1987 Winston Western 500 - Riverside, Death Of A Racetrack

[charlessmileyvideo]

What a waste! All that overbuilding was a total fraud. Now anyone still with employment lives so far from their job they can barely afford the fuel to get there. Anyone with half a brain could see it coming too. Bulldoze all that crap and put a new Riverside Raceway back in its place.

With all the development there the owner probably got tired of rising property taxes that could only be offset with revenue on weekends. Thanks slapdicks in Sacramento!

[JoeytheHDK]

In a perfect world, someone would buy the property that Riverside used to be at, tear up the crap there, and rebuild the track. Such a magnificent facility.

[Ahvenistofan]

This is sad!

[lincbond442]

What a waste of such a historic track. Too bad we can't demolish what is there now and rebuild Riverside! For that matter, rebuild, Ontario Motor Speedway, MCAS El Toro, and bring back the B-52's to March Air Force Base. Oh yeah, and bring back Adventure Thru Inner Space!

[Reddaytonadog]

@lincbond442 If possible, maybe rebiuld Riverside further down the road or right alongside Moreno Valley. So much for California land development.

[jazzbo1974]

Umm wasnt it the last nascar race a year later lol .....

[drweedon]

I was at this race with my father. Still miss Riverside Raceway. Mo'Val is nothing but a ghetto now. A shame that this track was torn down for urban sprawl.

[PLynnJr95]

@drweedon My dad grew up in Riverside, and would go to the speedway on the weekends sometimes cause it was a place to hang out. I was born and raised in Moreno Valley until 2004 when we (GLADLY) moved to Menifee, a city 25 miles south. It's alot safer and its got better schools than MoVal. So yeah, it IS nothing but ghetto. The mall ain't exactly something to brag about either.

[Keyo717]

I came all the way from Philadelphia for the last two Cup races at this track. It's sad to hear the city they built is a dump there.

[brandundundunn]

fuck moreno valley, the town is dirty and full of mexicans.

[jimnitire]

@brandundundunn saw your remarks on moreno valley you said it right amen JIM

[ToroRosso20]

I live in Moreno Valley and this place is a total shit hole.

It has turned into a Barrio/Ghetto. Pathetic town. When I get my funds I am moving on out.

Fontana needs adjustments to the track or soon it will follow Ontario and Riverside.

[immrass]

@ToroRosso20 fontana needs to close anyways that is one of the most boring races on the schedule

[ToroRosso20]

@immrass well Fontana is a very dull track but us Southern California Nascar Fans need a track somewhere. Can't hold anything against the people that like Nascar out here.

Vegas is a great track but it is quite expensive.

[jimnitire]

@ToroRosso20 reply on riverside raceway i commend you for your heads up view it's on the money

[YogiTheFatGuy]

This was the town I was born in...glad I don`t live there now.

[JRRacing64]

The experts said "that in 10 years It would be 1 of the largest towns in America" 22 years later it still isn't. Now it's a frigging low budget strip mall. If they left the track I bet that area would be booming today due to the NASCAR's rise in the 90's. But because of greed and politics its a waste land and I've seen videos of the area now. There's graffiti on some of the structures still standing. It's really sad to see... Those experts are complete dumb asses!

[drfever99]

Whatever happened to Dan Greenwood?

[LovesMike33]

An awsome track. I never went to the nascar race but we were at the SCORE off road race in Aug.

[redrdr4life]

They needed to keep the road course in socal now every time im at the mall, I feel like I could be standing on the track

[shortys920]

i live in moval and the mall sucks imo..heck the whole city sucks.they should of kept the track i would of love to have gone..its a shame

[howeracer]

I was lucky enough to be part of the last race at Riverside International Raceway. It was a SCCA race weekend and I was racing a first gen RX7 in ITS. The following year construction at the track was delayed and they created Riverside Regional Raceway. Part of the track was already torn up so they paved a section to connect the remaining parts. So I ran a few more races there and ran in the last race at Riverside Regional Raceway also.

[r1cw]

Went to the Moreno Valley mall yesterday. One quarter of the stores are empty, half the lighting is off (to keep bills down I guess). Not to mention all the stuff around there that is closed down. GREAT choice to tear out the track.

[Bigstooler0]

@r1cw What a waste.

[shadowspeedyV1]

they KILLED one of the best tracks ever...sad

[birrman2008]

they should of left Riverside the way it was, not close it and build a crappy mall and houses. i say get rid of them and BRING BACK RIVERSIDE RACEWAY!!!

[eyekeepmoving]

The last time I was there was in 1985 for the SCORE off road championships. I was 10 and every year I would get excited knowing that i was going to spend a weekend out there, staying up late, looking at all the drunk people and hanging out with my cousins. I remember watching Mickey Thopmspon and his monsterous buggy, his son raced class 7 and tried to clear a rhythm section but flipped his truck by clipping the last jump. the best was seeing Roger Mears and Walker Evans battle for class 8

[ucrackusup]

Another California success story!! ...Closing Riverside Raceway to replace it with a crappy mall and crappy track houses was a huge mistake.... I agree with one of the previous posts; bulldoze the mall and houses and replace the track...

[Studios632]

that city is NOT one of America's 100 largest cities. i checked in an almanac

[sheeplereaper]

Well I moved out of Riverside for good and eventually moved out of the state. I personally think they should tear down Mo Valley and rebuild the course that way Riverside could be known for something other than smog, heat and crime.

[JohnMarineTube]

I've never got into racing soon enough to know what Riverside was about. I keep hearing about Riverside, but never getting a true idea as to what this track had to offer and what some of the classic races were like. At the 2:00 mark and beyond, it's just... I'm going to be honest, YouTube... it's just sad. Trans-Am racing here, Can-Am here, Indy cars here, NASCAR Cup raced here... just absolutely sad.

[streetphase]

hahah they thought moreno valley was gonna be one of the largest citys... hahahha that did not happen, we are hurting like hell right now during the recession

[OjaiRoy]

This awesome track was DESTROYED so a stupid mall could be built!

[DC322]

Also Mesa Marin Raceway closed down last year. Riverside race was replaced by Infineon Raceway in the Cup schedule after the 1988 season.

[tisoy909]

@OjaiRoy It was destroyed, because the owner wanted to make money. blame him! The buyer wanted to make money too, so he built a stupid mall. Now the stupid mall isnt making money!

[TheRacerx28]

@OjaiRoy yeah screw the damn malls , developments Here on the east coast we lost Nazerth Speedway  which raced Indy cars and the busch series to a Mall as well ! At least the bleachers found a new home up at Watkins Glenn.

[hazellicious3000]

yeh, i agree with everyone...kinda sad

[monsterdrk]

Such a great track thrown away so a town like ScummyMead could turn to MoVal and move in a bunch of gangsters seems like a real pitiful move on Riverside Countys part....Typical Riverside County politics.

[davewah3]

I'm ashamed to have grown up in Moreno Valley (known Sunnymead to some), knowing such a great track was thrown to the trash for a shopping center...

[rodan70]

I miss this track. Hell, I miss the old configuration of Sears Point

[ExpertANDY24]

We need more road coarse racing in NASCAR just like it was back then.

[LeoTravis80]

And that race was the '88 Budweiser 400 which you have I assume. I'll watch this first then get into that race. Thanks for posting these races once again!

[rustyshackleford01]

lol "one of the 100 largest cities in america" what a mistake that was

[fishflake1209]

Moreno Valley's currently ranked 117th, so it wasn't that inaccurate.