Jones Recalls Glory of Riverside

Riverside International Raceway, closed for more than a decade, will be remembered this weekend when the Southern California Historic Sports Car Festival is held on California Speedway’s road course in Fontana--22 miles from what is now the Moreno Valley Mall.

Parnelli Jones will be grand marshal of the event, and while his name perhaps is not as synonymous with Riverside as Dan Gurney, the 1963 Indianapolis 500 winner left his mark on the track in numerous ways.

In 1958, when Jones was still better known as a jalopy jockey at Ascot Park, he was the only driver to compete in three 500-mile races--one each for sprint cars, midgets and stock cars--over Memorial Day weekend.

“I got the pole and finished third in my midget, dropped out of the sprint car race and had the stock car race won before the engine blew in my Ford,” Jones, 68, recalled during a nostalgic luncheon Wednesday at the Mission Inn, headquarters for many of Riverside’s races.

The stock car race, won by Eddie Gray in six hours and 17 minutes, was the first NASCAR race held on Riverside’s road course.

“I’d driven at Willow Springs before, so I’d been on a road course, but those were the first times I’d tried 500 miles--three days in a row,” Jones said. “Vel [Miletich] had given me a Ford for the stocker and I was so far ahead with 100 miles to go it was ridiculous, but then the engine let go.”

Although Riverside’s first race weekend was Sept. 21-22, 1957, it was a Cal Club event, so the tripleheader was the track’s first major event.

Jones later won a NASCAR 500-miler in 1967, breaking Gurney’s remarkable string of four wins.

“I was driving for Bill Stroppe and Cale Yarborough was driving for the Wood Brothers. When Cale crashed in practice, he destroyed his car so I got the Wood Brothers to crew for my car. I think I lapped everybody twice. The Wood Brothers really made a difference.”

All five of Gurney’s wins were with the Wood Brothers. The 1967 race was the only time they weren’t with Gurney.

Although Jones is best known for his Indy 500 win, he never drove in an Indy car race at Riverside.

“The first time Indy cars raced there was 1967 and I had quit racing open-cockpit cars after I won at Indy,” he said.

Jones’ most memorable Riverside victory came in the 1970 Mission Bell 200, a Trans Am race, when he came back to win after his Mustang was knocked off the track by a lapped driver.

“I took a really hard lick on the right side of the car when I got hit coming through Turn 9. I decided not to go in the pits even though the car was vibrating like crazy. I guess I was back as far as ninth. The car was so out of balance that when I went through the esses, I’ve seen pictures where the right-side wheels weren’t even on the track. I kept them on the dirt most of the way. I never thought I’d finish but I finally caught [George] Follmer and won the race. It was one of the most exciting races I can remember.”

In the tire war days, Jones drove a Goodyear-sponsored Cooper Ford owned by Carroll Shelby--using Firestone tires--to win a Times Grand Prix for Sports Cars in 1964, beating Roger Penske and Jimmy Clark. Jones was a Firestone team driver.

In one of the final races at the track, in 1987, he won a three-hour Firestone Firehawk event.

“I get a sorrowful feeling every time I go past Riverside,” Jones said. “If you’d ever been there, you couldn’t help but miss the place.”

Ed Swart, a longtime vintage racer from Rolling Hills, formed Historic Sports Car Racing West in 1999 and his group, with assistance from Racer magazine, will present a weekend of racing in memory of Riverside. Practice and qualifying today will be followed by qualifying races Saturday and 30-minute races for 14 classes on Sunday.

Winston Cup Not Enough

While most Winston Cup drivers complain that 38 races a year are too much, there are others who want more. With NASCAR visiting Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma this week, several drivers are planning extra duty.

Tony Stewart, last year’s Sears Point winner and runner-up in Winston Cup standings, will drive a Beast sprint car at Altamont Raceway Park in a U.S. Auto Club Western regional race Saturday night.

Robby Gordon, Kevin Harvick and Jeff Green will compete Saturday afternoon in the Featherlite Southwest series 200 on Sears Point’s 10-turn, two-mile road course. Gordon was second to Stewart in last year’s Winston Cup race on the same track.

“We’re going to run that race to have a good time, but we also want to win,” said Harvick, last year’s NASCAR rookie of the year. “Plus the extra time on the road course is going to help us for the Winston Cup race the next day.”

Harvick, a Bakersfield native, won a Winston West race there during his 1998 championship season.

Where’s Jeremy?

Editors of Racer X magazine revealed their choice of the 25 best American motocross riders in their July issue. The first two are Ricky Carmichael and Bob “Hurricane” Hannah, both solid choices, but what about Jeremy McGrath? Broc Glover is No. 3, followed by longtime rivals Ricky Johnson and Jeff Ward. Then come Mark Barnett, Jeff Emig, Jeff Stanton and Brad Lackey.

Still no McGrath. He finally makes it at No. 22, back of Mike Kiedrowski, Doug Henry, David Bailey, Kent Howerton, Tony DiStefano, Mike LaRocco, Marty Smith, Steve Lamson, Danny LaPorte, Jim Weinert, Gary Jones and Ron Lechien.

It’s a shocker, McGrath at No. 22, but the catch is that Racer X was considering outdoor motocross only, thus eliminating McGrath’s remarkable supercross record. Outdoors, he won only one 250cc national championship.

Sprint Cars

After 14 races, things are finally back to normal in the Sprint Car Racing Assn.

Richard Griffin, the Gas Man from Silver City, N.M., gained the No. 1 spot in SCRA standings after a victory at Santa Maria Speedway last week. It was the first win of 2002 for Griffin, a three-time champion, and it gave him a six-point lead over Steve Ostling, followed closely by Tony Jones and defending champion Cory Kruseman.

The SCRA will return to its home track, Perris Auto Speedway, on Saturday night.

Irwindale Returns

After a week off while changes were made in Irwindale Speedway’s outer wall, racing returns to the half-mile paved oval Saturday night with main events for NASCAR Weekly Racing Series late models, super stocks, legends cars and American race trucks.

Even though the track was closed last Saturday night, more than 500 people showed up, apparently unaware that the program had been canceled.

Last Laps

Bill Betteridge, midget car racing’s first superstar, heads a list of four inductees into the National Midget Hall of Fame. Betteridge began racing in 1933 and won the National Midget Assn. championship in 1934 and 1936 before losing his life in 1937 at Atlantic Speedway in Cudahy. Other inductees include drivers Tom Bigelow and Billy Wood, both from Wisconsin, and journalist/TV commentator Chris Economaki.

Nissan North America Inc. announced that it will no longer provide Infiniti engines for the Indy Racing League after the 2002 season. Instead, it will concentrate on the new Infiniti Pro Series, an IRL developing program that will begin July 7 at Kansas Speedway. With Infiniti out, the IRL will have engines built by Chevrolet, Honda and Toyota.

Todd Hunsaker of Chino Hills and Phil Goodwine of Mira Loma will be favorites when USAC holds a Ford Focus midget race Saturday night at San Bernardino’s Orange Show Speedway. ... Frank Mendoza will be defending champion when M.K. Smith holds his annual Chino Challenge Demolition Derby at the Chino Fairgrounds on Saturday night.

Passings

Ed Ingalls, one of motor racing’s most renowned photographers and artists, died last Sunday of a stroke. He was 77. Services are 11 a.m. Saturday at the Church of Santa Maria in Orinda, Calif.