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111-470: The racetrack was originally called The Riverside International Motor Raceway , and it was built in early 1957 by a company called West Coast Automotive Testing Corp. The head of West Coast Auto Testing was a retired race driver named Rudy Cleye, from Los Angeles, who had previously raced in Europe. However, the building of the raceway was met with funding difficulties early on and businessman John Edgar provided

222-399: A Tremec T-6060 6-speed manual transmission , reworked suspension geometry, 18-inch wheels, functional aerodynamic body kit, and a retro solid rear axle . The GT500 started at an MSRP of $ 40,930 for the coupe, and $ 45,755 for the convertible. Although Carroll Shelby had no hands-on involvement in the design of the car, he provided Ford and SVT (Special Vehicle Team) input on what would make

333-419: A stock car division from 1956 to 1984. * The inaugural season featured two subtitles: Pacific Coast (won by Sam Hanks ) and Short Track ( Troy Ruttman ). From 1958 until 1962, USAC sanctioned a road racing championship. It was held for sports cars from 1958 to 1961, and adopted Formula Libre rules in 1962. TORC: The Off-Road Championship was founded in 2009 by motocross racer Rick Johnson and it

444-418: A 1.1-mile (1.8 km) backstretch from 1957 to 1968. When the track was redesigned in 1969 (it had to close for a water relocation project), turn 9 was reconfigured with a wider radius and banked with a dogleg approach added, to reduce strain on the car's brakes. The fourth track configuration was a drag racing strip. Before any racing event at RIR, track crews added traffic pylons to close off sections of

555-570: A Chevrolet Scarab Mark II. As an entrepreneur he established Shelby American in 1962 to manufacture and market performance vehicles. His autobiography, The Carroll Shelby Story , was published in 1967. Carroll Shelby was born on January 11, 1923, to Warren Hall Shelby, a rural mail carrier, and his wife, Eloise Shelby (born Lawrence), in Leesburg, Texas . Shelby suffered from heart valve leakage problems by age 7 and experienced several health-related complications throughout his life. From

666-617: A DBR1 at the Nürburgring 1000 km with co-driver Salvadori. Shelby was teamed up with Salvadori at Le Mans, but Shelby came down with dysentery and had to be replaced by Stuart Lewis-Evans after a few hours into the race. Shelby then drove a Maserati 250F for Mimo Dei's Scuderia Centro Sud in 3 Grand Prix races to gain Formula 1 and open-wheel car experience, including the Portuguese Grand Prix . Shelby finished

777-469: A Mustang since 1971. It became available in the summer of 2006 as part of the model year 2007 lineup. It was powered by a supercharged and intercooled Modular 5.4L V8 engine , with four-valves-per-cylinder heads borrowed from the Ford GT, an Eaton M122 Roots-type supercharger and a power output rated by Ford at 500 hp (507 PS; 373 kW) and 480 lb⋅ft (651 N⋅m) of torque. It had

888-588: A Winston West race in 1963, while in the final race in 1988, Hendrick got out of the car and let Elliott Forbes-Robinson take over. The Winston Western 500 came to be known as the signature event at the track. Initially (1963-1981) this race was held in January as the season opener, but beginning in 1982 NASCAR elected to start the season with the Daytona 500 . From 1981 to 1987 the Winston Western 500

999-584: A common points structure for a season-long championship. The 2012 season did not award a national champion, however the respective regional champions were honored at USAC Night of Champions. National Champions Regional Champions USAC started the Speedway Motors Lightning Sprint National Championship in 2017 for local tracks running Lightning Sprint cars. The points format counts the 12 best races at USAC sanctioned tracks. Pirelli World Challenge ,

1110-481: A corner, Barber was the last racing school to be at Riverside when it was closed in 1989. The track was built to accommodate several different configurations, depending on the series and race length. The three options on Riverside Raceway were the long course (3.300 mi (5.311 km)), the short course (2.547 mi (4.099 km)), and the NASCAR (2.620 mi (4.216 km)) course. The original racetrack had

1221-658: A factory-supported Ferrari at Le Mans in 1958, effectively launching the Californian's European career. Footage exists of classic races like the 1986 Los Angeles Times Grand Prix in which the Chevy Corvette of Doc Bundy , attempting a three-wide pass going into turn 1, hit the Ford Probe of Lyn St. James and the Jaguar of Chip Robinson . St. James' car caught fire and Chip Robinson nearly cartwheeled into

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1332-713: A high-performance driving school and the Shelby-American performance equipment and customization company in the Los Angeles area. Shelby became interested in the potential of the AC Ace chassis, especially after Bristol Aeroplane Company stopped building automobile engines, and the sales with the Ford Zephyr engine were declining in September 1961. Shelby contacted Charles Hurlock of AC, who agreed to provide

1443-430: A much needed cash investment. This late investment prevented any halt in the track's construction. The first weekend of scheduled races in September 1957, a California Sports Car Club event, John Lawrence of Pasadena, California, died. Lawrence, a former Cal Club member, piloting a 1500 cc Production champion, went off between Turns 5 and 6 . With no crash barrier in place, and no rollbar on the car, Lawrence's MGA went up

1554-683: A relatively peaceful co-existence, with USAC continuing to sanction the Indianapolis 500 and no other Championship car races, and CART including the race in its schedule between other CART-sanctioned races. USAC continued to sanction the Indy 500 until 1997, when the Indy Racing League (itself product of the second American open-wheel split in 1996) terminated the sanctioning agreement following two consecutive officiating controversies that year; subsequent Indy 500s (and IRL races, as USAC

