Racing Legends Revel In Reunion

RIVERSIDE - Veteran motorsports journalist Pete Lyons noted the "surreal" sense he felt this weekend looking out his hotel window in Moreno Valley, getting a fix on the landscape where Riverside International Raceway is now dead and buried.

"There's an ancient civilization lying under there," Lyons said he thought to himself.

Fortunately, not so ancient that those who lived it can't still revel in it.

More than 40 so-called "Legends of Riverside" -- from drivers to designers -- have gathered, along with their guests and fans, for a three-day event at the Riverside International Automotive Museum this weekend, mostly to pay tribute to an era.

RIR existed as a multi-purpose track from 1957 to 1989, its unique road layout and its big-time races shaping countless cherished memories.

"I ran lots of races here," said Paula Murphy, of Palmdale, Saturday. "I won my first race here in a Ferrari."

Her first love, she said, may have been driving the sports cars in "ladies races" at places like RIR. But she earned fame elsewhere as the first woman allowed to drive solo at Indianapolis -- testing for Andy Granatelli in 1963. She also held land speed records for women, driving rocket cars at Bonneville and Sears Point.

New Zealander Howden Ganley got started in the sport as a mechanic, working for legendary car builder Bruce McLaren, and becoming a crew chief for international superstar driver Peter Revson.

Eventually Ganley designed and built cars on his own, then raced them himself.

"You couldn't do that today," said Ganley, whose favorite RIR moment was finishing third in a Can-Am race in 1971, behind his former boss.

"I'm sure Revson was thinking, 'What's my mechanic doing up here on the podium?' " said Ganley.

The three-day event is being interlaced with film themes, such as the tribute to late actor-driver-racing enthusiast Paul Newman on Friday. Today's wrap-up honors motorsports filmmakers.

Saturday evening included a special tribute to Riverside-bred Dan Gurney. But the day included movies "Can-Am: The Speed Odyssey," "Sound of Speed" and "Cannonball," reminding attendees that RIR's proximity to Hollywood made it a popular place for directors of all kinds.

Still, the track's heart and soul were the drivers, whose escapades at RIR helped advance everything from technology and safety to the popularity of NASCAR, Formula One, Grand Prix and even drag racing.

George Keck was one of seven drivers who caravanned from Seattle in 1958 to participate in the first Grand Prix at the track. The four drivers who are still living, said Keck, all showed for the weekend's events.

"It's great having a chance to live this all over again," said Keck, who added, "They should have put everyone's old picture (on their badges), like a high school reunion. I keep wondering, 'Who's in that guy's body?' "

The event also served as a charitable fundraiser, drawing fans who paid hundreds of dollars to aid such causes as diabetes and Parkinson's research, a Newman-founded camp for sick children, and a fund for CHP families in crisis.

Event organizer Dave Wolin, a former driver himself, said the exploding interest by hobbyists in restoring decades-old cars, and racing them, helped make the weekend possible.

Keck said he was "amazed that people care about what happened 50 years ago," then joked, "If I knew people would be that interested, I would have done better."

The stars of the weekend may have been retired for decades, but some things never change. When Jim Jeffords, a frequent winner in SCCA races in the 1950s, stood to be recognized, a needler in the back of the room bellowed, "Jim was the third-best Corvette driver."

Jeffords turned and yelled back, "Hey -- any place, any time."

Just not at RIR anymore