Riverside.............
I'm a new member, haven't posted before 'cause I didn't have anything worth contributing but Riverside............
I first went there in '59 or so for one of the Newspaper races- LA Times-Mirror or LA Examiner "GP". Jack(now Sir Jack) was driving the Jaguar E2A, known as the "Rivet", a prototype of the XKE. I remember DBR1 Aston Martins, 250 TRs, Tipo 60-61 Maseratis, Scarabs, Bocars, Unser's Lotus 23 with a Chevy II 4cyl(half a V8)- all kinds of wonderful stuff.
By 1960 I was a Tech Inspector- Scrutineer to you guys from across the Atlantic. At the start of the 1960 U.S. Gran Prix I was standing on a log on the outside of turn one. No wall, no fence, nothing!
Supporting race was for Touring Cars. 2 works 3.4 Jag. sedans, followed by 2 Sunbeam Rapiers ran away and hid from the rest of the field, such as it was.
I continued to work as a Tech Inspector for the California Sports Car Club through the '60s at most of the CanAm races plus lots of regional club races. Went to NASCAR races to see Gurney win several times, watched him win the Rex Mays 300 in a gorgeous beaked Eagle Indy car with a 4-cam Ford, watched him lose numerous CanAm races. He never seemed to be able to get it together in the CanAm except when he drove for Mclaren once or twice.
In the late '70s I got involved with a local group called the Vintage Auto Racing Association(VARA) and
I was their chief scrutineer 'til the late '80s. I went to "The Last Race at Riverside" numerous times until one day it really was over. I even raced there myself a little in our club historic events in a SIATA 208 spider and something called the Aardvaark.
I apologise for taking up so much space on this wonderful forum but I just couldn't resist it.
Anyway, I'm in for $100. I'll send a check.
Thanks, and best regards,
Anton

Anton,

Welcome to TNF. I'm glad that this Riverside thread has prompted you to post... though in the future, don't be shy, remembrances like yours are what this place is all about. So, post away!

Thanks for your support and hope to see you at the unveiling.


eldougo, JT and Larry,

Thanks for your words of support, encouragement and appreciation. We'll keep after it until the job's done...

There have been a couple of Internet magazine articles presented in the past few days. One, from AutoRacing1.com . Does anyone have a subscription to this on-line magazine so that a copy of the article could posted? And, a special thanks to Neil from e-Tracks for a fine article prominently displayed on the main page. Thanks Neil for your support and effort to get the word out.

Bob Key has grabbed hold of a rein and started a PR fundraising campaign - Thanks Bob!

BTW, I understand from Paul that the money has started to roll in. Keep 'em coming folks!

Anton( just to encourage you to share more memories...) Was one of those cars the subject of a memorable ad in, I think, 'Road & Track' that started " A little Aardvaark never hurt anybody..." ?

Anton( just to encourage you to share more memories...) Was one of those cars the subject of a memorable ad in, I think, 'Road & Track' that started " A little Aardvaark never hurt anybody..." ?

Yes John, it was the very one. It is based on a Panhard flat twin engine and front drive transaxle. It was built in Santa Barbara in the early '50s buy a man named Chuck Porter and was, and still is a very successful car.
A friend of mine bought it many years later, at my urging and I ended up doing the top end of the motor and some other stuff for him. He took it to a VARA event at Riverside in about 1980 and something in the clutch linkage failed. He was a talented woodworker but clueless mechanically and couldn't figure out how to drive it without the clutch. I tried to explain it to him but he said "Hell- you drive it". Turned out to be a sweet little car and surprisingly fast! In fact the current owner 20 years later is still winning races with it in California Historic events.
Anton

Atlas, TNF, and Richard are mentioned at the bottom of this Autoweek article!

http://www.autoweek.com/cat_content.mv?por...t_code=00091604

Hi everyone, Richard and I have come up with a simple flyer / notification of the RIR Monument project. We agree that it could probably be fine tuned but for now we need to get the word out. It is a 2 page "word.doc" that I can't figure out how to post here. It should be "openable" by most of you so If you would like an "original" of your own to e-mail or print and pass on to your friends, please e-mail me at movalcadd@aol.com and I will be more than happy to attach a copy to my reply to you, later, Bob Key

P.S. If anyone knows how I can post this word.doc here, I could sure use the help.