1665-436: A seven-digit vehicle identification number (VIN) and were designated with a CSX5000 series serial number. The original 249 were production cars with a seventeen-digit VIN. The Series 1 was produced in both supercharged and normally aspirated versions. Supercharged cars were also outfitted by the factory with larger brakes and a heavy-duty clutch. Performance is near "supercar" category with a 0 to 60 mph time at 4.1 seconds for

1776-581: A shorter, counter-clockwise version of the track tailored specifically for his car's Indianapolis-specific left-turn oiling system. The test caused Gurney to ask track president Les Richter to hold an Indianapolis-style race there. From 1967 to 1969 the Rex Mays 300 served as the season-ending USAC Indianapolis-car race. ESPN was live for the June 12, 1988, Budweiser 400 race at RIR and caught racer Ruben Garcia crashing hard off turn 9 and his car went through

1887-482: A tire/guardrail barrier and then went through the fence, destroying a cement barrier before coming to rest near a fence where the fans were sitting on the 32nd lap. He and the fans were unharmed, but the race was red flagged for 25 minutes to repair the wall by adding 2 Jersey barriers . After 14 years of NASCAR as a driver and later a car owner, Richard Childress won his first NASCAR race in 1983, when Ricky Rudd drove his #3 Piedmont Airlines Chevrolet to victory in

1998-484: A total of 249 production Series 1 cars as model year 1999 cars. During production, Venture Corporation purchased Shelby American, Inc. The purchase included the Series 1 model, but not the rights to produce the "Continuation Series" Shelby Cobras. In 2004, after a subsequent bankruptcy by Venture Corporation (unrelated to the acquisition of Shelby American), Carroll Shelby's new company, Shelby Automobiles, Inc., purchased

2109-480: A turn announcer for NASCAR's broadcasting arm Motor Racing Network plus the raceway's radio network (along with Ralph Lawler ) and many felt racing would long be a part of the Riverside landscape. During this time, Riverside County and the newly incorporated Moreno Valley area had a growth spurt; new residents started enclosing in on the raceway and became hostile about the raceway's noise levels but, furthermore,

2220-446: A variety of ways. The inaugural championship, 2005, was decided by a two-race series (one dirt, one pavement). Subsequent national champions were determined by a single "national championship race" held at various locations. This format was used until 2010. In 2011, a points system was instituted to determine the national champion. Counting only a drivers twelve best finishes, the system allowed drivers from multiple regions to compete under

2331-637: A while there was a separate series of specifications for championship cars designed to be run on dirt, rather than paved, tracks. Today, USAC sanction open-wheel racing series such as the Silver Crown Series, National Sprint Car Series , National Midget Series , and Quarter Midgets . The "triple crown" is earned in USAC racing when a driver claims all three national championships (silver crown, sprint car, and midget car). Only two drivers, Tony Stewart (1995) and J. J. Yeley (2003), have achieved

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2442-551: A winning bet ... the design and production of an all-purpose, all-American sports or grand touring car that you could drive to market and also race during the weekend..." In particular, Shelby's starting point was putting a 300 brake horsepower V8 on an Austin Healey type chassis , so that the combination weighed less than 2,600 pounds (1,180 kg). After retiring from driving in October 1960 for health reasons, Shelby opened

2553-463: A young age, Shelby was fascinated with the concept of speed, which led to an interest in cars and airplanes. He moved to Dallas, Texas , at age 7 with his family, and around age 10, he rode his bicycle to dirt tracks nearby to watch races. Eager for a car of his own, at age 15, he was driving and taking care of his father's Ford. Shelby's education as a pilot began in the military in November 1941 at

2664-467: Is 1:10.050, set by Elliot Forbes-Robinson in a Nissan GTP ZX-T during qualifying for the 1987 Los Angeles Times Grand Prix . The fastest official race lap records at Riverside International Raceway for different classes are listed as: From September 21, 1957, to July 2, 1989, 21 people died (19 drivers, 1 spectator and 1 pit crew member) in the track's 31-year history: Carroll Shelby Carroll Hall Shelby (January 11, 1923 – May 10, 2012)

2775-441: Is the only car ever produced by Carroll Shelby from a clean sheet of paper, and built from the ground up. All other Shelbys were re-engineered models produced by other manufacturers and then modified by Shelby. Before manufacturing the Series 1, substantial expenses were accrued for the purpose of conducting tests and obtaining certification in order to comply with the 1999 Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. Shelby American built

2886-906: The 1959 24 Hours of Le Mans . In September, Shelby drove with Jack Fairman in the Goodwood Tourist Trophy. The 1959 Grand Prix season saw Shelby driving the Aston Martin DBR4 in the Dutch Grand Prix in May, followed by the British Grand Prix at Aintree in July. Shelby then drove in the Portuguese Grand Prix in August, followed by the Italian Grand Prix in September. Shelby finished

2997-510: The 2019 Oscar -winning film Ford v Ferrari . As a driver, he was a co-driver in winning the 1959 24 Hours of Le Mans driving an Aston Martin DBR1 with Roy Salvadori . He also won the 1960 Sports Car Club of America United States Auto Club Road Racing Sports Car Championship in 1960 by winning the round 1 race at Riverside International Raceway driving a Maserati Tipo 61 "Birdcage", and winning round 2 at Continental Divide Raceways driving

3108-624: The Automobile Club of Argentina and the Sports Car Club of America . This is where he met John Wyer , Aston Martin 's team manager, who asked Shelby to drive their DBR3 at Sebring . The DBR3 did not finish Sebring in 1954 due to a broken rear axle. Shelby traveled to Europe in April 1954, where he raced a DBR3 for John Wyer at Aintree , followed by Le Mans . Teaming up with Graham Whitehead , their Aston Martin took fifth at

