Riverside Int'l. Raceway 1987/ old pelicans ?

Maltese Falcon · 08-10-2005, 10:16 PM

For any of you old Pelicans out there (like me) see anyone you know here ? Riverside Raceway circa 1987, Camel GTP and some POC stuff...

Maltese Falcon · 08-10-2005, 10:21 PM

POC racer Mike Hagen's 935 Moby Dick...he did tell me that it was a HANDFULL to drive !

Maltese Falcon · 08-10-2005, 10:24 PM

...Nuther one --
POC racer Jim Torres in his Burbank Coachworks 935 , formerly the Cooke/ Woods car

Maltese Falcon · 08-10-2005, 10:27 PM

...almost the last one... Monte Shelton's 911 racer with horizontal cooling fan and RSR fuel injection

Maltese Falcon · 08-10-2005, 10:31 PM

...and the last pic, Riverside GTP grid and Bob Tullius Jag leading into turn 7
Old stuff is cool. Marty

pwd72s · 08-10-2005, 10:51 PM

Marty, Monte Shelton is still cooking 'em! This year, he won the Rose Cups of Portland...kinda snookered the 'Vette, Camaro, & Viper boys when he showed up with a 962. They howled, but the 962 fit the rules. Monte is now in his 70's....You know, the Ralph Nader types may be right. These old drivers need to be thoroughly tested before being allowed behind the wheel.

kycarguy 935 · 08-10-2005, 10:51 PM

Very cool. I was there and the pics bring back some great memories. I have many pics of Jim Torres 935 also, I just need to find them.

Maltese Falcon · 08-10-2005, 10:59 PM

Please post any/all of your R-I-R pix up ...it was a good place to get you DE and your jollies too

Did Monte Shelton drive the ex-Hotchkiss "Wynn's" 962 ? I think he picked that up last year in SoCal--just to have some fun SERVING the younger guys at the vintage races

pwd72s · 08-10-2005, 11:06 PM

Yep, the 962 runs the "Wynns" logo. This was his 7th Rose Cups win...I doubt anybody will break that record soon. He's a "local yuk" hero up in these parts. Deservedly so, since he's won over some pretty big names.

look 171 · 08-10-2005, 11:10 PM

Cool pics. I remember going to my first GTP race at Del Mar in I think 86 or 87. Man, we were young punks then, and we are the same old punks now. I just e-mail my friend the pics. He's not into cars anymore. These pictures are like an old song, you can tell exactly what you were doing at that very monment in time. Thanks for the time machine.

Jeff

jkarolyi · 08-10-2005, 11:24 PM

I'm fairly new to Riverside, CA...where was the old track located and when (and why) did it close?

Maltese Falcon · 08-10-2005, 11:46 PM

Jay, R-I-R existed from approx 1957 until closing late '89 -'91 (?) The locals used the nearby Air Force Base (March) for speed trials, until the adjacent empty parcel of land was bought by several investors, and developed into a dedicated raceway.
From L.A. you entered it 60 -south, exit Day Street and go right.
As with any metropolitan city "Master Plan" , build a racetrack and the developers will come and buy it from you-- and build a community there. I believe there is a Home Depot on site now, which would be the end of the esses, and the entry into turn 6.
Turn 9 will be homes , and the start / finish line has a home which is rather unique: there is a bronze plaque in the front yard dedicated to the memory of the brave racers that came there-and some that died there (as the great Porsche driver Rolf Stomellen).
Do a google search on the track- there's some good reading on the internet about Riverside

Marty

jkarolyi · 08-11-2005, 08:20 AM

Ah...another McMansion neighborhood swallows up another racetrack. Didn't they do the same thing to Ontario raceway too?

84porsche · 84porsche's Garage

I never got to see this speedway because I was quite young when it closed. However I will throw out an idea, what if many of the Pelicans pitched in toward some land and we could build our own speedway. California is not something that is short on land, it is just finding an ideal place. Any profits that the track generate from rentals and events could then be redistributed maintenance first and the remainder to all shareholders.

Also, thank you for all the pictures.

sammyg2 · 08-11-2005, 09:46 AM

The best way to make a small fortune in the race track business is to start with a large fortune

I'd be afraid of the insurance headaches and cost, and the environmental compiance issues. California is not a good place to build a race track IMO. Heck, it isn't a good place to start any business. The bleeding heart tree huggers have pushed through so many laws that it is almost illegal to have a business here.
Plus we would have to build it out in the middle of the desert, that's about the only land left here that doesn't already have houses on it

Jeremy Cottrell · 08-11-2005, 09:54 AM

Sniff Sniff, boy do I miss that place. I have those exact same shots of Torres' car from the start/finish island. Have you been going through me pictures at home??!! When I was about 11 years old, my brother and Dave B. showed me the car at Riverside when it was still painted black in the Cooke/Woods livery. I will have to post some pics after I have the slides transfered. The car literally had just left LeMans. I have been here in Porscheland ever since.

Vintage911Racer · 10:13 AM

I dont think that is turn 1. That looks more like left hander going back up to the back stretch.

EDIT: Ooopps I jsut saw it said turn 7 not turn 1. Sorry.

After the esses you head up a little hill, Right turn at the top, another right down a short straight, then a downhill left hander (in photo) that either heads you back up another straight away to the top the track or into a qucik right hander that leads you back on to the back stretch just before the Bridge (about halfway down the back stretch). I pretty much gre up at this track. My father raced there with POC and SCCA in a sweet 914-6 GT-2 car. He ran with Pete Zimmerman, Mac Mckee, Jud Boyken (spelling), Sam Wang and some other I can't remember.

I will never forget watching Vern Schupan smack the K-rail going into turn 1 and destroying his car and himself.

atlporsche · 08-11-2005, 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by jkarolyi
Ah...another McMansion neighborhood swallows up another racetrack. Didn't they do the same thing to Ontario raceway too?

In 10 years, road atlanta will be this way, I fear.

They're putting up hundreds of homes, and not telling people "Hey, guess what! There's a racetrack on the other side of those trees"...the people are naturally complaining.

people who aren't racers suck.

sjd

Jeremy Cottrell · 08-11-2005, 10:46 AM

people who aren't racers suck.

sjd [/B][/QUOTE]
How true

Fleming · 08-11-2005, 11:33 AM

This is my car three weeks after the finish of it's restoration. Drove it from Minneapolis to LA - just to drive the track at Riverside in 1985. About 110 deg. heat. Still smile at my the lift and spin at turn 7.

Bob