Riverside Rockingham and North Wilkesboro are Still Missed By Fans

It’s a crime this race track got torn down. What a damn shame

I was there that day, sitting in turn 2 with my late friend Greg....I well remember the rain coming in at the end, most of the crowd took off but we stayed until the victory lap....there were only a handful of people left when Bobby Allison came by, we stood and applauded as we got soaked....the late '70's-early '80's were great years for motor sports in Southern California, as we had the stock cars on the oval at Ontario Motor Speedway as well as on the road course at Riverside....the Indy cars also came to Ontario...and, every April, the Formula 1 series came to the temporary street circuit at Long Beach...so, without leaving L.A., I got to see Andretti, Niki Lauda, James Hunt, Gilles Villineuve, Richard Petty, Waltrip, Earnhardt, Rick Mears, A.J. Foyt, Unser Sr. and Unser Jr., Bobby Rahal....

This track was fantastic and so was Ken Squier

Bill Elliot's first win, and Bobby Allison's first and only championship

Bill " the thing of it is " Elliott! Thanks NASCAR! These throwback races in HD sure kick alot of ass !

The Dukes of Hazzard used footage of this race for the season 3 episode Undercover Dukes where Bo comes out of retirement for a race and wins. The car he was supposed to be driving was actually Terry LaBonte's car and Terry made a cameo in the episode as a member of Bo's pit crew

This legendary father son-duo both won their first races on road courses.

One of my favorite road courses ever, it's a shame I never got to see a race there. A fast road course, very tricky, high risk high reward, and the final turn is perfect for close finishes being a long sweeping banked right hander.

Why did they have to build a freakin’ parking lot for a useless mall where this great roadcourse used to be?

There's a charm to these older races and I can't exactly explain it 😂

I was watching this and my wife came into the room. I said "look at those 1983 stock cars". Her only comment? "Look at how high those splitters are".

Considering these were all taped and not filmed, I'm impressed with the quality of these classic race uploads. I don't suppose we can get the 1987 Daytona and Talladega races someday. Be nice to see the last non-restricted races on those tracks.

My favorite driver what fun watching this thanks KZfaq

Also interesting that both Bill and Chase got their first wins on road courses after finishing second a lot of times.

thank you NASCAR for showing these old races.

Awesome Bill's first win this is great...thanks for the upload nascar

I was there as well. I remember talking to my buddy , "who in the Hell is this Bill Elliott guy. He sounds like he's right off the farm!". Little did we know.... And RIR is greatly missed. I was there with my brother for one of the last track day events in '89. The track was already pretty much in shambles. My late brother picked up a large wooden sign laying on the ground with direction to the Pits and Paddock. We walked out with it and nary a comment from anyone. I have it hanging in my garage to this day. Many fond memories of that place with my dad and brother and buddies.😣

The cars looked like the car you could buy at the dealer. Look at the different cars there. 2 different name Pontiac's, Grand Prix and Lemans. 2 Different Fords. the 82 box Tbird and the 83 balloon Tbird, Buick Regal, ' Olds Cutlass. Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS and even a single Chrysler I think an Imperial but it may have been a Dodge Mirada. Best of all, 0 Rice burners

Great race, thank you for posting it and in such good quality.

This track actually looks really fun to race, shouldn't have torn it down.

2:59:00 Wow! I did not expect that! Thanks to NASCAR for reposting these classic races. Looking forward to many more.

100% know i had nothing to do with this being uploaded but I'm gonna take credit for it anyway. thanks for hearing my suggestion a few weeks back on one of the Daytona 500 full race replays! Can't wait to sit back and watch this tonight!

Bill Elliott’s first full season in the Cup Series (Ran partial from 1976-82). Had a solid 1983 with 12 Top5s & 22 Top10s along with that first career win that earned him a 3rd place points finish! Also led the points after the third race of the season.

I really like the look of these cars. It would be cool to build a 1981-84 hot rod that has this look. Thanks for uploading this!

Thanks, good to see Bill get on the board!

Here before WhatInCarnation. this is my lobby now

Great upload. Thanks NASCAR.

3 with Rudd in it, man now that’s nostalgic. Probably the most influential driver change in the whole history of nascar.

Roll that beautiful Squarebird footage.

Who would a thunk it ,Bill on a road course.. My man from the early 80's till retirement.. Now the boy Chase is the new guy in town ...Still #9.. Dawsonville special..

Dan Gurney lapped the field here once. Also, these cars sound amazing, more GT than stock to my ears.

Ricky Rudd in the #3 car and Earnhardt in a FORD! Gotta love the number of Brands and manufacturers in the field back then Ford, Chevy, B.O.P & Dodge.

Only time Cale did a race from the booth..neat stuff.

Tim Richmond was driving the shit out of that car.

The fuel pressure problem with Allison was the "sugar" that was mysteriously put in his gas can at possibly the pumps. Bill Gardner discusses the aftermath of this situation on his "Scene Podcast " with Steve Waid and Rick Houston.

I grew up watching this beautiful Regal cars.

