1965 Riverside 500 Stock Car Race

[sleepysnz]

love the parnelli jones exit out of the car... the original dukes of hazard style.. also like the power slides out of the corners..... original form of drifting maybe??

[DedhedWaldo]

What happened to the days when "What wins on Sunday, sells on Monday."? You could walk into a dealer and say "I want that Galaxie 500 that won Riverside yesterday." and they would have one for you exactly like it by the end of the week!

[enthusiastm]

@DedhedWaldo My Dad did exactly that in 1964. He saw the January Riverside 500 won by Dan Gurney and immediately went to Hollywood Ford and bought a brand new big block 4 speed Galaxie 500. Coolest thing ever.

[secretRBRman]

dan gurney was a legend!

[1337chevelle]

Pure racing awesomness, thank you so much for sharing!

[fastsnow]

2:14, 5:33 EPIC

[97chux]

thats nascar racing not what you see to day GO FORD

[billcavazos]

great to see these heavy cruisers sliding through the curves.

[fvboss429]

2:10 !!!! WOAAAAH

[smoothie6ft3]

Riverside.The best dam track ever in in the history of NASCAR. Id like to see some of these primadonna bullshitters try to race a track like this where you turn more than left all day.

[rever65]

The full-size stockers was where it was at, and you could tell what the hell make they were. Today, everything is all mega glitz and glamour, ultra slick but lacking the excitement of these straight forward, no frills, down and dirty, kiss my ass matches. Parnelli once commented how much he enjoyed the Riverside track and what a shame it was when it was demolished.

[jonnysocko]

This is bad to the bone!

[Burleism]

Many would be glad to donate to your race team or "chip in" for for groceries!!! Good stuff

[TransAmDrifter]

2:35 Brickhaired :D

[Mrphatbastard1]

Funny, even back then FORDS were out there tearin' it up!

[grant135b]

@leefish1 Exactly. I loved stock car racing while growing up in the '60s and '70s, when Detroit was fighting it out on the track with real stock-based cars that you could see on the street. NASCAR lost me in the '80s and early '90s when the cars became pure race cars with stickers for headlights, etc and NASCAR became so bandwagon.

I lived close enough to the Riverside track to hear them run, and I finally got to go to the Winston Western 500 (I think) in '84 (won by Terry LaBonte).

[jojomoor]

love how the narrator explaines that suddenly his car explodes while he was drinking a cup of cofee and a co member comes to warn him .

[devilselbow]

This is 100x more fun to watch than any of that modern nascar shit.

[1custom1234]

I used to live a couple of miles from this track and could hear these guys thrash it out on the weekends. Too bad it's gone now, sold for housing real estate.

[lawlers69]

Love that 60's groovey music

[MrBalduser]

road course eh?

[Vinnygil]

wow we've come quite a way from back then

[MartinWAPerth]

This is some ripper footage!!

[DaBoogie049]

awesome footage!!!!

[johnboy9898]

I'd like to see some of today's stars try to drive these things as well as they did, they were on the edge of crashing all the time with hardly any safety equipment.

[torch2014]

look! Race cars that dont look like skittles!

[herbienbrian]

look, right turns!!!

this is when racing was interesting.

[tonycdrive]

why was Parnelli out? He was tearing it up!

[Mechknight73]

It's a real shame America doesn't seem to do this kind of racing anymore. Australia has been doing it in one form or another since the 1950s, and still does a modified version of this kind of racing today. The only "oval track" racing here is clay speedway. Look up "V8 Supercars" or "Bathurst" and you'll see what I mean. 600hp V8s, doing up to 180 mph on circuits like this one, just better equipped

[yippee42]

No window nets back then.

[CrazyDave650]

those drivers are idols! just insane, the cars were heaveier, the tires didn't hold as much, suspention losser, and the road intself... just bonkers

[osgood54]

There sure were a lot of great drivers back then. Amazing Junior could get the pole.