Hi and welcome, Bob!

You could try to copy and paste the document into your post, or else if you have web space, upload the file and post a link here.


__________________
Stop the terror!

Help making the people of Israel aware that they don't have a future with Ariel Sharon!

Tell your government to support Amram Mitzna for Prime Minister on January 28!

It may well be the last chance for peace and freedom in the Middle East!

Bob,

Another route might be to save it as an HTML document from Word, then post it on a website, providing the link in a post. Although I tried this with limited success in Mac Word98 (got only the image), you may have better progress in whatever version you are using. Or you could scan the document and post the image.

You and Richard did a great job with the flyer. Its concise and destinctive. Where did the logo come from?

A RIR Monument non-profit organization has been established to construct and erect a monument to the famed Southern California circuit.

The Monument has been selected to grace the entrance of the new, 4,000 square-foot TownGate II Community Center in Moreno Valley. The Center will also house in perpetuity, a display of Riverside Raceway memorabilia.

The Community Center will be located close to where the track was on Eucalyptus Street. At the Nov. 12, 2002 City Council meeting, unanimous approval was given for the RIR Monument and the theme for Community Center. Now the fundraising effort for the Monument can begin in earnest.

Dedication of the Community Center and Monument is tentatively planned for May / June of 2003. Many drivers, owners and fans that were a major part of RIR history are invited and expected to attend a to remember. A historic car and motorcycle show, guest speakers and more will all be a part of the festivities.

To financially support the non-profit RIR Monument project, please make your donation to:

Riverside International Raceway Monument

And send to:

Riverside International Raceway Monument Fund
PMB 325 P.O. Box 68021
Anaheim, CA 92817-0821

Your support for the worthy project is appreciated very much, and please plan to attend the dedication ceremony/ For further information about the RIR Monument Project, please follow “The Nostalgia Forum” and the “Riverside Today” thread at www.atlasf1.com.




Here is the flyer... If you can't see it from my link to my MSN Web Documents, then I'll email it to Paul and he can post it.

Paul, Bob told me that the logo was copied from a sign.

Hi Paul, thanks for the posting info, still attempting to get this out. I've worked with numerous releases of Autocad starting in 1987, but when it comes to desktop publishing and web site generation / posting, I am still in the dark. The RIR logo came from an 8.5" x 11" metal sign that I scanned and Richard kindly cleaned up. It is part of the things that I bought at the "Last Laps" Cal Club races from a good friend Roger Mumbower. Roger was a racer, crew, corner worker friend that started a racing related souvenir business in the early 80's. He would bring his van full of goodies to club races and pro events as often as possible and wanted to help us remember RIR by bringing some special things that sad weekend. He had hats, signs, t-shirts, stickers, coffee cups, pins etc. I've been trying to locate him recently to see if he still has any of the original artwork to produce another run of his products. I will let everyone know what I find out, later, Bob Key

Richard...or for that matter, anyone living within easy driving distance of Riverside (or anyone visiting Riverside)...

I have another project for you.

In a 1965 or 1966 issue of Competition Press/Autoweek, the inauguration of the Riverside Raceway "Walk of Fame" was covered. At a row of car dealerships on the East side of Riverside, famous drivers were placing their footprints, etc. in cement, like Graumann's Theater in Hollywood.

I believe Gurney did it. I recall Jim Clark and Graham Hill being invited. At least one or two other well known drivers did attend the ceremony (Phil Hill sticks in my mind) and I believe Graham sent a humorous note. IIRC, the ceremony took place during the Times GP weekend.

Unfortunately, the full details will have to wait until I find that issue with the article.

...upon which, I'll start a new thread.

I wonder what happened to this "Walk of Fame"?. I can't help but feel it was probably broken up when the need came for new cement sidewalks. It would be interesting for someone to check on.

For that matter, and not OT for RIR...I wonder whatever became of the Bruce McLaren Memorial flagpole and plaque at Bridgehampton?


Jim Thurman

Jim,

We'll look into it, thanks... If you read back a few posts, there is a feasibility study underway to see if something like that walk of fame can be facilitated at the Community Center site.

