I lived across the road just west of the track back in 78-79 when I was stationed at March AFB. So there were B-52’s and KC-135’s taking off overhead all week and race cars all weekend. This was the cheapest rent area in the entire state! I loved it. I had the pleasure to work on the fire crew at the track on my days off from my job as a firefighter on the Air Force base. Best days of my life!
Thank you for an excellent walk down memory lane. Having spent some time on the track during the later years in a Formula Ford, seeing it again from a driver's perspective was a real treat. The track was demanding but the back straight offered a few seconds to relax before watching the turn 9 wall come into full view and hoping the brakes would perform as expected.
Thanks so much for this excellent historical video, including the vintage in-car footage! I grew up on this track, first as a passenger with my dad at Porsche Club time trial events in the early 70’s, then racing myself in SCCA/Cal Club and VARA events throughout the 80’s. You have the only footage I have come across of the final configuration of the track used in 1989. There were way more curves in that added section than I remembered! It brings back bittersweet memories not only because I participated in the Last Lap of Riverside races on the July 4 weekend that year, but also because a good friend Mark Verbofsky became the last fatality at the track on July 1 in a crash of his Formula Atlantic in Turn 1. Perhaps I will use your overlay map to find the spot and pay my respects next time I am in the LA area 😢. Thanks again for the trip down memory lane!
I did my last novice A.R.R.A.(American Road Racing Association) race at Riverside after doing my first few races at Willow Springs. Big difference going from open run off into the desert to guard rails and concrete walls. I ran wide exiting 7B on last lap while right on the tail of 1st place and lost a lot of ground. I made it all up in turn 9 and finished a half bike behind first. I was lucky to not drop out of the top 5. At least from the looks of it Willow will last several more years before they get moved out by development. Hopefully that never happens.
I raced there many times in IMSA and SCCA pro endurance series during the 80s. Great high-speed track. Lots of celebrities would go there because of its proximity to LA. Lots of movies and tv shows were filmed there. I have two pictures from two different years in turn five. One has bare desert in the background; the other has lots of condominiums. The building was fast and the famous track was gone. Rip Rolf Stommelen.
I lived in Riverside in the early 60's and attended the 1960 US Grand Prix. Most of the motels in the area were along 8th Street (University Ave) in Riverside and they catered to drivers and crews. In 1960, for days before the race, the drivers were allowed to drive all kinds of unlicensed race cars, pit bikes, whatever down 8th Street. I had a BMW Isetta at the time and street raced (ha ha) Phil HIll, Graham Hill and Stirling Moss at different times and in different cars over a couple of days. There were others, but I didn't know them by sight. Dan Gurney was a Riverside boy at the time. I was 18 years old then. When the track closed, the Ramada and Holiday Inn were sold to the university and are still in use by them. The rest of the smaller motels turned into hooker motels, and now most of them have been torn down. The racetrack was very important to the local economy and Riverside went all out for the drivers and crews. Sadly, the US Grand Prix was only held at Riverside that one year. I think it went back to Sebring after that. I forget and no longer follow GP.
Thanks for the great video. The first auto race I ever attended was the 1973 CanAm race at this track, and was utterly dominated by Mark Donohue in the Penske Porsche 917/30, One factual correction, though. The 1965 L.A. Times GP was not a CanAm race, it was part of the USRRC series. 1966 was the first year of the CanAm series, and that year's race was also called the L.A. Times GP. Both the USRRC and CanAm series used the relatively unrestricted Group 7 cars of that era.
@@ourafilmes But wait, there's more! The 1965 L.A. Times GP was NOT part of the 1965 USRRC. I did a bit of additional research, and it turns out I was only half right. The 1965 USRRC race was held on May 2, and was won by Jim Hall in a Chaparral. The 1965 L.A. Times GP was held on October 31, and won by Hap Sharp, also in a Chaparral. This race is listed as having been part of the "Autoweek Championship". I don't recall ever hearing that name back in the day. Here's a brief video which mentions that race: ua-cam.com/video/zwZ949QLxXA/v-deo.html. The 1966 USRRC race was held on May 1, won by John Fulp. The 1966 L.A. Times GP was a part of the new CanAm Championship, held on October 30, won by John Surtees (Lola T70), who would go on to win the overall championship. Sorry for adding to all the snarled traffic on the Disinformation Highway. Was that 1965 video originally on ESPN with Dave Despain?
@@brucekirkpatrick3653 If you click on the 3 hidden replies, you'll see that I have already corrected that mistake, and added some other details as well.