[enthusiastm]

Yes, I have many volumes of vintage stock car racing on VHS tapes that I can convert to DVD. Unfortunately, I do not have the rights to sell them. In fact, this one posting disallows me from earning money on all my other postings.

[Albertfagerberg]

@enthusiastm

Hey man, this video is GREAT. I grew up just a few miles form RIR and went there every chance I could. I have been a huge Gurney fan since he was racing at Indy for Lotus in 1963. The best race I ever saw anywhere was the 1967 Rex Mays 300 at RIR.

I am still pissed that they tore down the race track for some frixin shopping mall.

Thanks again for the memories. I will now send this on to my tow brothers that also loved RIR and Dan Gurney

[crossfire043]

I have a quick question I have a vid of this race called the golden era of racing.. do you get this vid from that same vhs set? It was a set and I only have a few of the volumes and tracking them down has gone no where

[mrford70]

great footage

[currylizard16]

Wish I could have been to this track! Love the music too.

[natbec01]

that was great footage.....thanks :-}

[undertow427]

@leefish1 I totally agree. I have 2 65 Galaxie 500s and to drive them like this takes skill and balls of steel. The new Nascars don't have anything to to with the production cars they are modeled after.

[joerock1967]

i dont like nascar but if it was like this i would watch it all the time

[NolanMGI]

hell this is back when they actually raced instead of turning left.....

[radiozins]

@NolanMGI nascar still races on road courses today the tracks are pretty much the same tracks they raced back then.

[trucker765]

wrecks to riches made a replica of number 15.

[MrSkipper13]

This is the good old days of stock car racing, when you were able to tell which car was which just by the car itself, and the driver, not anymore.

[MrSkipper13]

I have a problem with not being able to run flat out with out the use of brakes. but this race is ok, and interesting.

[lander4545]

This is when cars were more "stock" than ever!

[xsonz2]

I wish races where like this now- Every day road cars, modified, and racing balls to the wall road course.

[enthusiastm]

@xsonz2 Watch the Grand-AM Continental Challenge GS races. Closest thing to real production stock car racing on road courses that you'll find anywhere. Most of the 11 2009 races were on speed and I watched them all. Very good racing. Camaros, Mustangs, BMWs, and Porsches. How cool is that?

[xsonz2]

Very cool, I looked some up. I knew they where somewhere!

[jatbrkst]

@xsonz2 You might also look at BTCC and WTCC, I believe they are modified more than the Grand-AM cards enthusiastm mentions but it is more or less real cars on road courses and rules that encourage close racing. I really enjoy it I don't think there is anything closer that is legal! Thanks for the clips enthusiastm, good stuff back then.

[shaindaman13]

@xsonz2 You know it. NASCAR is very boring now. These guys were exciting to watch.

[jimmcom]

@xsonz2 agreed

[TighelanderII]

This is what I like about NASCAR, and this is what it's been totally lacking for so long. I wonder if it's a "Rambulance" that takes hiim away? In '57 the only thing faster than the Rambler was the Corvette.

[dicarlo57]

Or a studebaker golden hawk, a Ford thunderbird, Olds J-2, a Pontiac Bonneville (although rare) with a chrysler 300 faster than them all. The rambler reble was fast at 0 to 60, but was plug ugly and didt sell-except to protestant school teachers and church pastors

[lostaglio6666]

any 57 ford could have a supercharged 312 it was

advertised at 300 hp but was closer to 345hp

but it was a $500 option the baddest vette motor

was a 283hp f.i.283c.i. a 57 f.code t bird would smoke

any 57 vette.

[importssuckazz]

i like how the flames got bigger as they tryed to put the fire out

[enthusiastm]

They were averaging over 102 MPH in these 2 ton bricks with over 600 horsepower by going 180+MPH down the mile long back straight and drifting at 100+ through off-camber right and left turns that are less than two lanes wide. And they did it for over 6 hours straight without the security of aerodynamic downforce.