Richard,

The article gave details as to location, etc...I'm hoping to find and post the article, but I've got an awfully busy weekend. Perhaps Monday.

It would be nice to think that perhaps Dan Gurney's block (and anyone else who was immortalized in cement) could go toward the Community Center's "Walk of Fame". If there's anything of the original to preserve.

But, knowing all too well how these things usually go, I can't help but wonder if the original "Walk of Fame" has met a bad fate.

I can imagine sidewalk pavers, if they weren't racing fans, thinking Dan Gurney and the others must have been some local kids who defaced the fresh sidewalk!


Jim Thurman

Hope you find it... we'll be looking forward to that article Jim... Thanks.

BTW, I've received the material from Dick Wallen. It will take some editing, but all of the players are mentioned and a fine story about how it all came to be at RIR. According to Wallen, the original name was designated as Riverside International Motor Raceway Association (RIMRA)

The developer, Rudy Cleye was named as the director of racing, Elliott-Forbes Robinson was named the general manager and Steve Mason was the director of publicity. The first investor to help get the project off the ground was John Campbell Edgar, the son of a manufacturing industrialist from Troy Ohio.

When I'm done editing this, I'll post the abbreviated version...

Rich, Thanks so much for the Wallen book. It's terrific. Here is what I've got from Dick Wallen, edited down:

ON THE SURFACE OF THE MONUMENT ARE THE FOLLOWING INSCRIPTIONS

THE SHORT HISTORY OF RIR:

In ¾” letters

The Riverside International Raceway was conceived and developed by Rudy Cleye. With financial assistance from manufacturing heir John C Edgar, the commencement for a new racing facility to be constructed in Southern California began in January 1957. James E. Peterson who also acted as the general contractor designed the original track. Architect, William L. Duquette, drew the plan, Donald V. Kendall was the structural engineer and Robert M. Erickson was the landscape architect. The new track was opened in May and the first sanctioned event, a local Cal-Club meet, took place in September of that year.

Mr. Cleye was named as the director of racing, Elliott-Forbes Robinson was named the General Manager and Steve Mason was the Director of Publicity.

In 1960, the track changed hands with Dean Mears becoming the General Manager and Roy G. Lewis, Donald Ford and Ernest Johnson as majority partners. Also in 1960, the small, ½ mile oval was built.

The ownership was short-lived, and in 1961, their interest was sold to Edwin Pauley a large Real Estate developer from L.A. Pauley brought in Les Richter who became RIR's President and General Manager for the next 22 years. Lawrence LoPatin bought Riverside in 1968 but surrendered control back to Richter in 1970. During that time, changes included, the dogleg modification to turn 9, the short course was introduced with turn 7b, a change to the pits from the outside to the infield and new garages were added. In 1983, Richter sold his interest to Fritz Duda. Five years later, the track met its demise when it was sold for residential and commercial development.

For over 30 years, RIR hosted events ranging from Sprint cars to Formula 1, NASCAR to IMSA, Drag Racing to Motorcycles to Off-road Racing. Truly, something for everyone could be found on the hallowed grounds of Riverside Raceway.



Also included:

A “North”symbol

A legend depicting the different track configurations and the years they were built.

The corners will be identified with polished bronze medallions and the new sections of track will be identified with matching, inlayed bronze strips.

Then there are these additions:

In ¾ ” Letters

THE MEMORIAL COMMEMORATION:

This Monument pays tribute to those brave souls whose lives were lost in the heat of competition at RIR. They shall not be soon forgotten.


THE VOLUNTEER COMMEMORATION:

This Monument also pays tribute to those volunteers and track workers who made the racing safe and contributed greatly to the enjoyment of racing by racers and spectators alike.


THE FOLLOWING ARE INSCRIBED ON THE FACE OF THE MONUMENT
In 4” Letters

RIVERSIDE INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY


above and left of the title:
In ¾ ” Letters




Comments and suggestions are invited... Thanks.

UPDATE...


It seems that PRAC, the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee will be receptive to accepting donations of memorabilia for display in the Community Center. If you have memorabilia, old programs, tickets, posters, etc., and wish to donate them, please contact Ms. Karen Reams at KarenRe@moval.org

In addition, it has also been indicated that the entire playground area of the Community Center will carry the racing theme.