3219-953: The Beechcraft AT-11 Kansan and Curtiss AT-9 Jeep . He went on to fly the Douglas B-18 Bolo , the North American B-25 Mitchell , the Douglas A-26 Invader , and finally the Boeing B-29 Superfortress at Denver, Colorado , before being discharged following V-J Day . He started his own dump truck business, worked briefly as an oil-well roughneck from 1948 to 1949, and then as a poultry farmer before going bankrupt . Shelby started driving professionally at age 29. Starting out as an amateur, Shelby raced his friend Ed Wilkin's MG TC in January 1952 at

3330-786: The Castle Rock race in June, driving a Scarab . He finished the year driving Max Balchowsky 's "Old Yeller II" in the Road America , then a Birdcage Maserati in the Pacific Grand Prix and the Los Angeles Times Grand Prix , which was his last race. According to Shelby, "...winning the Twenty-four Hours was probably the greatest thrill I ever got out of racing. I can think of plenty of other races that carry their quota of thrills for

3441-535: The Ford GT 's production line after its production came to an end. Neither Shelby concept was built. In 2005, Carroll Shelby built his very first modern Masterpiece CSM:00001 V6 Shelby Mustang CS6 and #01 V8 to prove to Ford that he could still build high-performance cars. Its V6 produced 380 hp, making it faster than Ford's 300 hp V8. Because Ford thought the CS6 would hurt Ford Mustang V8 sales, Ford told Shelby to go with

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3552-608: The GT World Challenge America and Porsche Sprint Challenge North America under the newly formed Road Racing Division under the direction of Randy Hembrey . Beginning in 1971, all dirt races were split from the National Championship. From 1971 to 1980, the series was named "National Dirt Car Championship", then renamed "Silver Crown Series" in 1981. * As of the end of the 2022 season From 1956 to 1960, USAC's National Sprint Car Championship

3663-595: The Grand Prairie Naval Air Station drag meet , followed by other races. Then, he raced Charles Brown's Cadillac-Allards at Caddo Mills, Texas . At the end of 1952, Shelby won 4 races, taking home only trophies, not accepting any prize money. In 1953, Shelby raced Brown's Cad-Allard, followed by Roy Cherryhomes' Cad-Allard, winning 8 or 9 races. Then in 1954, he drove in the Mil Kilometros de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires, sponsored by

3774-510: The Hot Rod Magazine Championship Drag Races , "one of the most significant drag racing events" of that era, were held at RIR. The championship offered a US$ 37,000 prize, greater even than a NHRA national event prize at the time. Carroll Shelby and Skip Barber had racing schools at Riverside to teach students on how to drive around the racetrack and show them the preferred line on how to enter and exit

3885-561: The Indianapolis 500 . USAC serves as the sanctioning body for a number of racing series, including the Silver Crown Series, National Sprint Cars, National Midgets, Speed2 Midget Series, .25 Midget Series, Stadium Super Trucks , and Pirelli World Challenge . Seven-time USAC champion Levi Jones is USAC's Competition Director. When the American Automobile Association (AAA) withdrew from auto racing after

3996-738: The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1992, the Automotive Hall of Fame in 1992, and the Diecast Hall of Fame in 2009. He was also inducted into the SCCA Hall of Fame on March 2, 2013. In 2003, Ford Motor Co. and Carroll Shelby resumed ties and he became technical advisor to the Ford GT project. In that same year, he formed Carroll Shelby International, Inc. , based in Nevada . Shelby began working with Dodge at

4107-618: The Mount Washington Hillclimb Auto Race in a specially prepared Ferrari 375 GP roadster, to a record run of 10 minutes, 21.8 seconds on his way to victory in 1956. He also set records at Giants Despair Hillclimb , and raced at Brynfan Tyddyn . He was Sports Illustrated magazine's driver of the year in 1956 and 1957. Racing John Edgar's 4.5-liter Maserati at the Riverside International Raceway in September 1957, he

4218-543: The San Antonio Aviation Cadet Center , later known as Lackland Air Force Base. Before racing and building cars, Shelby was a poultry farmer, which was a livelihood he continued until 1952. Shelby honed his driving skills with his Willys automobile while attending Woodrow Wilson High School in Dallas , Texas, graduating in 1940. He later enrolled at The Georgia Institute of Technology in

4329-554: The Shelby GT500 , starting in 1967. Shelby produced those cars through 1968, then subsequent cars with the Shelby GT brand were produced in-house by Ford. After parting with Ford, Shelby moved on to help develop performance cars with divisions of the two other Big 3 American companies: Dodge ( Chrysler ) and Oldsmobile ( General Motors ). In the intervening years, Shelby had a series of ventures start and stop relating to

4440-753: The Western States Midgets in 1982 utilizing the same cars & engines that race in the USAC National Midgets. The series solely races on dirt ovals across California and Arizona but in past raced on pavement ovals as well. The series does run co-sanctioned races with USAC's National Midget Series (including the historic Turkey Night Grand Prix race) and the Bay Cities Racing Association Midgets. Champions Source: USAC sanctions several regional 360 c.i.d. non-wing sprint car series across

4551-462: The Xbox 360 and can be downloaded into rFactor with all three options. RIR was managed by former Los Angeles Rams player Les Richter , who sold the property to real estate developer Fritz Duda in 1971 after American Raceways Inc. (which also owned Texas World Speedway , Atlanta International Raceway , Michigan International Speedway and Trenton Speedway ) declared bankruptcy. Duda had once been