Thankfully you can still walk or bike the 3.27-mile-long former Meadowdale International Raceway at Carpentersville, IL. It was in use from 1958 to 1969. Today it exists as "Raceway Woods" and is considered the largest "ghost racetrack" in the U.S.
Whenever I point out that my Grandfather races sports cars, I feel the need to point out that he raced in the Southern Sportscar series from the 1950s; a series that is long gone - very little traces of it. Only the most serious race fan is going to know about it.
I don't need to tall you these were glorious times. Some big names raced there - Phil Hill and Dan Gourney. And the racecars then were going through some great developments - the Ferrari Testarosa and the Aston Martin DBR-1's and later models, which my Grandfather - Bob Oker drove those. He retired in 1960. So, he didn't get in on the Can Am stuff. And, nobody but Dan Gurney would know him. I met Dan Gurney at Laguna Seca raceway in the early 1980s, and I even watched his Toyota IMSA racecars at the DelMar raceway's in the late 1980s.
I only got to see the last historic races before they tore up the racetrack. But, as you know, this was a great racetrack! Just like Laguna Seca, we could hike all up and down that racetrack. You can't do that with today's racetracks.(most of them anyways)
My Grandmother, Bob Oker's wife is still alive; I almost weekly bring her food, and hang with her for a few hours. One time, she showed me like three hours of footage of her husband racing in Riverside and other Southern California sportscar championship racing venues. This was just a couple of months ago. As far as I know, she's the only person who possesses this footage. It was the footage taken by the car owner of the racecars that my Grandfather raced. I'm forgetting the guys name for the moment.
Wife dad owned Riverside raceway. He was a hall of fame in college & pro football. He later became a Senior VP of NASCAR. He also was in charge of building CA speedway which is now called Auto Club speedway. She has all the stories involving this track. Anyone know his name?
Thx yu...very real experience from on a couch!!! Do yu know of a way I can search Riverside RiR PACE CARS ? IM SPECIFICALLY TRYN TO FIND 6-70 PACERS.1 ELUDES ME AND FRUSTRATION HAS TIP THE THRESHHOLDS OF RESEARCHING...69 BIG BAD GREEN CALIFORNIA 500 SPECIAL WAS TO HV PACED A RACE AND CANT FIND THE TRUTH...
Beloved Riverside..God in Heaven I loved that place...I attacked with Lightweight Corvette..2280lbs. 540 HP....God what a ride.. I'll never ever forget it.. Pit straight.. turn two .the esses . Turn six..turn 7...7a. ..Turn 8... Then ..Then .that long and lovely Back straight..coming out in 2nd. Power shifting that Muncie at 6800rpm..with a big block of corse. Riverside thank God in my brief Career I got to run there..ime now 77years..I want to do it all again.. As president Biden says . Age means nothing .I couldn't agree More...can't wait till I got another car Together..another Corvette..ah but Knowing what I know now with my New car..I would be able to cut a 60 seconds lap at riverside.... Riverside was Heaven. Heaven.....
I lived across the road just west of the track back in 78-79 when I was stationed at March AFB. So there were B-52’s and KC-135’s taking off overhead all week and race cars all weekend. This was the cheapest rent area in the entire state! I loved it. I had the pleasure to work on the fire crew at the track on my days off from my job as a firefighter on the Air Force base. Best days of my life!
Nice one!
I grew up going to races here as a kid. It sucks to drive by the old sight and see a damn shopping mall.
Yeah, a racing track was much better indeed. Thanks for watching!
I play this track in VR in Assetto Corsa. One of the most fun tracks for 70s era car racing.
It was a great track!
Still have NASCAR Riverside race programs from the 70s and 80s. Thanks for the memories.
It was a great track! Looks easy but it was really challenging!
Thank you , brings back a lot of good memories , Went to most of the races there from 1968 to 1988 , and still talk about those with other fans .
Great stuff! Thanks for watching!
Thank you for an excellent walk down memory lane. Having spent some time on the track during the later years in a Formula Ford, seeing it again from a driver's perspective was a real treat. The track was demanding but the back straight offered a few seconds to relax before watching the turn 9 wall come into full view and hoping the brakes would perform as expected.
It was a great track with lots of character! Cheers from Portugal!
Thanks so much for this excellent historical video, including the vintage in-car footage! I grew up on this track, first as a passenger with my dad at Porsche Club time trial events in the early 70’s, then racing myself in SCCA/Cal Club and VARA events throughout the 80’s. You have the only footage I have come across of the final configuration of the track used in 1989. There were way more curves in that added section than I remembered! It brings back bittersweet memories not only because I participated in the Last Lap of Riverside races on the July 4 weekend that year, but also because a good friend Mark Verbofsky became the last fatality at the track on July 1 in a crash of his Formula Atlantic in Turn 1. Perhaps I will use your overlay map to find the spot and pay my respects next time I am in the LA area 😢. Thanks again for the trip down memory lane!
