History
Riverside International Raceway opened in September 1957 on open land east of Riverside, in what is now Moreno Valley. Over three decades it grew from an SCCA club circuit into one of the busiest professional road courses in the country.
The track drew an unusually wide range of racing. It held the 1960 United States Grand Prix, Can-Am and Trans-Am rounds, IMSA endurance events, Indy-car races, off-road events, and from 1958 until 1988 NASCAR's road-course races, the Winston Western 500 and the Budweiser 400.
The circuit also had a deadly record: drivers including Joe Weatherly, Ken Miles and Rolf Stommelen died in accidents there, and a fatal accident occurred even during the final club event.
As housing growth swept the Inland Empire in the 1980s, the land became more valuable as real estate than as a racetrack. NASCAR's last visit came in June 1988, demolition was under way that year, and the last club races ran in July 1989. The Moreno Valley Mall opened on the property in 1992.
Why it matters: One of the most important American road courses of the postwar era, combining Formula One, sports car and NASCAR history at a single venue.
Timeline
- December 1956Groundbreaking[1]
Construction of the road circuit began in the hills east of Riverside.
- September 21, 1957
The circuit opened with an SCCA sports car meeting on September 21-22, 1957; driver John Lawrence was killed on the 22nd, the track's first fatality.
- November 20, 1960United States Grand Prix[1]
Stirling Moss won the only Formula One world championship race held at Riverside.
- January 19, 1964Death of Joe Weatherly[1]
Two-time NASCAR champion Joe Weatherly was killed in a turn-six crash during the Motor Trend 500.
- June 12, 1988
Rusty Wallace won the last NASCAR Cup race at the circuit, the 1988 Budweiser 400.
- July 2, 1989
A California Sports Car Club weekend on July 1-2, 1989 was the final event; development of the land followed.
- October 14, 1992
The regional mall now called Moreno Valley Mall was formally opened on the former raceway land.
The site today
| Physical status | Site redeveloped[1] |
|---|---|
| Current use | Retail district anchored by the Moreno Valley Mall (opened 1992 as TownGate Mall), plus big-box stores, hotels, restaurants and housing[1,2,3,4] |
| Mapped location | Former venue parcel |
Street View near the former site · Satellite view (external, current imagery)
Venue facts
| Other names | RIR |
|---|---|
| Location | 22255 Eucalyptus Avenue, Moreno Valley (historically described as Riverside), California 92388, Moreno Valley, California[1] |
| Venue type | Speedway |
| Sports | Motorsports |
| Level | NASCAR, Formula One, Can-Am, Trans-Am, IMSA, CART, IROC |
| Opened | September 21, 1957[1,2] |
| Last used for sports | July 2, 1989[1,2,3] |
| Demolished | 1988–1989[1] |
| Physical status | Site redeveloped |
| Original capacity | 7,000[1] |
| Capacity notes | About 7,000 attended the first 1957 race; grandstand seating grew to 16,000 after a 1962 expansion and a further 18,000 seats were added in 1964. No reliable final capacity found. |
| Surface | Asphalt road course (3.3 mi long course from 1969; 2.62 mi NASCAR course); quarter-mile dragstrip |
| Owner / operator | Built by West Coast Automotive Testing Corp.; later owners included Edwin Pauley, Fred Levy and Bob Hope (from 1962), American Raceways Inc. (47% from 1969) and Sunnymead Land Investors led by Fritz Duda (80% from 1971)[1] |
| Closure | Rising land values from suburban growth made redevelopment more profitable than racing. |
Documented details
- Riverside hosted the 1960 United States Grand Prix, won by Stirling Moss, its only Formula One championship race.[1]
- A Lowe's built on the property in 2002 replaced the raceway's former marquee sign, described locally as the last trace of the track.[3]
- The raceway occupied a tract of about 520 acres.[2]
Sources
- Riverside International Raceway, Wikipedia. Accessed 2026-10-19Supports: address, capacity, closed, coordinates, current land use, demolished, events, opened, owner operator
- Legendary Riverside Raceway, SPEED SPORT. Accessed 2026-10-19Supports: closed, current land use, events, opened
- Riverside International Raceway, RaincrossSquare.com. Accessed 2026-10-19Supports: closed, current land use, facts
- Moreno Valley Mall, Wikipedia. Accessed 2026-10-19Supports: current land use
Research confidence
Key facts on this page (opening, closing, status and location) are each supported by sources, with key dates corroborated by at least two independent sources. Last reviewed 2026-10-19.
Where sources disagree (2)
- Opening day: Wikipedia says the first event weekend was September 21-22, 1957; SPEED SPORT says the raceway began operating September 22, 1957.
- Demolition timing: Wikipedia says demolition started in June 1988 in one passage and by the August 1988 event weekend in another, while club racing continued on a shortened course into July 1989; no completion date found.
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