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4662-464: The "House that Dan Gurney built" (which had him quoting in an episode in SpeedWeek " I'm glad to see it gone ") into a shopping mall which opened in 1992. The Moreno Valley Mall at Towngate is on the northern end of the former raceway property and homes now occupy what was the southern end of the racetrack. In a 1994 aerial view of RIR, the remains of Riverside's Turn 9, the original backstretch,

4773-531: The 1955 season, citing the Le Mans disaster and the death of Bill Vukovich at Indianapolis as contributing factors, both the SCCA and NASCAR were mentioned as its potential successor. Ultimately, USAC was formed by Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony Hulman . It became the arbiter of rules, car design, and other matters for what it termed championship auto racing , the highest level of USAC racing. For

4884-739: The 1959 racing season driving Casner Motor Racing Division 's Birdcage Maserati at the Nassau races in December. In January 1960, he drove Temple Buell's Maserati 250F in the New Zealand Grand Prix , then Camoradi's Porsche in the Cuban Gran Premio Libertad, then their 2.9-liter Birdcage Maserati at Sebring. He won the Grand Prix at Riverside driving one of "Lucky" Cassner's Birdcage Maseratis, and then won

4995-548: The 1960s Cobras mixed with modern touches, it was based on the Ford GT chassis (reworked for front engine / rear wheel drive ) and powered by a 6.4 L V10 engine that produced 605 hp (451 kW). It received overwhelmingly positive press reviews and won the "Best In Show" award at the Detroit International Auto Show. A coupe version of the Shelby Cobra roadster was introduced

5106-494: The 1969 aligned backstretch from the kink to the entrance to Turn 9, part of the pit entrance and front stretch wall were still visible along with the Administration Building. However, today nothing is left of RIR except for memorabilia from the racetrack. The old Administration Building remained until 2005, when it was torn down to make way for a complex of townhouses. Numerous streets in the neighborhood to

5217-431: The 1983 Budweiser 400k. From 1981 until 1987, NASCAR's championship race was at Riverside. The USAC Championship Trail also held their season ending race from 1967 to 1969. Riverside was also home to track announcer Sandy Reed and (along with former LA Rams player Les Richter ) Roy Hord Jr. Both NASCAR team owners Roger Penske and Rick Hendrick drove a select few races at Riverside in their own cars, Penske won

5328-407: The 1988 Budweiser 400 was won by Rusty Wallace (a caution flag, later red flag, was out for Ruben Garcia when he came off Turn 9 and lost control of his car and hit a wall, barely missing the grandstands, on lap 29), later on SCORE International held its last race on August 14, 1988. In 1989, the track was modified from turn 7 to near the dogleg after a section of the backstretch and turn 7A near

5439-521: The 1990s, Carroll alleged that he had found the "leftover" frames, and began selling cars that were supposedly finally "completed". After it was discovered the cars were built from scratch in collaboration with McCluskey, Ltd., they were re-termed "continuation" Cobras. The cars are still built to this day, known as the current CSX4000 series of Cobras. Shelby was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1991,

5550-484: The 1990s, two new circuits opened: Auto Club Speedway in nearby Fontana in 1997, and Toyota Speedway at Irwindale (now the Irwindale Event Center ) in 1999 and is in danger of meeting the same fate as Riverside. Both tracks, like Riverside, have been used for filming. In 2003, the remainder of the old Riverside International Raceway was torn up. The sign that was at State Route 60 and Day Street

5661-584: The 500 hp V8 instead. Shelby first built a V8 modern version look of the Eleanor. Carroll built only one at the Shelby Factory. Later WCC built 4 as kits. Few CS6 Shelbys were also built as kits; consequently, these are among the rarest Shelbys in the world. At the 2005 New York International Auto Show , Ford introduced the Shelby GT500, the first official collaboration between Shelby and Ford on

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5772-732: The AC roadster body needed to be replaced with a lower-drag enclosed coupe body for high-speed circuits. The result was the Shelby Daytona Coupe, which took three GT class wins on the 1964 World Sportscar Championship GT circuit, including Le Mans and the Tourist Trophy at Goodwood, plus the Sports Car Club of America 's U.S. GT Championship . Then in 1965, Shelby American Cobra won the International Championship for GT Manufacturers . After success with

5883-624: The Aeronautical Engineering program. After enlisting in the United States Army Air Corps , Shelby began pilot training in November 1941. He graduated with the rank of staff sergeant pilot in September 1942 at Ellington Field . In December 1942, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant after undergoing air students' training, later serving in Colorado and Texas as a flight instructor and test pilot in

5994-441: The Beach (1959), Roadracers (1959), Speedway (1968), Stacey (1973), Thunder Alley (1967) and Winning (1969). The track was used in Sierra Entertainment 's NASCAR Legends (1999) and NASCAR Heat (2000), and was later converted to NASCAR 4 (2001), NASCAR Racing 2002 Season (2002), 2003 (2003) and rFactor (2005). Riverside has also been featured in Indianapolis 500: Evolution (2009) for

6105-402: The Bosh Bridge was severed for Towngate Blvd. and Eucalyptus Ave. The modified track, Riverside Regional Raceway, continued to be used for club events. After 31 years of racing, Riverside closed on July 2, 1989, with the final Cal-Club event (which, ironically, ended the way it started with the death of racer Mark Verbofsky on July 1, 1989). Duda (along with Homart Development Company ) turned

6216-417: The Daytona Coupe in 1964, Shelby-American became more heavily involved in Ford's GT40 Sports Prototype racing program, which had experienced disappointing results. Shelby made changes to running gear, particularly transmissions, to improve reliability, and designed their GT40 Mark II variant around Ford's 7.0-litre (427 cu in) engine. In 1966, the Mark II earned Ford the overall Constructors' title in

