Riverside: NASCAR's Original Road Course

Today, the NASCAR Cup Series sees 6 races for 2023 on road courses. Tracks like Watkins Glen, Sonoma, COTA, and even the new Chicago Street course see their origin however, in NASCAR's original road course. Riverside International Raceway.
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[@TangoWolf09]

If there's any dead track that I want iRacing to attempt to recreate on its service, it's Riverside. Such a great track with a ragged esses section, a couple of low-speed near-hairpins, and a long straightaway into the carousel, this track tested man and machine to a degree that other tracks could not.

[@nfitz11]

They should do it while drivers who actually raced on Riverside are still with us, those who can validate the recreation

[@anthonyrausch5708]

This track is on a very obscure wii and x-box 360 game called Indy 500: evolution…

[@fracturedlife1393]

Jimmy Broadbent just made a video about it in VR, AC Mod link in his description. AC is usually a few bucks. Looks sweet. Think he is streaming a race at the track this weekend. Just setting it up for a blast now

[@robertheymann5906]

Watched everything from Nascar to Indy, IMSA and karts on that track as we did many 3 day camps complete with raging bonfires and a never ending bbq....good times

[@EricUnderwood-v2x]

Then you've obviously had a Sunnymead Burger or two! We got free tickets for all the Races at Riverside and Ontario Dad worked for the Los Angeles Times.... We used to sit at the top of the S turns T5 just before the hairpin....cars would spin out and red brown dust would cover the turns sometimes...it was really cool.... always be in my ❤

[@btventura9570]

Riverside was an awesome track! For NASCAR, a very fast left hand turn one and right hand turn two, perfectly spaced and curved esses for tremendous speed, a uphill, sharp turn six, on off camber turn 8, an almost one mile long straight with a dip under the Champion/Bosch bridge, a short left hand dog leg and a unique sweeping banked turn 9 into the start finish. It was like a dance. God I miss it.

[@jaredcasey979]

I grew up in Moreno Valley and went to a few races when I was a kid. We could actually sit on the roof of our house and watch the race too! Great video and a fantastic job of telling the history of my hometown NASCAR track!

[@vg452]

Fun fact: Old Spice Speedway, a fantasy track in NASCAR 06, is based off of a road course in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, which is based off of Riverside. Credit goes to “The real locations that inspired EA’s fantasy tracks”

[@Mbarnstein62891]

I think it goes anticlockwise in the game instead of clockwise in real life though.

[@bkam9794]

7:11 I swear, when he said that I could almost hear SlapShoes saying "And now it's a 'booming real estate market'"

[@CRL4624]

Was thinking the same thing

[@MrGaryGG48]

@@CRL4624 ...and you'd be right, unfortunately.

[@JosephKeenanxBiscuit]

Yeah the ground itself is a mall and like luxury apartments for the most part now.

[@JosephKeenanxBiscuit]

images.app.goo.gl/PsSRuGe7gujykWmu5

[@deljenik129]

I'm From Moreno Valley and sadly only a small section of turn 9 still exists. There is a fast food chain called Baker's and one of these is located off of Day St. and Gateway Dr. In this Particular Baker's, there is memorabilia of Riverside International Raceway. It is a great addition to your meal, to take in some lost history. It is very sad to tell this story thou, a lot of the locals and the younger crowds don't even know of the raceway's existence that was in the heart of Moreno Valley.

[@JasonTrew2018]

I just saw a satellite view of Riverside and I happen to see nothing left of the old racecourse, where turn 9 was happens to be houses and a big ditch

[@deljenik129]

@@JasonTrew2018 that's crazy the last time I was down there you were still able to see some remnants of that bank but I guess not anymore next time I go down to visit family I'll go looking

[@JasonTrew2018]

@@deljenik129 In a 1990's topo, you could see the remains of turn 9 and it was finally removed for houses in the 2000's

[@deljenik129]

@@JasonTrew2018 that does sound about right because the last time my dad took me to go check out stuff of the track was about the year 2000 right before they started building in that area and if everybody's curious I'm 30 years old and from the age of three until I was 16 I lived in Moreno valley. However I still make an effort to go visit my dad in Moreno valley. I currently live in the capital of California which kind of sucks but I've been in Sacramento since 2009 and I still can't get used to all the green trees and I still do miss the desert lol. Thank you for helping me with clarifying the last time it was visible. Because I'm starting to learn as I get older, time starts to proceed me.