WOW. Great comment. Many thanks for watching!
I did my last novice A.R.R.A.(American Road Racing Association) race at Riverside after doing my first few races at Willow Springs. Big difference going from open run off into the desert to guard rails and concrete walls. I ran wide exiting 7B on last lap while right on the tail of 1st place and lost a lot of ground. I made it all up in turn 9 and finished a half bike behind first. I was lucky to not drop out of the top 5. At least from the looks of it Willow will last several more years before they get moved out by development. Hopefully that never happens.
Nice one!
This is a fantastic video and well done my friend :)
Thank you very much! Cheers!
thank you - good documentary with fantastic clips and pictures
Many thanks! Cheers!
Amasing footage of Ken Miles in the 289 Shelby, Thank you ourafilmes for that historical films!
Cheers!
Awesome, thanks for posting this.
Glad you enjoyed it! Cheers!
I raced there many times in IMSA and SCCA pro endurance series during the 80s. Great high-speed track. Lots of celebrities would go there because of its proximity to LA. Lots of movies and tv shows were filmed there. I have two pictures from two different years in turn five. One has bare desert in the background; the other has lots of condominiums. The building was fast and the famous track was gone. Rip Rolf Stommelen.
Never been there but it looks like a great track with character!
I lived in Riverside in the early 60's and attended the 1960 US Grand Prix. Most of the motels in the area were along 8th Street (University Ave) in Riverside and they catered to drivers and crews. In 1960, for days before the race, the drivers were allowed to drive all kinds of unlicensed race cars, pit bikes, whatever down 8th Street. I had a BMW Isetta at the time and street raced (ha ha) Phil HIll, Graham Hill and Stirling Moss at different times and in different cars over a couple of days. There were others, but I didn't know them by sight. Dan Gurney was a Riverside boy at the time. I was 18 years old then. When the track closed, the Ramada and Holiday Inn were sold to the university and are still in use by them. The rest of the smaller motels turned into hooker motels, and now most of them have been torn down. The racetrack was very important to the local economy and Riverside went all out for the drivers and crews. Sadly, the US Grand Prix was only held at Riverside that one year. I think it went back to Sebring after that. I forget and no longer follow GP.
Sounds like amazing times man! Thanks for commenting!
Fab video again. Sad its all gone but your vid brings it back to life :)
Thanks so much for your nice words! Cheers from Portugal!
Thanks for the great video. The first auto race I ever attended was the 1973 CanAm race at this track, and was utterly dominated by Mark Donohue in the Penske Porsche 917/30, One factual correction, though. The 1965 L.A. Times GP was not a CanAm race, it was part of the USRRC series. 1966 was the first year of the CanAm series, and that year's race was also called the L.A. Times GP. Both the USRRC and CanAm series used the relatively unrestricted Group 7 cars of that era.
Cheers! Thanks for your correction and information. Funny... The original 1965 video is marked as being a CanAm car!
@@ourafilmes But wait, there's more! The 1965 L.A. Times GP was NOT part of the 1965 USRRC. I did a bit of additional research, and it turns out I was only half right. The 1965 USRRC race was held on May 2, and was won by Jim Hall in a Chaparral. The 1965 L.A. Times GP was held on October 31, and won by Hap Sharp, also in a Chaparral. This race is listed as having been part of the "Autoweek Championship". I don't recall ever hearing that name back in the day. Here's a brief video which mentions that race: ua-cam.com/video/zwZ949QLxXA/v-deo.html. The 1966 USRRC race was held on May 1, won by John Fulp. The 1966 L.A. Times GP was a part of the new CanAm Championship, held on October 30, won by John Surtees (Lola T70), who would go on to win the overall championship. Sorry for adding to all the snarled traffic on the Disinformation Highway. Was that 1965 video originally on ESPN with Dave Despain?
NOT a USRRC! Always the L. A Times Grand Prix. The USRRC was a separate series.
@@brucekirkpatrick3653 If you click on the 3 hidden replies, you'll see that I have already corrected that mistake, and added some other details as well.
@@johncrowley1203 did see that afterwards. I worked at those races, so my reaction was very quick, too quick it seems
Thankfully you can still walk or bike the 3.27-mile-long former Meadowdale International Raceway at Carpentersville, IL. It was in use from 1958 to 1969. Today it exists as "Raceway Woods" and is considered the largest "ghost racetrack" in the U.S.
