13 replies to this topic

[Steve Deiters]

A race track built in the desert that civilization finally encroached on. This is what it looks like now with the track overlay on the current status.

 

I never made it to Riverside, but it was on my bucket list. I did make it to Laguna Seca to see the corkscrew curve.

 

 

 

[MattD]

Progress????   Somebody's idea of progress.

[Phil Hackett]

Yup... One of the last IMSA races I attended you could see the housing development being built to the east of the track, not even in the picture. I knew it was a matter of time before the track closed because of the noise and the increasing value of the land. There was going to be no good ending.

 

Other tracks that have survived have either bought up a "buffer" around the track (Willow Springs) or have made peace with the home owners (Pomona Drag Strip/LA County Fairgrounds) to limit the number of events.

 

<<RANT ON>>

 

This is the way California and SoCal has been going for some time. My home state has changed dramatically during my lifetime and not necessarily for the better. "California Dreaming" is an idea more than a reality and, unless we're talking about the rural areas, not accessible. The huge amount of people clamoring to be here at any price has pushed up the prices for everything (along with the gov'ment). The gov'ment and the real estate developers just keep on building more and more housing and it's snapped up as soon as it's finished.

 

In my neighborhood there's an almost non-stop building of high-density apartments on anything that can be built on. Example: a church and a Montessori school were torn down and a 80 unit apartment building was put up (five-stories tall). Another place was a gas station, liquor store and a small cafe where a 40 unit apartment was built. Still another being built is on a former restaurant site (I thinks it's going to be 30+ units) bordered by a gas station/Jiffy Lube and another apartment complex (built in the 1970s).

 

Now, the City of Los Angeles has zoned a major street southwest of me for high density development. What are mostly 1950s duplex/triplexes will be torn down for who knows what. It's bad enough that my neighborhood is the "gateway" to LA International Airport but when we add in all these new high-density housing units (I'm not even counting the 1000+ units about 1/2 mile east of me. ) we get more traffic and pollution.

 

So I guess the point is that memories are just that and the world moves on. I can always get a cane and shake it at anyone and tell them how much better it was when I was younger. The Mamas and the Papas sang the tune back in the '60s. We should leave it there for that was its time, not now.

 

Here are two of the three big apartment complexes built to the east of where I live:

 

http://www.moderawestla.com

 

http://www.equityapa...tude-apartments

 

<<RANT OFF>>

[Cheater]

Basically the same situation in Atlanta, Phil.

[Jaz]

Bridgehampton racetrack was torn up and a toney golf club was put in its place. Membership fees north of $600K.

Price of real estate on Long Island, the land of taxes.

[blue&orange]

I've read somewhere a while ago that there was one small piece of the Riverside course that still existed, but it may be gone now. 
 
A distant relative of mine built Vargo Dragstrip on his farm when drag racing was killed off in Allentown, PA – it lasted nine glorious years before his neighbors shut him down, too.

[MattD]

I don't want to change places with any of you guys in those big metropolitan areas. A lot of the time you are just kind of born into it and there is no easy way out once it has been your life for years and your family is all there.    

 

I always remember my father saying he thought the biggest problem facing America was fresh water. Probably nowhere is this truer than in SoCal. When CA becomes a separate country, they can limit immigration from the US and raise taxes. That might send a bunch of those mid-westerners back home! 

 

I am amazed at the cost of living compared to the midwest, the time of commuting, and amount of time  spent in cars.     

[SpeedyNH]

I made it to Riverside the Saturday after the last race. Oh, well. 

[HarV Wallbanger III]

$$ UP

The first house I bought in 1972 was $17,000. A 3 bdr. 2 bath with $125.00 a month payments. The next home was in Riverside 4Bdr. 3 ba. (about 10 miles from the old Riverside Rwy.) in 1998 was $225,000!

Sold it in 2017 for north of $550,000.! Prices are getting crazy. Our niece in San Diego is paying over $2000. for a 1 Bdr. apartment!

[stumbley]

I saw Jackie Oliver at Riverside in a Shadow at the one Can-Am race I could attend back in the day. He raced wonderfully until the car broke.

 

As for the devolution of California...my mother was raised in South Pasadena; I was born and raised in New Mexico. We spent every summer and every Christmas with California relatives for many years. Every time we came over the hill on Highway 60 into Indio and saw the orange groves, Mom would say "That's what California looked like when I was a little girl."

 

No more. That's why I'm in Oregon amidst vineyards and Hazelnut orchards.

[Phil Hackett]

One of my fondest memories was going to Riverside with my dad for the Can-Am races. He was peripherally interested in auto racing but was VERY intrigued by what Jim Hall had up his sleeve every year. So we both would go out and get paddock tickets. As a young teenager I was overwhelmed by how close we could get to the cars, drivers, mechanics. You could even walk into the garages and touch the cars and talk to who ever was there.

 

I remember how well organized Team McLaren was and how they worked in a coordinated way. Seeing that, it all made sense why McLaren was so successful. The Chaparral group wasn't quite as impressive but they gave off the vibe that the race wasn't as much a race as it was an engineering exercise. McLaren operated their team as if winning was the "corporate" imperative. They reminded me of how Penske operates his teams.

 

Later, when ISMA was the thing, I continued to go to RIR and get paddock tickets. I remember when the Roush "Mustang" was being towed back to the garage with engine oil pouring out of the bottom of the car and overhearing someone saying they experienced "an ignition problem". I guess so.

 

Then there was one of the last IMSA races where a small-displacement Ferrari podiumed (I believe it was 3rd place overall) against Ford, GM, Jaguar and everyone else. It was the last race for that car and it was going to a museum. The team was celebrating as if they had just won the F1 championship, the Indy 500, the Daytona 500, the Monaco GP all at once.

 

There was an IMSA race where a Porsche 952 was leading going late into the race. They pitted for new tires but the heat from the racing caused an interference fit between the hub and wheels and they couldn't get the wheels changed in time to defend their lead. Sometimes tight tolerances bite back.

 

I never made it to the NASCAR race but I always enjoyed seeing the SCCA races before the Big Show.

 

R.I.P. Riverside International Raceway

[Tom Eatherly]

Went to Riverside twice; Can-Am In '68[I think], McLaren winning, then in '87-'88 for the last Nascar race, which Rusty Wallace won. Wonderful track. Lots of So-Cal tracks closed: Lions, Irwindale. Orange County Raceway. All homes now, or a brewery and I have no idea what is at the old Lions Dragstrip. Scheese, no damn wonder I hang out in the desert nowadays.

[HarV Wallbanger III]

Loved watching the Stockers come up thru the esses! Only got to go 1 time but loved it. Had to come down with a neighbor as we lived in Hesperia (High Desert) and my Dad would not tale me... Thought it was a waste of time.

You were lucky Phil that your Father enjoyed it with you.

[Phil Hackett]

Went to Riverside twice; Can-Am In '68[I think], McLaren winning, then in '87-'88 for the last Nascar race, which Rusty Wallace won. Wonderful track. Lots of So-Cal tracks closed: Lions, Irwindale. Orange County Raceway. All homes now, or a brewery and I have no idea what is at the old Lions Dragstrip. Scheese, no damn wonder I hang out in the desert nowadays.

 

Lions was condemned by the Port of LA. It is now a massive truck/railroad loading and unloading area. I'm sure the nearby neighbors who complained (if they're still alive!) wished the drag strip was still there. The port runs 24 hours a day and the trains with their horns and noise and the trucks running in and out along with all the diesel exhuast have to be worse than the cars ever were. At least Lions mainly ran on the weekend and had curfews on weekdays.