[19HoosierDaddies67]

Found some cool old pictures today that my Dad has, have about a roll from the same day. This track was here in Southern California, I am not sure if this is where California Speedway is now or not. These are not really Camaro related but cool old photos none the less. The last one is Richard Petty.

 

[garfield]

Those are some nice photo's. When I was little, Richard Petty was always one of my favorite racers. I liked him mostly because I liked Dodge Chargers and he seemingly always drove them.

 

[Rich69RS/SS]

That pictures were shot at the famous Riverside S's, the first one must have been a pace lap before the start. If you look in the back ground the tower shows the starting line up with David Pearson #21 on pole and the race winner Cale Yarborough #11 and check out the Matador #16 driven by Bobby Allison. Interresting thing was NASCAR used to run Riverside before the Daytona 500. The next picture shows Cale spinning out but still went on to win and for the sharp eye CA guys if you look at the banner in the back ground you'll see a KLAC sign for the old country western radio station remember Haines at the raines ? The old Texas boy I used to work with sometimes loved that show. And no California Speedway does not sit on the old Riverside Raceway it's miles away from that spot but California Speedway is closer to the old Ontario Motor Speedway, about a mile or two from the old site. Maybe board member Vintage can hop on this and give us some more information I think he was there when they built Riverside (Just Kidding Vintage) Thanks Rich

 

[Vintage 68]

... Maybe board member Vintage can hop on this and give us some more information I think he was there when they built Riverside (Just Kidding Vintage) Thanks Rich

I don't think I got to see it until it was finished
I did get to see it during the regrading project in 1969 though
Actually, the grading contractor that did the Riverside remodel in '69 was the same guy that did the stadium courses in the LA Colisium, Anaheim stadium and other stadium courses for the Mickey Thompson series of Superbowl of Motorcross until his death in the mid '80's.
I worked on his grading equipment (Scrapers, Cats and Sheepfoots ... ) when I was in college to earn extra money.

Trying to run the "S's" now would probably get you arrested - there's a Macy's built over them ...
The northern area of the track is now the Moreno Valley Mall :sad:
The areas south of there are all homes.

I would bet I was even at that race :thumbsup:
I campaigned a Late Model Sportsman class stock car up until the mid/late '70's and we raced on Sat. ahead of the Winston cup car - like the Busch cars do today.
I last ran some SCORE races there in the late 70's/early '80's before I quit that stuff.
It was a great racetrack with a little something for every type of driver - you could be good in some sections and pure trash in others ...
The track almost always had dirt and gravel on it from cars running off the course - a corner could be dry and tight on one lap and slippery as he11 the next - you had to really keep an eye on the car(s) up ahead of you to see how they were tracking in corner. With those steep walls of dirt on most sides of the course, you never wanted to overdrive a corner there ... I saw a lot more rolled cars there than anywhere else.

Here is a link from my 'favorites' to some history on Riverside - http://home.san.rr.com/fsheff/rirpicts.htm

It was a fun place :yes:
John

 

[novaderrik]

who won the Nextel Cup that year?

and is that a Monte i see all spun out in that second pic? right between those other 2 Montes.. sweet..

 

[Jonesy]

Number 11 is spun out and that is Cale Yarborough in a Monte Carlo.

 

[lortsie]

who won the Nextel Cup that year?

and is that a Monte i see all spun out in that second pic? right between those other 2 Montes.. sweet..

Whoever won the championship, I doubt it was called the Nextel Cup

 

[novaderrik]

but if they were to show those pics on NASCAR.com or talk about that season during a Sunday race broadcast, it would be called the "Nextel Cup"..

 

[lortsie]

gotta love "kneepad" loyalty to sponsors

NASCAR is known for that hehe

 

[Jonesy]

More info

This race was the Winston Western 500 held on Jan 20th, 1974.
This is verified by the first pic with the #16 car driven by Gary Bettenhausen driving the AMC Matador. He was sponsored by AMC.

The first pic must be the start of the race

In the first pic there is:

#16 Gary Bettenhausen (started 5th, finished 7th - 6 laps down)
#43 Richard Petty on the outside (started 6th, finished 2nd)

#38 Jimmy Insolo (started 7th, finished 23rd - engine failure)
#72 Benny Parsons (started 8th, finished 4th - 3 laps down) you can barely see his car

#96 Ray Elder (white car) he started 10th, finished 34th - transmission
#2 Bud Hagelin (started 11th, finished 31 - ran 44 laps and got $720 bucks for his effort.
Actually this doesnt look like the #2 car though.

Leader board in the pic shows the top 5 spots

#21 David Pearson - finished 3rd
#11 Cale Yarborough - Won the race after spinning out in picture 2
#12 Bobby Allison - finished 5th
#15 Goerge Follmer - finished 18th
#16 Bettenhausen


second pic:

#2 Budd Hagelin
#88 Donnie Allison
#72 Benny Parsons
#11 Cale Yarborough spinning out

cant make out any other cars after that

WINSTON CUP STANDINGS (TOP 10)
Rank Driver Points
1. Richard Petty 5038
2. Cale Yarborough 4470
3. David Pearson 2389
4. Bobby Allison 2019
5. Benny Parsons 1592
6. Dave Marcis 1378
7. Buddy Baker 1017
8. Earl Ross 1009
9. Cecil Gordon 1001
10. David Sisco 956

 

[Peter Constantine]

I used to love watching Earnhardt run the esses at Riverside-there was no "S" with him at the wheel,just a straight shot through the dirt!