Crash crews assumed Foyt was dead at the scene, until fellow driver Parnelli Jones noticed a twitch of movement. Foyt suffered a brake failure at the end of the straight, shot off the road and went end-over-end through the infield at high speed. During the 1965 Motor Trend 500 NASCAR race, Indycar great A. The track was known as a relatively dangerous course, with its long, downhill back straightaway and brake-destroying, relatively slow 180-degree Turn 9 at the end. James survived the flames and Robinson escaped uninjured within the track bounds. James' car caught fire and Chip Robinson nearly cartwheeled into the crowd. įootage exists of classic races like the 1986 Los Angeles Times Grand Prix in which the Chevy Corvette of Doc Bundy, attempting a three-wide pass going into turn 1, hit the Ford Probe of Lyn St. Gurney's performance caught the eye of North American Ferrari importer Luigi Chinetti, who arranged for Gurney to drive a factory-supported Ferrari at Le Mans in 1958, effectively launching the Californian's European career. Shelby, driving furiously to catch up, finally overtook Gurney late in the race and won. Gurney assumed the lead and led for much of the event. Another driver entered was an inexperienced local youngster named Dan Gurney, who had been offered the opportunity to drive a powerful but ill-handling 4.9-liter Ferrari after better-known drivers such as Shelby and Miles had rejected it. The second major event at the track, in November 1957, was a sports car race featuring some of the top drivers of the day, including Carroll Shelby, Masten Gregory and Ken Miles. Though Lawrence survived the incident, and appeared only slightly injured, he died later at the hospital of a brain injury. With no crash barrier in place, and no rollbar on the car, Lawrence's MGA went up the sand embankment, then rolled back onto the track. Lawrence, a former Cal Club member, piloting a 1500 cc Production champion, went off between Turns 5 and 6. The first weekend of scheduled races in September 1957, a California Sports Car Club event, John Lawrence of Pasadena, California, died. This late investment prevented any halt in the track's construction. However, the building of the raceway was met with funding difficulties early on and businessman John Edgar provided a much needed cash investment. The head of West Coast Auto Testing was a retired race driver named Rudy Cleye, from Los Angeles, who had previously raced in Europe. It was built in early 1957 by a company called West Coast Automotive Testing Corp. In the beginning it was originally called The Riverside International Motor Raceway. History The final NASCAR race at Riverside in 1988 After that final race, a shortened version of the circuit was kept open for car clubs and special events until 1989. The track was in operation from September 22, 1957, to July 2, 1989, with the last race, The Budweiser 400, won by Rusty Wallace, held in 1988. It was also considered one of the finest tracks in the United States.
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Riverside was noted for its hot, dusty environment, which was a dangerous challenge for drivers. In 1984, the raceway became part of the newly incorporated city of Moreno Valley. Riverside International Raceway (sometimes known as Riverside, RIR, or Riverside Raceway) was a motorsports race track and road course established in the Edgemont area of Riverside County, California, just east of the city limits of Riverside and 50 mi (80 km) east of Los Angeles, in 1957. West Coast Automotive Testing Corp (1957)Įd Pauley, Bob Hope, and Fred Levy (1958–1969) ( July 2016) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) See Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for suggestions. This article's tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia.