Riverside International Raceway: A photographic tour of the historic track

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It was a motorsports marvel. A palace of speed. A showroom for automotive excellence. A grand idea for a sport that in the 1950s and 1960s was busting with vigor, ambition and acceleration.
 
For over three decades, the Riverside International Raceway was a highly visible supertrack located in the Southern California desert, but securely fixed upon motor racing’s world stage. Designed for international racing, the track was long, wide, and fast. Very fast. Performance met promise on a weekly basis, and the RIR became synonymous with thoroughbred cars and spirited driving.
 
This spring, Spry Publishing and renowned motorsport photojournalist Pete Lyons team to present RIVERSIDE INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY: A Photographic Tour of the Historic Track, Its Legendary Races, and Unforgettable Drivers (April 2015), a book that celebrates a world-class motorsports venue that played a key role in the modernization of the sport. Home to so many different kinds of competition over so many seasons, the RIR hosted Formula 1 series and off-road championship races; drag racing and “Superbike” rallies; IndyCar and NASCAR events. It was a rare race that wasn’t perfectly suited for the Riverside International Raceway.
 
From 1957 until its closing in 1989, the showmen of the sport—A.J. Foyt, Richard Petty, Bobby Allison, Cale Yarborough, Mario Andretti, Bobby Unser, Rick Mears, Emerson Fittipaldi, Dan Gurney, Roger Penske, Paul Newman, Jackie Stewart—drove into the history books, as some of the most glorious racing machines imaginable—McLarens, Cobras, Ferraris, Maseratis, Porsches, Lotuses, Aston Martins, Scarabs, Trans-Ams, Mustangs, Corvettes, IROC Camaros, Spyders, Bugattis, Lolas, and Alfa Romeos—were tested to do what they were engineered to do:
 
Win.
 
RIVERSIDE INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY also covers:
  • The passionate and ingenious designers Jim Peterson and Rudy Cleye
  • How new money and energy spruced up the racing circuit in the early 1960s
  • Race driving school with Cobras in the desert
  • How Riverside had to embrace commercialism to survive as long as it did
  • The track’s proximity to Hollywood and its denizens and the impact they had
  • The tragic accidents at RIR
  • The fascinating International Race of Champions (IROC)
  • The sad demolition of Riverside International Raceway in 1989
Riverside meant so much to so many. It was the spiritual home for speed in Southern California for decades and Lyons’ swashbuckling tale captures the essence of the old track that will forever live in racing lore. Race by race, year by year, this collection of great anecdotes, fabulous color and black & white action images, and vintage memorabilia provide a colorful chronicle of the iconic raceway.
 
Today, Riverside International Raceway is nothing but memories … but there are millions of them.

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