Al Unser Jr. made his debut at this track about a year before this. It was a fairly newsworthy thing at the time. What a career would follow and an interesting and sometimes controversial life too. By all accounts, he has done much better of late. Overall, what a genuinely nice man when you meet him.
The idiots in LA tore it down to put up a mall. A mall! They tried reviving it, but the environmentalists sued them because they hadn't considered the environmental impact.
IDIOTS! Riverside was a great track, and all you can think of is money!
What I would do to stand in the stands or spend the night in a tent at that Raceway again!!! I had to leave Sunnymead, and the state of California, all the good stuff went away... nothing but a scammer and gang infested "S" hole now..
they had some pretty high tech video used in there broadcast because for a "1983" broadcast the video is pretty good..it looks like it could be 1996-97 video quality..if you look at some 1983 nascar footage it looks like its 1972.
nice vidio i was 11 years old and remember this race where was rick mears at i know he did well on ovals but not so good on road courses was this durring the time of the accedent where he broke his feet.
Mears broke his feet at Sanair in 1984. However, 1983 was the last season that Team Penske ran a Penske chassis full-time until 1988 so I would suspect the chassis might be some of the reason that Mears only managed a 19th place finish.
Indy1977TX: That really makes Al Unser's championship that season - which was capped by a win at the Cleveland airport course - even more impressive, as Teo Fabi had the much better car in the Forsythe Racing March, but not the consistency.
I wonder: if property values were never a concern and Riverside International Raceway still existed today, what would it look like? Clearly the track would have needed some major modifications to meet more rigorous safety standards of the 1990s and beyond.
In the same year as this CART race, Rolf Stommelen died in an IMSA GTP event flipping his Porsche 935 Moby Dick at the Turn 9 wall and back onto the track. That though wasn't so much track design as much as serious rear wing failure at 200 MPH into the dogleg. (In that same spot though - before the dogleg was built - AJ Foyt had a serious crash in 1964 in NASCAR.)
Yeah, the Moreno Valley Mall stands on the north end of the property (turns 4, 5, 6, etc.) and the south end has housing. Great track. R.I.P. Riverside Intl.!!
This is 1983. Bob Jenkins mentioned that Rahal won twice the previous year as a rookie. Also, this was CART's last race at Riverside. The track ran sports cars and NASCAR Winston Cup through 1988 when it was demolished and redeveloped. :(
R.I.P Riverside and Ontario
indyfan2 10 months ago
Al Unser Jr. made his debut at this track about a year before this. It was a fairly newsworthy thing at the time. What a career would follow and an interesting and sometimes controversial life too. By all accounts, he has done much better of late. Overall, what a genuinely nice man when you meet him.
3338MAN 1 year ago
The idiots in LA tore it down to put up a mall. A mall! They tried reviving it, but the environmentalists sued them because they hadn't considered the environmental impact.
IDIOTS! Riverside was a great track, and all you can think of is money!
WorldChallenge 1 year ago
What was done to this circuit is a CRIME!! A track like this should NEVER have been destroyed.
UltimateWheelman 1 year ago
I'd much rather have this track back than what is over in Fontana now. Or in a perfect world both :)
r1cw 2 years ago
The glory days of Indycar racing...Its a real bummer what Tony George has done to the sport.....Ucckkk
tmwnat 2 years ago 4
good ole Kalifornia.....nice job.
SwanKong11 2 years ago
What I would do to stand in the stands or spend the night in a tent at that Raceway again!!! I had to leave Sunnymead, and the state of California, all the good stuff went away... nothing but a scammer and gang infested "S" hole now..
ucrackusup 2 years ago
I cry whenever I drive by where the track used to be. Stupid ass mall and tract houses now. What a shame.
wewd 2 years ago 2
those cars almost look like the Dallara from now, from the front.
EddieMRacer86 3 years ago
nah, nothing ain't dat ugly...