6327-649: The GT's 4.6 L V8 engine to 325 hp (242 kW). The cars included a custom Shelby hood and black and gold body styling, incorporating a gold-plated "Hertz" nameplate on both sides. A consumer version of the Shelby GT-H was available from Shelby through Ford dealers, called the Shelby GT. There were 5,682 vehicles for 2007 and 2,300 for 2008 were built. They had the same engine as the GT-H, but more suspension, appearance, and drivetrain upgrades and were available with either manual or automatic transmission. White and black colors were available for 2007 models and grabber orange or vista blue were available for 2008. A convertible

6438-436: The Indy 500. After 1983, however, the Gold Crown schedule would consist of only one event per season (Indy 500), and the Gold Crown title would be regarded largely as ceremonial. The winner of the Indianapolis 500 would be the de facto Gold Crown champion, as it was the lone points-paying event. The title and the "series" were retired after the 1994–1995 season with the advent of the Indy Racing League . USAC featured

6549-406: The Mustang. In 1963 the Rootes Group , manufacturer of Sunbeam automobiles, wanted Shelby to upgrade their Alpine sports car to a more powerful version, using the Ford small-block V-8 engine, as he had done with the AC Cobra. Shelby did so and Rootes, pleased with the results, named the upgraded model the Tiger . In 1967 Chrysler bought Sunbeam and decided to use their own small block engine in

6660-463: The Series 1 assets for pennies on the dollar. Included in the asset purchase were enough components to produce several more complete Series 1s. Because the 1999 Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards certificate had expired, and the cost to re-certify the car was prohibitive, all Series 1's produced after that date were completed as "component cars" and delivered with no engine or transmission. Those "component car" models built in 2005 are identified with

6771-510: The Series 1 roadster at the 1997 Los Angeles Auto Show , with the intention for it to be a modern day reinterpretation of the original Shelby AC Cobra . The Series 1 used Oldsmobile's 4.0 L L47 Aurora V8, which was chosen because it was the selected engine by Indy for that year but was poorly supported by the ailing GM division. Shelby had already built an Aurora-engined sports prototype together with Racefab in 1997, in an attempt to continue his single-make Can-Am series . The Series 1

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6882-559: The Thousand Kilometers at Monza on 27 June. He then drove in the 3-car factory team effort at Silverstone on 17 July with Peter Collins and Roy Salvadori , all three cars taking the three top places. In August 1954, Shelby drove with Donald Healey , and his team. In an Austin-Healey 100S and supercharged 100S , they set Class D National speed records at the Bonneville Salt Flats . Shelby, Healey, Captain G.E.T. Eyston , Mortimer Morris Goodall, and Roy Jackson-Moore set about 70 new records, with Shelby setting 17 on his own. Shelby

6993-570: The United States on both dirt & pavement oval tracks. With exception to the engine, the cars used are the same as National & Western States Midget cars. The powerplants currently used are 4-cylinder production-based engines with stock internal dimensions to save costs for competitors. The series started out as a spec engine class, originally with Ford supplying their Zetec engine from 2002 to 2012, and then HPD supplying their K24 engine starting in 2013. National Championship The Speed2 Midget Series National Champion has been determined in

7104-418: The Viper as light and powerful as possible. The following cars were modified by Shelby and bore his name, but sold under the Dodge marque : The following cars used Shelby-modified parts, but were not overseen by Carroll Shelby: The following cars were limited production vehicles and modified at Shelby's Whittier, California , plant, and then sold as Shelbys: Above information citation Shelby unveiled

7215-445: The World Sportscar Championship with their 1-2-3 finish at Le Mans. Ford was also developing a radical new prototype with a lightweight chassis based on aluminum honeycomb panels. Shelby was brought in to finalize the development of the car after the project experienced setbacks in 1966, which included the death of driver Ken Miles in August. The Mark IV was introduced for the 1967 12 Hours of Sebring and finished in first place. It

7326-419: The amount of fuel that could be used. Finally, most car owners banded together to form Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) in 1978, with the first race to be run in 1979 . USAC tried unsuccessfully to ban all CART owners from the 1979 Indianapolis 500 , finally losing in court before the race began. Both the USAC and CART ran multi-race schedules in 1979. Indianapolis Motor Speedway president John Cooper

7437-433: The back straight to just over one-half mile in length. The NHRA drag strip ran south to north on the backstretch from the runoff to the Bosch Bridge (not shown in diagram), which crossed over the track about halfway between turns 8 & 9. Due to its proximity to the Southern California entertainment industry, RIR was a frequent filming location for racing for Hollywood movies, television series and commercials. Scenes from

7548-429: The car better and convinced Ford to use wider rear tires (from 255 mm wide to 285 mm wide). Shelby, in cooperation with the Hertz Corporation , produced 500 cars named "Shelby GT-H" in 2006, designed after the Shelby G.T.350H "Rent-a-Racer" from 1966 under a similar partnership. This was a special-edition Ford Mustang GT, available for rental from Hertz. A Ford Racing Performance Group FR1 Power Pack increased

7659-450: The chassis on credit. Dave Evans of Ford Motor Company agreed to provide 221-cubic-inch (3.6-litre) and 260-cubic-inch (4.3-litre) V8 engines with transmissions also on credit. The new car, called the Carroll Shelby Experimental or CSX0001, was marketed as the Shelby AC Cobra, then AC Cobra , and eventually, the Ford Cobra. Production began in March 1962, with 75 cars sold by the end of the year. One hundred cars had been built by April 1963,