Was winter race...see sky and green grass from rain. Lived in Riverside , this was Edgemont part of Sunnymead , soon (years) to be Moreno Valley.

Riverside was always my favorite track.

118 laps on a course with that long of a lap is crazy lol

I miss this style of racing.

As well as being Bill Elliott's first career win, was Hershel McGriff's final top 10 in Cup

I was there that day. Funny race. I think we left early. When I found out Elliot won the race I thought he drove the 27 car for years after.

Funny enough, Cale Yarborough won the 1983 Daytona 500 & was color commentator for this race. 1 race later, he wins the 1984 Daytona 500. Crazy.

These cars looked perfect for road course racing.

Bill Elliott captured the checkered flag 1983 Winston Western 500 k at Riverside International Raceway in Riverside California number 9 melling oil pump Ford Thunderbird with piece of junk boxy 1982 T Bird first career in NASCAR history the birth of siren Dawsonville pool room the Huckleberry Finn of NASCAR Bill Elliott was established 😂

Ahh yes, Dale Earnhardt in his iconic #15 Ford

1:52:22 ... The blue & red car (#67) is Buddy Arrington's Dodge Mirada. The only Chrysler Corporation product in the field. R.I.P, Buddy.

Turn 6 had water bags inside. Lots of them. I saw them a lot as we always went to turn 6.

Chase like his father also won his first race on a road course. He is as much as great as him.

Ah yes, the 35th anniversary of NASCAR at Riverside. I sure wish this track could revive for the Cup Series.

We take for granted how smoothly the broadcasts go these days, because this broadcast was a mess. Cutting to cameras that were static, showing the wrong pre-recorded footage, microphones not working, etc.

Great racing 👍

It sounds like Cale Yarborough is saying Waldrip instead of Waltrip when referring to DW

Bill doing it to them in a year old 82 t bird.nascar up load the whole dam 85 winston 500 you guys have the film of that race I'm shure

And it was the Season Finale from 1982 to 1986

Im too young for Riverside CA so I'm gonna watch this race. Also what date was this race? It clearly at the end of the season.

Cool upload!

Bill done it so did Chase

For those watching these races dark, it's bad to list the winner on the Title, what's the point of watching a 3 hour race if I already know the winner.

I forgot how scary the no pit road speed was back then. Yikes

This field was thinner than I would have historically thought.

Those were the days when after the race in celebration drivers would start slamming beers with a smile on their face.

They shouldn't turn RIR into the mall so the last scene from Ford v Ferrari could be filmed properly..

I was there. I was a SCCA flagger.

weird to see them filling up on the right side

Why don't they have that track on a videogame yet?

this is great!

1:44:05 Is this "Rick Ware" the same Rick Ware that own RWR?

Dave Despain always the professional.

Looks like an awesome track, to bad urban sprawl killed it

Hey, Cale was pretty good as a color commentator.

Ken is screaming so loud his voice is dying hahah

why did you put who won the race in the title? I didnt want to know !

Pole!

Handsome harry gant slinging that wheel

Why would you put the winner in the description

You told us the ending ... it's not a race anymore...it's a bunch of cars doing race moves!

Can someone tell me what car Bill Elliott was driving? Because it doesn’t look like any of the thunderbirds being driven that day

Back when racers raced instead of wrecked

1:27:27 fontana?

2:01 Red flag yet work is being done to Waltrip's car. Was the rule different then?

Pokable? Never knew there was a track called Pokable.

This is straight cool. And that is not even counting the fact that it is real racing not the anti racing downforce and other bs that is claimed to be racing we get nowadays.

Damn if these older models don't seem to have more durability and speed than today's models;

Track limit's, maybe COTA should watch this race !!!

2:09:44 a young Michael Waltrip

Rip

Infinity Driver

Gee, I wonder who's gonna win this race? Oh, Thanks Nascar........Seriously, did they same person who came up with competition yellows name your videos?

36 GM. 5 Fomoco. 1 Mopar.

@Oscar jr Jimenez NASCAR's BIGGEST mistake was moving away from the tracks (Riverside Not included bc NASCAR left bc Riverside was being torn up to build more housing development) but Rockingham and North Wilksboro, NASCAR made the mistake of leaving the tracks that produced the best racing bc SMI could sell more tickets at offer tracks... I bet they had that one back!

10 Hours

Absolutely stupid this racetrack is no more 😑

Heavy Driving

The light bar on that pace car looks big time out of place.

Tim Richmond lost this race by abusing his tires too much, while trying to expand his lead over Waltrip and Parsons. He over-heated them and 'used them up'. That's why Waltrip suddenly caught back up with a few laps to go, then was able to get under Richmond going into turn nine. Watch how much smoother Waltrip, Parsons, and Elliot all were compared to Richmond. Tim was fast and exciting, maybe the fastest of all Cup drivers at that time, over one or two laps. But over the course of an entire race, you have to take care of the tires. It's not as easy as it sounds. But it's one of the main keys to winning championships and achieving 'greatness'.

daytona 2020 full races please

Before NASCAR became the pro wrestling of racing.

Million Dollar Bill just a couple years later 😁