You can go over 300 MPH all day in a commercial airliner, but it matters not how fast you go, it matters how you go fast.

[dicarlo57]

This has got to be the most intelligent comment made on u-tube. As can be seen, the only cars capable taking the punishment were Fords and Chryslers.

[QuasiTraction]

actually, they were nowhere close to 600hp. Modern day NASCAR puts out that pretty close. At this time the best built Ford 427 side-oiler put out about 390hp and about 458tq to the wheels. What is advertised on the hood is exactly that, advertisement.

Realistically, the top car depended on the drivers skill, since Riverside was designed to be a driver's course for mostly English and Italian cars. Since Dan Gurney, was from Southern CA, he knew the track inside and out. That's why he won.

The

[QuasiTraction]

riverside 500 four years in a row

[lostaglio6666]

@QuasiTraction a racing 427 ford motor made 616hp with 1 4bbl.

and 654hp with 2 4bbls nascar banned the 427 sohc because

mopar and chevy could not keep up with the fords and mercs

[isanub]

lol this isnt really going any fast, those cars have traction like bambi on ice. i could prolly smoke those guys best lap times in my 99' civic

[importssuckazz]

if those cars were upgraded with to days parts i serisly doubt it the reson they raced american cars back then is cuz they were better the shitty imports

[crossfire043]

lol just going fast won'y get your ass anywhere.... being able to handle the car in the turns while going fast is the most important thing in racing... it doesn't matter if your a powerslider or a drifter...either way the true skills will be shown in the turns not the straights...

[machone7I]

you have to chane gears in straights, and cars tend to move easily at high speed. also, those cars were a beautiful 600 hp machine (actuallu more than f1 and le mans cars in the time) with a 2 ton body. and no technology. it was engine and driver.

[dicarlo57]

Your civic would blow up trying to keep up. stick with your x-box, its "prolly" alot safer than attempting to race a rice burner

[QuasiTraction]

doubt it. Ever done "Pueblo" in colorado?

I'll bet you've never done a day on the track in your entire life.

[enthusiastm]

Actually, the race versions had quite a bit more horsepower than advertised. Several interviews with the race builders of the time including Smokey Yunick, Ralph Moody, Junior Johnson, and Bud Moore attest to this.

[isanub]

I aint had no track days in my life, alot of time on forza tho^^

[xbfalcon351coupe]

WOW!!!!! that was possibly the BEST clip I've ever watched - gripping stuff! These guys must have had testicles the size of small planets! Next time you get digusted by some ricer drifting, post this clip in response - true 4 wheel high speed drifting, not some lame 25 mph skid through 2 corners... awesome.

[rafa281]

this seems a lot more interesting than the current Nascar with all those boring ovals

[Tidermans]

Now this is racing.

[halffliffe]

thats back when racing was racing , not people fighting over sponsors like little kids- Its before all these technclitys

[bop351]

what about at 2:10,dukes of hazard style almost! lol

[jrt88fan]

That's not even a almost, that IS Duke style haha

[freekoss]

lol...you got that right.

[racedude82]

5:30 holy crap

[SwanKong11]

500 miles on a road course?, not today..pussys.....

[SwanKong11]

NASCAR drift.. F-ing A' .....

[andersport]

chrysler wasn't there because NASCAR banned the Hemi because it wasn't a production motor.

[eleanorroosevelt1]

boo nascar

[sheeplereaper]

Looks like old skool drifting.

[1more4theroad]

Foyt was injured really bad in this. Before the race, someone had looked at his double moon eyes -- 00 -- on his car and said, I don't know, AJ...looks like double omen to me.

[2014cwajts71]

And to think some silly people think "drifting" is a new skill.

[tpvalley]

They look to corner pretty fast and level, would they be using cross ply tyres?

I wonder what sizes they used?