7770-591: The country. USAC's West Coast Sprint Car Series was launched in 2009 by Santa Maria Speedway promoter Chris Kearns, and joined forces with USAC in 2010. The West Coast series primarily races at tracks across California while also having special event races in Nevada. USAC's Southwest Sprint Car Series was launched in 1991 as the Arizona Sprint Car Racing Association. The series joined forces with USAC in 2012. The Southwest series primarily races at tracks in Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico while also having special event races in Arkansas, Kansas & Oklahoma. The Southwest series

7881-435: The crowd. St. James survived the flames and Robinson escaped uninjured within the track bounds. The track was known as a relatively dangerous course, with its long, downhill back straightaway and brake-destroying, relatively slow 180-degree Turn 9 at the end. During the 1965 Motor Trend 500 NASCAR race, Indycar great A. J. Foyt suffered a brake failure at the end of the straight, shot off the road and went end-over-end through

7992-448: The death of Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony Hulman. The plane crash came at a time when Indy car owners and drivers were demanding changes from USAC. Aside from the Indianapolis 500, USAC events were not well attended, and the owners felt that USAC poorly negotiated television rights. The owners also wanted increases in payouts, especially at Indy. Though some think the plane crash was used as an opportunistic way to force change in

8103-555: The east of the Moreno Valley Mall off Frederick Street are named after racers that raced at Riverside, such as Yarborough Drive, Gurney Place, Donohue Court, Surtees Court, Brabham Street, Andretti Street and Penske Street. When Riverside closed in 1989, it followed in the footsteps of Ontario Motor Speedway (in nearby Ontario ), which closed in 1980, and was followed by Ascot Park in Gardena in 1991. In

8214-574: The film. A 1963 Plymouth-sponsored film called Return to Riverside was shot at RIR from November 26–29, 1962. The film highlighted various road tests between 1963 Plymouth, Chevrolet, and Ford passenger cars. It featured race car drivers Leroy Neumayer, Clem Proctor and Roger McCluskey . The film was hosted by Sid Collins , the radio voice of the Indianapolis 500. Film shoots at RIR included scenes from: Good Guys Wear Black (1978) The Betsy (1978), Fireball 500 (1966), Grand Prix (1966), The Killers (1964), The Love Bug (1968), On

8325-569: The first 75 with the 260-cubic-inch engine, followed by a 289-cubic-inch (4.7-litre) engine. The 427 Cobra prototype was built in October 1964. Shelby started racing his creation in October 1962 at Riverside, with Billy Krause driving the CSX0002. Racing experience from 1963 indicated that further modifications were necessary to make the Cobra competitive with the Ferrari GT cars; in particular,

8436-478: The first lap of the Rex Mays 300 Indianapolis-style race, suffering near-fatal burns. In January 1967, Canadian driver Billy Foster crashed at Turn 9 during a practice-session just prior to the start of qualifying for the Motor Trend 500 NASCAR race. These accidents and others caused track management to reconfigure Turn 9, giving the turn a dogleg approach and a much wider radius (a water improvement also closed

8547-576: The following year in 2005, the Ford Shelby GR-1 concept car. While sporting a completely modern design, it took inspiration from the design of the 1960s Shelby Daytona . The GR-1, like the Cobra, is based on the GT's chassis. Press reviews for the GR-1 were positive. The car was featured on the cover of Motor Trend and Car Magazine . The Ford Shelby GR-1 was floated as a possibility of taking over

8658-678: The inaugural championship, topping runner-up Levi Jones by 14 points. As of 2013 it has been known as the Mike Curb "Super License" National Championship Award. USAC national drivers champions On April 23, 1978, returning from a race at the Trenton Speedway in New Jersey , eight USAC officials, plus the pilot, were killed when their 10-seat Piper Navajo Chieftain crashed during a thunderstorm 25 miles southeast of Indianapolis . Killed were: The incident closely followed

8769-584: The infield at high speed. Crash crews assumed Foyt was dead at the scene, until fellow driver Parnelli Jones noticed a twitch of movement. Ford factory sports car driver Ken Miles was killed there in a testing accident in August 1966 when his Ford sports car prototype (known as the J-car) became aerodynamically unstable and flew out of control at the end of the back straight. In December 1968, American Formula 5000 champion Dr. Lou Sell crashed and overturned in Turn 9 on

8880-509: The land the raceway was on was becoming more and more valuable such that the track was almost able to survive. However, with protests from both residents and environmentalists, Riverside's continued existence was impossible. (During this time, track president Dan Greenwood, who succeeded Richter in 1983, was trying to search for Riverside's replacement, Perris and Corona .) 1988 was the final year of professional racing for Riverside. On June 12, 1988, NASCAR held its final Winston Cup race at RIR;

8991-411: The long course was also used for Indy car racing in the mid-1980s. When the 1969 version was built, the dogleg was added so as to ease the transition into Turn 9 (the track had seen numerous brake failure-induced accidents approaching turn 9, and this change was made as a safety measure). In the short course, the track would use turn 7A rather than 8. The "turn 7-7A" configuration effectively shortened

9102-524: The only fatality in IMSA GTP history. In the 1983 Times Grand Prix, Rolf Stommelen 's Joest-constructed Porsche 935 lost its rear wing at the Dogleg and hit two freeway-type barriers sending it into a horrific roll at Turn 9. Of the entire road course races run at RIR, there was one that was run in a counter-clockwise direction, sometime around 1960. In 1966 Dan Gurney tested his first Eagle racing car on

