The Los Angeles Times Grand Prix was a sports car race held at the Riverside International Raceway. The race was held throughout the track's existence, from 1957 until 1987. The race was sponsored by the Los Angeles Times to raise money for its charities. The Special Events director was Glenn Davis, the winner of the 1946 Heisman Trophy. During the early 1970s, the event was the season ending race for the Can-Am series.
^A The 1981 event was also a part of the World Sportscar Championship.
The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) is a non-profit American automobile club and sanctioning body supporting Autocross, Rallycross, HPDE, Time Trial, Road Racing, and Hill Climbs in the United States. Formed in 1944, it runs many programs for both amateur and professional racers.
Riverside International Raceway was a motorsports race track and road course established in the Edgemont area of Riverside County, California, just east of the city limits of Riverside and 50 mi (80 km) east of Los Angeles, in 1957. In 1984, the raceway became part of the newly incorporated city of Moreno Valley. Riverside was noted for its hot, dusty environment, which was a dangerous challenge for drivers. It was also considered one of the finest tracks in the United States. The track was in operation from September 22, 1957, to July 2, 1989, with the last race, The Budweiser 400, won by Rusty Wallace, held in 1988. After that final race, a shortened version of the circuit was kept open for car clubs and special events until 1989.
Ontario Motor Speedway was a motorsport venue located in Ontario, California. It was the first and only automobile racing facility built to accommodate major races sanctioned by all of the four dominant racing sanctioning bodies: USAC for open-wheel oval car races; NASCAR for a 500-mile (800 km) oval stock car races; NHRA for drag races; and FIA for Formula One road course races. Additionally, several motorcycle races were held at the track. Constructed in less than two years, the track opened in August 1970 and was considered state of the art at the time.
Robert Brett Lunger is an American racecar driver.
Patrick André Eugène Joseph Depailler was a French racing driver, who competed in Formula One from 1972 to 1980. Depailler won two Formula One Grands Prix across eight seasons.
James Ellis Hall is a retired American racing driver, race car constructor, and team owner. While he is best known as a car constructor, he was one of the greatest American racing drivers of his generation, capturing consecutive United States Road Racing Championships, two Road America 500s, two Watkins Glen Grands Prix for sports cars, the 1965 Canadian Grand Prix for sports cars, the 1965 Pacific Northwest Grand Prix, and scoring a massive upset at the 1965 12 Hours of Sebring over a contingent of factory-backed Ford GTs, Shelby Daytona Coupes, and Ferrari entries. If anything Hall's accomplishments behind the wheel have been overshadowed by his pivotal contributions to race car design through his series of Chaparral sports racing and Indy cars. Hall's cars won in every series in which they competed: USRRC, Can-Am, Trans-Am, Formula 5000, World Sportscar Championship, Autoweek Championship, Canadian Sports Car Championship, and the Indianapolis 500.
Samuel Felton Posey is an American former racing driver and sports broadcast journalist.
Mark Neary Donohue Jr., nicknamed "Captain Nice," and later "Dark Monohue," was an American race car driver and engineer known for his ability to set up his own race car as well as driving it to victories.
Ascot Park, first named Los Angeles Speedway and later New Ascot Stadium, was a dirt racetrack located near Gardena, California. Ascot Park was open between 1957 and 1990. The track held numerous United States Auto Club (USAC) national tour races and three NASCAR Grand National races. The Turkey Night Grand Prix was held at the track for several decades.
John Morton is an American racing driver from Waukegan, Illinois.
Bridgehampton Race Circuit was a race track located near Sag Harbor, New York, United States. The circuit opened in 1957, following a series of road races held from 1949 until 1953. It was one of the first permanent road racing venues in the United States, opening after Thompson Speedway, two years after Road America, the year after Watkins Glen International, and the same year as Lime Rock Park and Laguna Seca Raceway. In its early years, Bridgehampton was host to major international series, including the World Sportscar Championship, Can-Am, and NASCAR Grand National. By the early 1970s, the track was used mostly for amateur events. The track closed permanently in 1999.
The 1958 United States Grand Prix for Sports Cars was a sports car race held at Riverside International Raceway on October 12, 1958. It was the fourth and final round of the 1958 USAC Road Racing Championship season, the seventeenth round of the Sports Car Club of America's Pacific Coast Championship, the second running of the Riverside Grand Prix, and the first post-World War II running of the United States Grand Prix. The race was held over 62 laps of Riverside's 3.3-mile (5.3 km) circuit, for a total of 203.1 miles (326.9 km). Chuck Daigh won the race overall, driving one of Lance Reventlow's Scarab-Chevrolets. The race is also noteworthy in the annals of international racing, as the strong second-place finish by a local driver named Dan Gurney earned him a test drive in a factory Ferrari Formula 1 car, effectively launching the Californian's legendary racing career.
James Joyce Fitzgerald was an American racing driver. He is the winningest driver in Sports Car Club of America history, with over 350 career wins. Fitzgerald was also at one time the oldest driver to run a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race, being 65 years old when he ran in the 1987 Budweiser 400 at Riverside International Raceway for Hendrick Motorsports.
The Spyder NF-10 was an American sports prototype racing car built for the Can-Am series in 1978. It was based on a Lola T333CS, and was developed into the Spyder NF-11 in 1979. Two NF-10s were built in 1978, whilst four NF-11s were built in 1979, two of which were originally NF-10s. Both the NF-10 and NF-11 featured a 5-litre Chevrolet V8 engine.
The March 817 was a British sports prototype racing car, built by March Engineering in 1981 for the Can-Am series. As with all other full-size Can-Am cars of the time, it used a mid-mounted 5-litre, naturally-aspirated Chevrolet V8 engine. Two cars are known to have been built. Paul Newman Racing won the Team's championship of the Can-Am series in 1981 with the March 817, whilst their main driver, Teo Fabi took second in the driver's standings.
The Talon MHS-II was a short-lived Can-Am sports prototype racing car, built by Talon in 1977. Fitted with a 5-litre Chevrolet V8 engine, the car proved to be unsuccessful, as it never finished a race.
Nick Dioguardi was a racing driver born in Alia, Italy, based in Glendale, California. Throughout his career Dioguardi made a single IndyCar start in 1970.
Gerald Jon 'Jerry' Hansen is a former racing driver. Hansen has won a record of 27 SCCA National Championships. Hansen has also competed in Can-Am, the Atlantic Championship, USAC ChampCar among other series.
The Ferrari 412 S was a unique sports racing car produced by Ferrari in 1958. The 412 S combined Ferrari's most powerful V12 engine to date with a one-off experimental racing chassis. It was also incorrectly called as the 412 MI due to being built around an engine from the 500 Miles of Monza racer. The car was created specifically for John von Neumann to take on the American racing cars Scarabs in SCCA racing. Its famed drivers included Phil Hill and Richie Ginther.
The Budweiser 500K was an automobile race sanctioned by CART, it was held at Riverside International Raceway in Riverside, California. The event was held from 1967 to 1969 and again from 1981 to 1983.
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