[1more4theroad]

I bet they are bias-ply, if that is what you mean by cross ply. Radials were just starting to be introduced about the time this was run.

[nascargas]

I guess it was these guys who drifted first....well, most all stock car guys from that era did.

And to think JR was runnin shine back home at the same time!

[BrianLawrence65]

leefish- I totally agree. I would like to see Dale Jr. or that crybaby Kyle Busch drive with any of these guys.

I bet anything they couldn't do it.

[68lincoln]

@BrianLawrence65 I agree with you. I used to go to lots of stock car events back in the 1960s when I was a kid. It was amazing to see these massive, raw power, Detroit cars in person when they new and the drivers were amazing. I saved all the event programs and Motor Trend magazines from those days. Still have 'em. I don't even bother watching racing anymore, it's all changed these days, was a lot more thrilling in the 1960s.

[MangoHombre]

@BrianLawrence65

Kyle Busch would have been put into the wall in turn nine on the first lap. Then everyone in the field would puposly "accidentaly" bump him... even if they had to make a u-turn and go back to do it.

[BrianLawrence65]

Excellent video and great racing.

Parnelli Jones was one hell of a race car driver.

Foyt's accident broke his back and was one of his worst.

[DC322]

Was that the race at Riverside where Joe Weatherly died at turn 5?

[shayes2448]

Weatherly's accident was in 1963.

[joboots007]

'64 to be excact!!!!

[andersport]

1964.

[blownorange]

Super nice !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[skyking1961]

This is an excellent video!

[VooDooRocketry]

The days before power steering, when fights evened out bad driving and real men raced. Great stuff. And what a flight by AJ, his eyes musta been big as saucers. 8+0

[parsnickenny]

i fully agree

[kingkong87m]

I love how these big body cars are being thrown around the track. Did you see number 5, it got some big time air?

[alexander1485]

WOW@2:30... a real drift

[m12shooter]

looks like they are trying to drive a rocket down a sewer pipe. they just dont want to turn very well.

[colhunt76]

Dan Gurney for president!

[twonine3]

I actually lived in the apartments that now sit where the track used to be.What a waste.Can you imagine watching Smoke,Juan Pablo,and Biffle tearing around this place?It could've been awesome.

[Blackirish31]

If Dan Gurney's car made it to the end, he was next to unbeatable at Riverside. Parnelli Jones was, IMHO, the only American contemporary of Gurney's who had equal road racing ability. Those were great races.

[steelking22]

1965 - no MOPARS due to engine wars with NASCAR. Fords and Mercurys, no GM, no Petty. A bad year for NASCAR.

[undertow427]

@steelking22 There actually were Mopars and Chevys during the 65 season, Mopar took 5 victories out of the 55 races. They weren't factory sponsored but both Chevy and Mopar raced.

[shanonobanion]

Awsome! big fat 4 wheel drifts! Fender banging fun!! My dad took me out there to see the stock cars in 69 or so when i was a tyke. I'll Never forget it. Great track.

[timlinisabeast]

this is real racing

[PooManchoo2]

Damn straight!

Great fun watching this old stuff. I was born way too late.

[timlinisabeast]

hell, i was born in 95!

[alexander1485]

haha wtf

[plasmaslug]

How To Drift For Speed (not show)

[flaxman0]

In today's cars Foyt would have walked away from that.

[Elwo0d]

Foyt's crash is amazing.

[andersport]

One great film. One great race. Important point. Foyt was out of action for months but got back into an Indy car weeks later and battled Jim Clark for the lead in the Indianapolis 500 for 114 laps. He was one tough Texan and that wasn't a figure of speech.

[wags2010]

thank you for the video post, this is awesome,Dan Gurney was certainly the man

[nixjag1]

Very kool footage. Thanks. Always wished I could have seen just one of those Riverside

races.

[Duececoupe]

GREAT video of some REAL nascar racing...! Keep 'em coming...