Riverside International Raceway - The Six Courses of Riverside

The Six Courses of Riverside

Before a racing event at RIR, track crews added traffic pylons to close off sections of the track. Track courses are shown in the illustrations below (the 1957 course is in black, while the 1969 course above is in blue).

Diagram notes: The long course (shown below before the 1969 version) had the 1.1-mile (1.8 km) backstrech. This version was used primarily for the track's signature fall sports car event, the Los Angeles Times Grand Prix, although the long course was also used for IndyCar 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). The NASCAR course, 1st design on the right (light blue illustration), would not use turn 7. In the short course, the track would use turn 7A rather than 8. The "Turn 7-7A" configuration effectively shortened the back straight to just over one-half mile in length. The NHRA drag strip only used the backstrech from the runoff to the Bosch Bridge. The Oval (early '60s) used Turn 9, ran counterclockwise, uphill for Turn 1&2 and then there was a downhill turn for Turn 3 & 4 (Turn 1 of the road course).

• Riverside Raceway back from 1957 to 1968, complete with the 1.1. mile backstrech

• 1969 to 1989 version of Riverside Raceway, the 1957 to 1968 version is shown beside it

• Riverside Raceway long course (3.3 Mi)

• Riverside Raceway NASCAR course (2.62 Mi)

• Riverside Raceway short course (2.54 Mi)

• Riverside Raceway drag strip (¼ Mi)