Just one thing...I thought it was Pauley, as in the Pauley Pavilion at UCLA.

Otherwise, outstanding


Jim Thurman - still looking for the "Walk of Fame" article

Right you are, thanks for the correction & the opinion... I neglected to use my spell checker - thus, I failed to pick up the "manger" error too. So, for the record it's Pauley and Manager.

I have an inquiry into Riverside's Chamber of Commerce regarding the walk of fame. I suspect that it got redeveloped along with many other buildings in the area.

here is a topo map of the old RIverside Raceway:

http://terraserver.homeadvisor.msn.com/ima...Y=4693&Z=11&W=2 (back when it was active)

http://terraserver.homeadvisor.msn.com/ima...Y=4693&Z=11&W=2
(this is what it looked like back in 1994)

Hope this helps

And shouldn't that be turn 7a , instead of 7b?

I still haven't been able to find the piece on the Walk of Fame. Sorry. I hate when that happens.

All I recall was it was at a then recently built car dealership on the East side of town, sort of near the UC campus.


Jim Thurman

7a v 7b

hmmmm. good question Jim. I have seen 7b as per this example. (circa 1980's) I'm researching the Wallen book for answers.

Do you have another picture in an authentic RIR program or other "official" source?



Notice that part of the oval and original back straight are still visible. That one section was used for staging of the drag racers according to photos in the book.

I'm still searching for a definative answer for when that 7b section and the section between 6 and 8 were built. Reports have it as 1963 and 1969 respectivly. Can you confirm that?


Thanks...

Turns 7, 7a, 7b. Maybe 7b is named that to be consistant with 6b and 9b. Now why they were "b's" instead of "a's" is anyone's guess. Maybe Les R. knows. When I raced our Sprite there starting in '73 with Cal Club, then started working corners soon after that, the numbers on this map were the "corner" designations we used. Turns 3 and 4 were really the "esses" but where those numbers are is across track from the flag stations we manned. Those locations were probably determined by "line of sight" driver visibility. Notice also that turn "8" used for the Can Am "long course" is called the "spike" when used for the "Nascar" course because there was no turn "7" used for them. When the alternate configurations were added between the 6-7 straight and the back straight, they seemed to give up numbering and simply called them "East World" and "West World." It was the '70's, what can I say? By the way, I finally contacted my friend Roger Mumbower who used to sell the RIR goodies. He still has the art work and is interested in making more and wants to be at the dedication. Later, Bob Key

Greetings, fellow devotees. I'm back. It's going to take me some time to catch up. This must be Fill Frank's Inbox Season.

I've tried to post messages here on several occasions, but it appears my "Submit" button is connected to the "Send to Data Heaven" function. One more try (this time I'll keep a copy, just in case ) : <--- (I see if you put these too close together the machine does something special. Too cute by half.)


The inscription looks good. I'd think about mentioning the names of professional and amateur organizations that held forth on RIR, and the types of racing they produced. More likeley to get them all correct and on the stone than events, winners and speeds. Someone is going to get left out, some number is going to be "wrong". Handle the big pieces outdoors on the monument, the minutiae indoors in more easily corrected displays.


7B is 7B only on the example you show, and the first mention of it I found is in a Feb, 1963 program.
http://www.fototime.com/A12F6D840FBB0A9/orig.jpg

From Oct 1964 on, for sure it is "7a."
http://www.fototime.com/B61AA94A5F94465/orig.jpg
http://www.fototime.com/5A4F2569DA540B1/orig.jpg


The "NASCAR road" from 6 to 7 was there when the Midgets raced backwards in February, 1958.
http://www.fototime.com/24A89D66ECD2F85/orig.jpg

Access to all this information is through "Covers"
http://home.san.rr.com/fsheff/coverst01.htm

and/or RIR pictures pages.
http://home.san.rr.com/fsheff/rirpicts.htm

I'm prejudiced against all that "Westworld-Eastworld junk. It seems to me it was for commercial (driver school, etc) purposes and is not a considerable element of a monument, my view. I think the 6, 6B and 9, 9B had to do with observers and 'phones locations relative to a long turn and/or one whose second half was invisible from the first half. 7, 7a are two distinct turns. Why 7a didn't stay "B", I can only guess, but it might be because of that distinction.