[@SA1NT53]

This was also a race track used to film Disney’s Herbie The Love Bug

[@positivelynegative-s6m]

What a great track selection to remind everyone of.

[@richardrogers5482]

Went to 4 races there from 81-84. 2 Indy Car and 2 Nascar. Sitting high up in turn 6, you could see pretty much the whole track. But it sure was pretty cool watching them flying thru the esses and then down shifting to make turn 6.

[@NASCARFAN93100]

I wish I had got to see Riverside in action

[@patrickracer43]

Riverside was also one of the deadliest tracks in all of motorsports

[@JasonTrew2018]

Riverside's opening in 1957 and her closing in 1989 resulted in fatalities

[@Ally_Rayne6]

Riverside was my favorite road course. I was born in 1996 but heard the stories of Riverside. I also loved the track for NR2003. I always enjoy flying through the esses before the hairpin. But, thankfully the track can live in nr2003, but hearing the demise of the track to become real estate property made my heart drop.

[@robbnutter4665]

I grew up in Riverside, and went to events at the track often. The mall is failing and the track is still missed.

[@scottmiller1531]

Les Richter played in the NFL for several years before getting into racing. He wore number 48, later taken to iconic status by his friend Dan Gurney. The same fate befell Ontario Motor Speedway, another great track. The Indianapolis of the West, as it was known due to having roughly the same dimensions, hosted NASCAR and Indycars years before IMS did, and with wider turns that had more banking, the stock cars had good races.

[@JasonTrew2018]

OMS suffered a different fate; the track was built for $25.5 million and was bankrupt by the time the last race was held back in 1980. Chevron bought the place and quickly demolished it, only thing left you can see of the OMS site is turn 3

[@scottmiller1531]

@@JasonTrew2018 You are correct. I was mostly referring to a great track being demolished in favor of the land upon which it was built.

[@aldouscoroza]

Same Track where Joe Weatherly was killed in 1964 and the Same Track that used to host the Season Opener in January and the Season Finale in November long ago. Yes Riverside used to host 2 Races in one Season

[@JasonTrew2018]

In 1981, Riverside hosted 3 races after Ontario's closing back in November of 1980

[@briangriffinfamilyguyfan81]

That track also if I'm not mistaken was one of the original tracks that had people getting hurt or even worse in crashes if I'm not mistaken?

[@chrisharvey5418]

yeah Your right another KZbinr i watch did a whole video about that

[@Mbarnstein62891]

Fun fact: Riverside hosted the 1960 United States Grand Prix before it went to Watkins Glen for twenty years. Sebring hosted the year prior.

[@joestephan1111]

There were NASCAR races in the early 1950s years of Watkins Glen before Riverside was added. USAC stock cars also raced Riverside before NASCAR.

[@killrodx]

Ah super Dave.. one of the many shows us 90s kids grew up watching. I'll have to go find that clip sometime.

[@JasonTrew2018]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/qqPZpoWkZdKArZI here you go.

[@KA._.144]

Although the lack of barriers, high speed, ect all mightve lead to John Lawrance dying, but having no roll bar, no seat belt, and 60s saftey are big reasons too.

[@xaviersaavedra7442]

I wonder if the ghost of the racers haunt the mall or the houses where they died.

[@bennylevine387]

I went there for a cup race around 83-84. Couldn't tell you the year or anything about it. Just me being a kid and one of the first times I ever got the basic feeling "This is f nuts." It seemed so hairball to me. I never saw it captured that way on TV but I just had the feeling that they were going way too fast and how is this allowed. They seemed right on the edge to me.

[@anthonycapelle2447]

You could the track at my old house my dad said.

[@mustangracer5124]

Who died this and who died that is all I hear. .I raced there a lot . it wasn't that dangerous.. But who died is all we hear of that track instead of any tangible history

[@mitchbrown6652]

Just subscribed. This was very well done. Keep grinding man

[@TangoWolf09]

If there's any dead track that I want iRacing to attempt to recreate on its service, it's Riverside. Such a great track with a ragged esses section, a couple of low-speed near-hairpins, and a long straightaway into the carousel, this track tested man and machine to a degree that other tracks could not.