It has turned into a Barrio/Ghetto. Pathetic town. When I get my funds I am moving on out.
Fontana needs adjustments to the track or soon it will follow Ontario and Riverside.
"Experts" said the city would be one of the hundred largest cities in America in 10 years. Over 20 years later the city has yet to break the 100 largest cities in America. FAIL. Les Richter should have never sold the property, RIR was a great track. Would be great if NASCAR could construct an exact replica of the track.
What a waste of such a historic track. Too bad we can't demolish what is there now and rebuild Riverside! For that matter, rebuild, Ontario Motor Speedway, MCAS El Toro, and bring back the B-52's to March Air Force Base. Oh yeah, and bring back Adventure Thru Inner Space!
they should of left Riverside the way it was, not close it and build a crappy mall and houses. i say get rid of them and BRING BACK RIVERSIDE RACEWAY!!!
I miss this track. Hell, I miss the old configuration of Sears Point
this was when nascar was real racing, on road courses. not the joke that it is today. follow trhe leader and everyone has an identical car that goes the same speed. it is truly sad what it has become.
That track was so fast, had a few elevation changes, a few flat corners to make passing pretty interesting. That huge straight would be amazing in a fast car or motorcycle
@OjaiRoy It was destroyed, because the owner wanted to make money. blame him! The buyer wanted to make money too, so he built a stupid mall. Now the stupid mall isnt making money!
Ahaha. Yeah I don't think the city of Pittsburgh will let the Steelers leave. Maybe the Chargers or Rams. The Auto Club Speedway is a terribly boring track, it would be perfect if they raised the banking in the turns like Vegas did.
@immrass well Fontana is a very dull track but us Southern California Nascar Fans need a track somewhere. Can't hold anything against the people that like Nascar out here.
Vegas is a great track but it is quite expensive.
I was at this race with my father. Still miss Riverside Raceway. Mo'Val is nothing but a ghetto now. A shame that this track was torn down for urban sprawl.
@OjaiRoy yeah screw the damn malls , developments Here on the east coast we lost Nazerth Speedway which raced Indy cars and the busch series to a Mall as well ! At least the bleachers found a new home up at Watkins Glenn.
@lincbond442 If possible, maybe rebiuld Riverside further down the road or right alongside Moreno Valley. So much for California land development.
Moreno valley? never heard of it
An awsome track. I never went to the nascar race but we were at the SCORE off road race in Aug.
@ToroRosso20 reply on riverside raceway i commend you for your heads up view it's on the money
@brandundundunn saw your remarks on moreno valley you said it right amen JIM
The way things are going, this may happen to Laguna Seca in a short number of years :(
considering they just added IndyCar to the 2019 schedule, IMSA is extending their contract through 2025, and there's talk of a NASCAR race there in 2020. i'd say they are fine.
This is sad!
@r1cw What a waste.
Whatever happened to Dan Greenwood?