Best Road Course Ever

Race tracks all over America have vanished over recent decades. Some were simple, small town dirt tracks that held entertaining and competitive stock car races. I grew up attending one such track. Although I no longer live near it, I long for the memories it gave me as a car infatuated youth.

Long before I was old enough and able to travel cross country to attend professional big time races, I had a favorite track. It was an exotic road course with palm trees. Back in those days, auto racing often found its way into Hollywood movies. More often than not, the racetrack of choice was Riverside Raceway in Riverside, California. I was smitten with Southern California and the car culture it displayed. Those wild sports cars were captivating and nowhere to be found in my midwestern town. The track was Riverside Raceway

As time passed, I eventually moved to approximately 30 miles from the track and immediately purchased season tickets for all its events. Unfortunately, as soon as I moved there, it was announced that the track was sold to a shopping center developer and the track would soon be destroyed!

I was devastated. This was around 1985/1986. Its destruction was a slow process. I remember attending one of the last races where part of the track was already destroyed. The race was raced on a portion of what was left.

I have since attended NASCAR, IMSA, and Indy car events at many different tracks, but none have given me the nostalgia and thrill that Riverside provided. I have seen many of our NASCAR heroes race on the road course, and I even got an autograph from Harry Gant when I crashed one of his fan club events at the track.

Arguably, the king of the Riverside Raceway was Dan Gurney. He was all but unbeatable at the track. He was one of the best, most versatile race car drivers ever. But at Riverside, he dominated!

Back in the day, the NASCAR season did not begin with Daytona. The 1969 NASCAR Cup season officially began with the Georgia 500 on November 17, 1968, at Middle Georgia Raceway. The season also included a race on December 8th, the Alabama 200 at Montgomery (Ala.) Speedway. The Riverside 7th Annual Motor Trend Riverside 500 was held on January 19, 1969. Obviously, this was right before the 1969 Ford Talladega was homologated. However, the 1968 and 1969 Torino/Fairlane were still kicking butt on the tracks before its arrival. By the next year the aero Ford Talladega, Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II, Dodge Daytona, and the Plymouth Superbird would join the track. The hero and favorite at Riverside Raceway was unarguably Dan Gurney. At the time, he was unknown to most Southern and East Coast race fans, but on the West Coast, he was “The Man”.

His accomplishments with all kinds of race cars, along with his engineering capabilities, would go on to make him known around the World and respected as a gentleman and a master of racing. This recognition and his abilities are some of the reasons Ford/Mercury celebrated him with the 1969 Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II Dan Gurney Special. Don’t forget, Dan was the co-driver with AJ Foyt to win the 1967 24 Hours of LeMans for Ford!

I was fortunate enough to meet Dan while I lived in Southern CA. We visited in his office at All American Racers. I was able to tour his trophy room, and he obliged me by signing a race helmet I had with me. He drove NASCAR stock cars for the Wood Brothers at Riverside with the number 121 while his teammate, Cale Yarbourgh, drove the number 21. I remember that day as if it were yesterday. Of all the drivers and celebrities I have met over the years, Dan was by far the most impressive and friendly. He is one of my favorite drivers, and I can only imagine the thrill it would have been to witness one of my hero drivers race on my favorite track! Both are now gone, and both are greatly missed.

Dan was all but unbeatable at Riverside, and the track honored him in 1969 with an artistic rendering of him and his number 121 on the cover of the Official Program.

Things were very different in 1969. The following are excerpts from the official Riverside Raceway program for the year. Below are the results for the 1968 6th Annual Motor Trend Riverside 500. You will see a lot of familiar names here as well as some from the West Coast that you likely never heard of. Also note that there were 44 entries!

Above is a list of 1969 track records by lap for the track. Note that all but one record for the race were set in 1968 (prior to the 69 race). If you look at the list of record holders, it contains very few different individuals. Only four, to be exact, and they all were terrific drivers.