I have an original water-transfer decal with the "Circling Arrows" RIR logo on it, as well as a lapel pin and jacket patch, and an original artwork on posterboard. The original includes lettering to the effect that the product (presumably slot-car race set to which the logo would be applied) was race-tested at RIR by Eldon, a slot-car race car maker. You can see the Eldon Raceway A-Frame building in the GIANT, long-load photo at
http://www.fototime.com/E9C6B0A93DB6B44/orig.jpg
It's the red-roofed edifice in thhe infield north of Turn One. The red roof with the logo in the upper left corner.

How's the fund doing?

New photos at
http://home.san.rr.com/fsheff/racecr01.htm

Crossing my fingers and chanting: Ommmmmm.

mmmmmmmm.

The Midgets were JANUARY 1958.

I have a ticket from what must have been a wonderful weekend: Midgets, Sprints, and Stock Cars over Memorial day, same year or next, I believe.

When Riverside was junked by the land grabbers there is and was no way that anyone could duplicate it. It stands unique as a place you could walk around and see all the turns and see Parnelli Jones drive that Mustang as no one else could. Not to mention all the other people who were there. When Riverside died SoCal racing died with it. SoCal has never been the same and more than likely it never will be. Yours in Tears, M.L. Anderson

Frank,

That's right...500 mile races for each over Memorial Day 1958. "Steady" Eddie Gray won the Stock Car race, Bud Rose (real name Harry Eisele) won the Sprints. Without checking, I forget who won the Midget race...IIRC Allen Heath. Amazing to think of Sprints and Midgets doing 500 miles at Riverside.

I'll try and check my programs later tonight, but I sure don't recall the disputed corner being listed as anything other than 7A in any of the programs. The earliest I have is November 1964, the latest November 1964.


Jim Thurman

That was in the "Clark Gable Special", actually the first win for the car in its nine-year life span...

That is what I thought also, but that is the old Pit Road, because a rock is in the same picture 2 times look at the evidence at the photos:

http://www.tamsoldracecarsite.net/RiversideBuilding.html (there is a rock near that flagstand)
http://www.tamsoldracecarsite.net/RiversideZPitArea2.html (there is the same rock there)

so to be official, that is the pit area.

Jason

p.s: Don't forget the first time NASCAR winners at Riverside, names like Ricky Rudd, Bill Elliott and Tim Richmond (his last win was there before he died of aids in 1989) and the last person for NASCAR to win ar RIR was Rusty Wallace in 1988. Make sure to get some racers/corner workers like Lyn St. James and Frank Sheffield so they can remember the good, bad and ugly times at RIR (Frank, if you can get your hands on a corner worker flag set, you can show off what a corner worker did at RIR).

Hear Ye, Hear Ye, RIR Monument Treasurer's Report:

We are currently at less than 3% of our $25K goal.

Thank-you to those who have contributed (as they said they would).

Regards,

Paul Barr

To support the nonprofit RIR Monument project, please make your donation to: Riverside International Raceway Monument

Note on your check “Donation” and send to:

Riverside International Raceway Monument Fund
PMB 325
P.O. Box 68021
Anaheim, CA 92817-0821

Richard has proved the power of the internet.

I cannot thank him enough for his efforts to commemorate the track which sparked my passion!!!

rdrcr You rock...
On my personal weblog(read by around 7 people)
I have posted a request to fund the RIR Monument
WF1G.com

$Check coming your way$.
Jp

Richard, I will send a few bucks myself for old RIR

Make sure to talk to Rusty Wallace, Ricky Rudd, DW, Ken Scrader, Bill Elliott and Mark Martin about their NASCAR times on Riverside and see if they still have the cars from 1988 that they ran on.

Lyn St. James and Doc Bundy can offer a few people on what really happened on RIR back in 1986.

jason

This from a program for the 1958 road race for Midgets.....

Thanks Jon & JT...

Thanks for the illustration Don...

It seems that the link between 6 and 8 was part of the original concept but didn't happen until much later. Les Richter told me that the larger oval was hardly used and the shorter one should be the one depicted.