9213-448: The opportunity to drive a powerful but ill-handling 4.9-liter Ferrari after better-known drivers such as Shelby and Miles had rejected it. Shelby led early but spun and fell back. Gurney assumed the lead and led for much of the event. Shelby, driving furiously to catch up, finally overtook Gurney late in the race and won. Gurney's performance caught the eye of North American Ferrari importer Luigi Chinetti , who arranged for Gurney to drive

9324-500: The production of "completion" Cobras — cars that were allegedly built using "leftover" parts and frames. In the 1960s, the FIA required entrants (Shelby, Ford, Ferrari, etc.) to produce at least 100 cars for homologated classes of racing. Shelby simply ordered an insufficient number of cars and skipped a large block of Vehicle Identification Numbers , to create the illusion the company had imported large numbers of cars. Decades later in

9435-400: The raceway for a few months). In January 1964, Riverside also claimed the life of 1962–'63 NASCAR champion Joe Weatherly , who refused to wear a shoulder harness and wore his lap belt loosely. Weatherly died when he lost control entering Turn 6, hitting the steel barrier almost broadside and had his head snapped out the window against the barrier. Nevertheless, in 1983 Turn 9 was the site of

9546-616: The request of Chrysler Corporation chairman Lee Iacocca . Iacocca had previously been responsible for bringing Shelby to the Ford Mustang . After almost a decade of tuning work, Shelby was brought on board as the "Performance Consultant" on the Dodge Viper Technical Policy Committee made up of Chrysler's executive Bob Lutz , Product Design chief Tom Gale, and Engineering Vice President François Castaing . Shelby's wealth of experience helped make

9657-442: The same year. USAC had awarded a national championship until A. J. Foyt won his seventh title in 1979. It has announced that it will begin awarding a national championship starting in 2010. A driver's best 25 finishes are counted toward the championship and the 2010 winner received $ 40,000. Points are accumulated in the three national series: sprints, midgets, and silver crown. Bryan Clauson of Noblesville, Indiana claimed

9768-466: The sand embankment, then rolled back onto the track. Though Lawrence survived the incident, and appeared only slightly injured, he died later at the hospital of a brain injury. The second major event at the track, in November 1957, was a sports car race featuring some of the top drivers of the day, including Carroll Shelby , Masten Gregory and Ken Miles . Another driver entered was an inexperienced local youngster named Dan Gurney , who had been offered

9879-557: The series. The USAC also sanctions the American Rally Association , Nitro Rallycross , King of the Hammers and Great American Shortcourse . Starting in 1981, USAC scaled back their participation in Indy car racing outside of the Indianapolis 500. The preeminent national championship season was instead being sanctioned by CART . USAC developed a split-calendar season, beginning in June, and ending in May with

9990-456: The sport, it was merely an unfortunate coincidence. The seed of dissent had been growing for several years before the accident, and claims the crash was an immediate cause for the 1979 CART/USAC "split" are considered for the most part unfounded. Also unpopular were the attempts of USAC to keep the aging Offenhauser engine competitive with the newer, and much more expensive, Cosworth DFX engine using boost-limiting "pop off valves" and limiting

10101-407: The supercharged version. The Series 1 had power steering, power disc brakes, factory air conditioning, power windows, and an AM/FM/CD audio system. The convertible top folded away in a compartment located behind the cockpit. Some component cars were sold as roadsters, with no convertible top. In 2004, a new Ford Shelby Cobra Concept was shown off at U.S. car shows. Built with a retro body mimicking

10212-525: The television show Mystery Science Theater 3000 , also contains footage of racing at Riverside. RIR was extensively featured in the 1961 telefilm "The Quick and the Dead", an episode of the series Route 66 . The episode stars Martin Milner and George Maharis , and guest stars Frank Overton , Harvey Korman , Regis Toomey and Betsy Jones-Moreland . Milner races a 1960 powder-blue Chevrolet Corvette in

10323-447: The television shows The Rockford Files , CHiPs , Knight Rider and Simon and Simon were shot on location at RIR. Other shows filmed at RIR include The F.B.I. , Quincy, M.E. , The Fall Guy , Hardcastle & McCormick and the HBO program Super Dave Osborne . The television movie adaptation of Gemini Man , Riding With Death (1976), featured as an experiment on

10434-524: The track. The closed sections were determined by the specific course and cars used during any given race. Throughout its history, various other track configurations were used to adapt the track for events such as off-road, Cal-Club and motorcycle events. Diagram notes : The long course had the 1.1-mile (1.8 km) backstretch between turns 8 & 9. This version was used primarily for the Los Angeles Times Grand Prix, although

10545-447: The triple crown in a single season. Six other drivers, Pancho Carter (1972–78), Dave Darland (1997–2001), Jerry Coons Jr. (2006–08), Tracy Hines (2000, 2002, 2015), Chris Windom (2016, 2017, 2020), and Logan Seavey (2023-2024) have claimed each of the three championships at least once in their careers. In 2012 Mike Curb and Cary Agajanian became the only car owners to win the triple crown by winning all three championships in

10656-573: The vehicle. However, their engine would not fit and marketed the cars with Ford engines until the supply ran out and the model was discontinued. United States Auto Club The United States Auto Club ( USAC ) is one of the sanctioning bodies of auto racing in the United States. From 1956 to 1979, USAC sanctioned the United States National Championship , and from 1956 to 1997 the organization sanctioned

10767-466: The winner, but when you win this one, it kind of gives you license to go out and tell people you're good, and that often helps get some other deals together." In 1961, Shelby, along with Pete Brock , opened the Shelby School of High Performance Driving at the Riverside track. Shelby's visits to "limited-production factories in Europe" caused him to realize that “America was missing a big bet,