PeterMayer 3 years ago
There isn't a single piece of bodywork on any of these beautiful cars that resembles any part of today's Dallaras.
indyfan31 2 years ago
Thanks for posting this. Great to see single seaters on that awesome track.
JuanKyam 3 years ago
they had some pretty high tech video used in there broadcast because for a "1983" broadcast the video is pretty good..it looks like it could be 1996-97 video quality..if you look at some 1983 nascar footage it looks like its 1972.
e521soediv 3 years ago
Imagine IRL racing at Riverside today...or even F1...nice:)
ToroRosso20 3 years ago
how many cars?
dhfiuejfdhjfoiewdjmn 3 years ago
There are 28
fueldragster 3 years ago
nice vidio i was 11 years old and remember this race where was rick mears at i know he did well on ovals but not so good on road courses was this durring the time of the accedent where he broke his feet.
thinkpad247 3 years ago
Mears broke his feet at Sanair in 1984. However, 1983 was the last season that Team Penske ran a Penske chassis full-time until 1988 so I would suspect the chassis might be some of the reason that Mears only managed a 19th place finish.
Indy1977TX 3 years ago
Indy1977TX: That really makes Al Unser's championship that season - which was capped by a win at the Cleveland airport course - even more impressive, as Teo Fabi had the much better car in the Forsythe Racing March, but not the consistency.
csampang1 3 years ago
its "video" im not trying to be a smart ass im just sayin.
e521soediv 3 years ago
R.I.P Larry Nubert
afannell 4 years ago
RIP, Riverside International Raceway...
IllinoisHighwayMan 4 years ago 7
two great things to happen to motor sports (CART and Riverside) are now gone. :(
wawwwaaa 4 years ago 7
It was 1983. I was there!. The track closed in 1988.....Man, I miss that track.
davarn21 4 years ago
That looked like a great track to race on- esses, a high speed dog leg. Shame it no longer exists. . .
BlueFox284 4 years ago
is lil al driving an eagle?
savbyroy 4 years ago
it is. Lil Al drove an eagle for his enitre rookie season
imuimuimu 4 years ago
for one it would need grass lol
thalsem1 4 years ago
Every video I see of Riverside makes me more and more mad that it doesn't exist anymore. The LA area needs a world class road course.
hotlavaaaa 4 years ago
I wonder: if property values were never a concern and Riverside International Raceway still existed today, what would it look like? Clearly the track would have needed some major modifications to meet more rigorous safety standards of the 1990s and beyond.
fishflake1209 4 years ago
I'm wondering myself...if you have NR2003 and have the Riverside PWF track, I think it may look like that, but I don't know.
At least we have Infineon Raceway for our NASCAR/sports car/IRL road racing fix.
dalejrgamer 4 years ago
In the same year as this CART race, Rolf Stommelen died in an IMSA GTP event flipping his Porsche 935 Moby Dick at the Turn 9 wall and back onto the track. That though wasn't so much track design as much as serious rear wing failure at 200 MPH into the dogleg. (In that same spot though - before the dogleg was built - AJ Foyt had a serious crash in 1964 in NASCAR.)
csampang1 3 years ago
Yeah, the Moreno Valley Mall stands on the north end of the property (turns 4, 5, 6, etc.) and the south end has housing. Great track. R.I.P. Riverside Intl.!!
pcm61774 4 years ago
This is 1983. Bob Jenkins mentioned that Rahal won twice the previous year as a rookie. Also, this was CART's last race at Riverside. The track ran sports cars and NASCAR Winston Cup through 1988 when it was demolished and redeveloped. :(
mod134 4 years ago
sry, my bad
pennytrader 4 years ago
cannot be 1983, maybe 1993
pennytrader 4 years ago
It was 1983. I was there. Sadly the track closed in 1988......Man, I miss that track.
davarn21 4 years ago 5
Wow. I never knew CART raced at Riverside.
RealRacer2442 4 years ago
very vintage
sirpiccolo 4 years ago