I also understand that the late Roy Hord Jr., who just passed away last October 24th, should be included as part of the commemoration. He was the GM of the Speedway and was brought in by Les - I understand that they were teammates and close friends on the L.A. Rams. He was the real grease and oil of the place and was most instrumental in running the operation from 1965 until 1983.

Other news includes; an upcoming article from famed writer Shav Glick for the L.A. Times. Watch for the first installment in this Friday's edition.

Hello, y'all,

Richard


I can bear witness to the effect of exposure in the L.A. Times: a feature writer mentioned a couple of my uncounted Web pages and traffic on my counted pages (including the RIR entry page at http://home.san.rr.com/fsheff/rirpicts.htm) increased twenty-fold for three days.



I guess "much later" means different things to different people: the course diagram Don posted is from a program for a January, 1958 midget race run "backwards" on what came to be known as the "NASCAR" course. Look at the pictures from that race on this page:
http://home.san.rr.com/fsheff/rirmidg3.htm
you'll see the piece of road you mention was in use that day. It goes right up to Turn Six, above the pickup in the first picture. Follow the "click" instructions to see larger views. In the tird and fourth pictures on tha page, you can see midgets topping the Eight-Six hill and entering Six

Go hrere to see more of the event program:
http://home.san.rr.com/fsheff/rirmidg3.htm



No doubt about it. Hord and Richter were RIR for a long time. They also resembled one another physically, and Roy eventually gave up on correcting the unsure when they called him "Coach," Richter's nickname. Another Ram associated with the Raceway, but not as closely nor as long, was Glenn Davis, known among football fans as "Mr. Outside" on the Army team. Who can name from memory the "Mr. Inside" of that team?

Ooops on that second midget link:
http://home.san.rr.com/fsheff/oldpapr6.htm

And on a couple of shorthand words (also known as misspellings) that crept in . . .

Doc Blanchard.

Glenn Davis was Director of Special Events for the L.A. Times which sponsored several races at Riverside.

Shav Glick's piece (L.A Times) is in the Motor Racing section on page D7, titled "Riverside Remembered".

Excellent publicity!

Richard, will you be informed of subsequent installments so we can follow his series?

I just picked up a few copies of the Times for our archives... it is good publicity. It's not real "headline" status, but it falls under a fairly prominent article for Hershel McGriff who apparently won more races there than anyone else.

A link to the L.A. Times on-line edition - you may have to register first.

I think his (Glick's), follow-up article(s) would be around the time we've gathered the required funds and construction has begun on the Monument... The next one would be when the dedication date has been set. So, both of those occurrences will be, as they happen.

I'll just post a message here in due course...

Thanks for the insights Frank... I suppose my definition of 'much later' was a bit extreme... 'soon after' would have been better.

Thanks also, for the references and support for Hords' inclusion. A redrafting of the inscription is underway.

Pretty fast on that bit of trivia Mike... perhaps they should start to put a seconds counter in TNF - as some questions get answered within the minute!

hey there guys,

i have only been around for a short time and my 1st race of riverside i seen on ESPN was accually the last race....riverside might have had a poor racing surface towards the end but when i sat in my living room and i relized that this was my 1st race and my last race i will ever see on TV.... and when the race was over.....i almost had tears in my eyes because it was one of the best road course races i have ever seen..... it made watkins glen and that stikes a nerve with me.... but on the other hand YOU RACE FANS...... you never forgot your roots and like to preserve the history of a fallen track..... and it could be any track, not just riverside...... and thats what makes a racefan a racefan.... i can remember the day where my hometown track got desovled yeah it was a shorttrack but it had 51 years of tradtion, but the demise of that track came when the owner jacked the prices on the food and beer i mean guys they were seeling a 12oz of beer for 4.19 in the last season.... 6.00 would get you a 12 pack... but when that track closed down..... i went there as they were dismantling the track and i had them cut a peice of guardrail and i took a chunk of pavement from the track surface and brought it home..... that chunk of asphult has been sitting on my bookcase forabout 4 years now an it going no where..... the peice of guardrail.... its hanging from my wall in my room right next to the broken camshaft...... i leave you with this thought....... i comend you guys for preserving history and i support you all the way.. good job guys!!!!!!!


scott