10878-579: The year driving John Edgar's 4.5L Maserati in the Tourist Trophy at Nassau . Shelby and Salvadori started the 1959 sports car season by driving the DBR1/300 at Sebring in March. In June, Shelby drove Wolfgang Seidel 's Porsche in the Nürburgring 1000 km. The highlight of his racing career came in June 1959 when he co-drove an Aston Martin DBR1 (with Englishman Roy Salvadori ) to victory in

10989-818: Was also involved in IRL's racing-related matters up to that point) were sanctioned by the IRL itself, which was renamed the IndyCar Series in 2003. Since 2022, the United States Auto Club has sanctioned the USF Juniors , USF2000 Championship , and USF Pro 2000 Championship series, which serve as a ladder series to Indy NXT, along with the Radical Sportscars North American Championships, Skip Barber Racing School , as well as continued sanctioning of

11100-542: Was an American automotive designer, racing driver , and entrepreneur. Best known as a designer for his involvement with the AC Cobra and Mustang for Ford Motor Company , he also developed the Ford GT40 with racing legend Ken Miles , the car that won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1966, 1967, 1968, and 1969. As of 2024, it remains the only American-built car to win at Le Mans. His and Miles's efforts were dramatized in

11211-513: Was available in 2008 also. An available upgrade from the Shelby factory in Las Vegas were a few different superchargers. It then was called a Shelby GT/SC. All Shelby GTs are shipped with the Shelby serial number (CSM) on the dashboard badge and in the engine compartment, such as 07SGT0001 or 08SGT0001. Both Ford and Shelby American continue to use the Shelby name on high performance variants of

11322-662: Was divided into two regional divisions in the Midwest and the East. * As of the end of the 2020 season The USAC/CRA AMSOIL Sprint Car Series debuted in 2004 utilizing the same cars and 410ci engines that race in USAC's AMSOIL National Sprint Car Championship at dirt oval tracks across California and Arizona. The series also features combination races with the AMSOIL USAC Sprint Car National Championship. Champions Source: USAC started

11433-559: Was held in November as the final race of the season. Until 2020, when Darlington , Charlotte and Daytona each hosted 3 races, 1981 was the only year in NASCAR history that Riverside held 3 Cup Series events in a single season (the season opener, the season's halfway point, and the season finale). The reason why Riverside was the season finale for 1981 was because Ontario Motor Speedway closed after their season ended in 1980. Riverside also hosted drag racing events, between 1961 and 1969,

11544-586: Was held in Riverside County at The Thermal Club, a country club style private circuit in Thermal, California 75 miles southeast of the former circuit. At the end of the 2023 season, the INDYCAR Thermal $ 1,000,000 Challenge was announced to be held in March 2024, marking a return to major circuit racing in Riverside County. The fastest official all-time track record set during a race weekend

11655-641: Was instrumental in forming a joint body of CART and USAC with the creation of the Championship Racing League in March 1980. However, in mid-1980, Cooper forced USAC to renounce their agreement with the CRL if they wanted to keep officiating the Indy 500. After USAC's attempt at a 500-mile race at Pocono Raceway  – which was boycotted by the CART teams, forcing USAC to fill the field with silver crown cars – USAC and CART eventually settled into

11766-550: Was involved in a crash that caused injuries requiring 72 stitches and plastic surgery for broken bones in his nose and cheekbones. However, he returned in November, winning with the same car at the same course, against Masten Gregory and Dan Gurney . Shelby joined John Wyer and the Aston Martin team in Europe and drove a DBR3 at the Belgian Sports Car Grand Prix on 18 May 1958, followed by

11877-505: Was prepared for Le Mans and another record-breaking finish. Driver Dan Gurney shook and sprayed champagne on the podium and started a tradition. The Mark IV was Shelby's last prototype racer, as new limits on engine displacement for that class eliminated Ford's engines. Shelby's early racing successes led to a joint effort of Ford and Shelby-American to produce the Mustang-based Shelby GT350 , starting in 1965, then

11988-702: Was put on hold after the 2019 season and has not made its way back into the sport since then. USAC and URC Sprint Car Series promoter Curt Michael joined forces to create the USAC East Coast Sprint Car Series, with the first season beginning in 2018. Champions USAC formed the Speed2 Midget Series (formerly known as the Ford Focus Midget Series, Ignite Midget Series and HPD Midget Series) in 2002 with several regional divisions running across

12099-563: Was removed to make way for both a Lowe's warehouse and a new pair of on/off ramps and Turn 9 of the old track is now home to houses. In 2003, plans were announced to build a 3-mile (4.8 km) road course with a similar design to the famed Riverside layout in Merced, California . The track would have been known as the Riverside Motorsports Park , but the project was abandoned in 2009. In 2023, an IndyCar Series test

12210-670: Was severely injured in a crash while racing an Austin-Healey in the Carrera Panamericana . Though he underwent eight months of operations, he continued to drive in 1955, winning about ten races, and a second-place showing at Sebring driving Allen Guiberson's Ferrari Monza . He then started driving Tony Paravano's Ferraris in August 1955. He won a further 30 races with the Ferrari in 1956, started driving for John Edgar, and opened Carroll Shelby Sports Cars in Dallas. He drove in

12321-489: Was started in 1990 and switched to USAC sanctioning in 2017. The championship currently races on road and street courses across the United States and Canada with seven different classes for GT cars & Touring cars. Founded by WC Vision, the series is presently owned by SRO Group . The Stadium Super Trucks series was founded in 2013 by former NASCAR driver Robby Gordon . It is sanctioned by USAC, though Gordon and sponsorship marketing company The Elevation Group co-own

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