Lots of ghost tracks in the US!
@@ourafilmes Scary!
Gone but not forgotten
No, indeed a great track! Progress, they say...
Great job, thanks!!!
Thank you! Cheers!
Whenever I point out that my Grandfather races sports cars, I feel the need to point out that he raced in the Southern Sportscar series from the 1950s; a series that is long gone - very little traces of it. Only the most serious race fan is going to know about it.
I don't need to tall you these were glorious times. Some big names raced there - Phil Hill and Dan Gourney. And the racecars then were going through some great developments - the Ferrari Testarosa and the Aston Martin DBR-1's and later models, which my Grandfather - Bob Oker drove those. He retired in 1960. So, he didn't get in on the Can Am stuff. And, nobody but Dan Gurney would know him.
I met Dan Gurney at Laguna Seca raceway in the early 1980s, and I even watched his Toyota IMSA racecars at the DelMar raceway's in the late 1980s.
I only got to see the last historic races before they tore up the racetrack. But, as you know, this was a great racetrack! Just like Laguna Seca, we could hike all up and down that racetrack. You can't do that with today's racetracks.(most of them anyways)
My Grandmother, Bob Oker's wife is still alive; I almost weekly bring her food, and hang with her for a few hours. One time, she showed me like three hours of footage of her husband racing in Riverside and other Southern California sportscar championship racing venues. This was just a couple of months ago. As far as I know, she's the only person who possesses this footage. It was the footage taken by the car owner of the racecars that my Grandfather raced. I'm forgetting the guys name for the moment.
Nice stuff man. there is so much footage lost like that in somebody´s home! I heard so many stories about that! Cheers!
amazing thx for sharing FrienD !!
Thanks for watching!
Thanks for sharing.
nice great upload.
Thanks for watching! Cheers!
I live 150ft away from turn 9
Wow. That´s nice... although you don´t have a racetrack anymore... Cheers from Portugal!
Grew up not far from here in Riverside - shame how they can't even memorialize where Ken Miles had his fatal crash at the corner of Day and Cottonwood
That is long forgotten I guess!
@@ourafilmes I thought that with Ford v Ferrari they would at least put a plaque up :-(
Most of the races shown I worked at for the Cal Club division of the SCCA.
That is so cool man! Thanks for watching!
Riverside also claimed the life of the great NASCAR star Joe Weatherly as well as USAC open wheel star Canadian Billy Foster.
Thanks, I think I missed that one!
Wondering if I can get in contact with anyone who race this track or lived around there back then
I can´t help with that my friend... Only by keeping the video online!
Wife dad owned Riverside raceway. He was a hall of fame in college & pro football. He later became a Senior VP of NASCAR. He also was in charge of building CA speedway which is now called Auto Club speedway. She has all the stories involving this track. Anyone know his name?
I don´t know...
Les Richter
Thx yu...very real experience from on a couch!!!
Do yu know of a way I can search Riverside RiR PACE CARS ? IM SPECIFICALLY TRYN TO FIND 6-70 PACERS.1 ELUDES ME AND FRUSTRATION HAS TIP THE THRESHHOLDS OF RESEARCHING...69 BIG BAD GREEN CALIFORNIA 500 SPECIAL WAS TO HV PACED A RACE AND CANT FIND THE TRUTH...
I am sorry. I can´t help with that. What I have researched is on the video... Cheers from Portugal.
Was the champion spark plug bridge two lane ?
I don´t know mate!
Ya, I think so, I have a good picture doing a wheelie going over it!
It was two lane, with a pedestrian walk on the side. The bridge was very narrow, so if two vehicles drove across at the same time it was close.
Beloved Riverside..God in Heaven
I loved that place...I attacked with
Lightweight Corvette..2280lbs.
540 HP....God what a ride..
I'll never ever forget it..
Pit straight.. turn two .the esses .
Turn six..turn 7...7a. ..Turn 8...
Then ..Then .that long and lovely
Back straight..coming out in 2nd.
Power shifting that Muncie at
6800rpm..with a big block of corse.
Riverside thank God in my brief
Career I got to run there..ime now
77years..I want to do it all again..
As president Biden says .
Age means nothing .I couldn't agree
More...can't wait till I got another car
Together..another Corvette..ah but
Knowing what I know now with my
New car..I would be able to cut a
60 seconds lap at riverside....
Riverside was Heaven. Heaven.....
It was a great track. Thanks for watching!