On March 27-29, there was a Legends of Riverside International Raceway gala event and film festival held at the Riverside International Auto Museum nearby the location of the historic race track in California. Here’s a report on the festivities from PR spearhead Doug Stokes with photos by Gilbert A. Cadena.
Legends of Riverside I
Riverside International Automotive Museum
Riverside, California – March 27-29, 2008
“…Riverside Lives!” was the rallying cry that museum co-founder Doug Magnon made from the stage on Saturday night, and he could not have been more correct.
Riverside International Raceway – – in the form of many the legendary people who raced, wrote, announced, worked, spectated, wrenched there, and their many friends, fans, and followers – – surely lived, breathed, laughed, cried, bled, and exhalted over the last weekend in March 2009.
Finally dispatched some 20 long years ago, the renown road course racetrack once located “ … In the middle of nowhere and a long drive from Los Angeles” had somehow come back from the grave for a weekend that was billed as a film festival but which turned out to be more of a love-in.
There were no engines bellowing, but the assembled throng was doing a damn fine impression of a classic racetrack crowd roaring its approval when memories of the last races at the famed track were fired up by the first “running” of this bright new event.
As impressive as the long list of attendees was, another list, that the 150 paying guests was even more so. Fans of the famous place who each ponied up 200 bucks (well … $199 really) for the privilege of reminiscing (some meals included) with many of the people who made the place what it was, had a great time. They heard the personal side of the raceway that so many of their heroes had so many wonderful stories about.
Movies, food, friends and Chris Considine’s CXC stupendous racing simulator (Wanna drive old Riverside? In a Birdcage? Step right up and sit down). Just watching Bondurant circulate Sears Point faster and faster was wonderful, and EFR going for the track record at Road America was scary-good!
The list* of featured guests was a long one, with names that ranged from “It’s HIM! And “That’s really HER!” to “_______Who?” pegged the Riverside regular’s personal rev-counters.
The only thing missing was a hot plate in the back room of the museum with a quart of Castrol R smoking away on it (next year for sure). Father and Son Magnon(s) (they built the place), their super on-site staff (headed by Bruce Ward , whose middle name has to be “Sure!”) and all the great volunteers who put this show on are all to be highly complimented, and (at least figuratively) sprayed with a blast of celebratory champagne, in honor of the event’s Saturday night honoree, Dan Gurney, who invented the post-event bubbly shower!
Two national awards were presented in conjunction with the event. Father and son team Ray and Doug Magnon were honored with the new Lee Iacocca Award for their contribution to motorsports history and Bruce Kessler had his name added to the Harry Morrow Award by the 500cc Club of America. Both awards were total surprises (to the awardees) and considered very well-made by all in attendance.
One of the event highlights was a spirited charity auction featuring a couple of very special items. Of note were a complete set of lofted drawings for the Ti22 CanAm car and an electric guitar which was signed by of all of the weekend’s special guest percipients. Both were “won” by members of the Gurney camp.
The event raised funds for four very worthy charities: The Iaccoca Foundation, The Parkinson’s Institute, Team Hole in the Wall, and the California Highway Patrol 11-99 Foundation.
I would hazard a guess that most reading this item have not been to the Riverside Museum yet, however, if you’ve read this piece this far, your RIR interest level index indicates that you need to be there, and soon. No, not all of the names on the below legends list will be there en masse, but a lot of the gear that they used, along with photos, racecars and more memorabilia is there, waiting to bring back great memories of a hallowed place.
THANKS!
–Doug Stokes
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE MUSEUM
www.riversideinternational.org (949) 369-6966
*Tony Adamowicz, Joe Alves, Casey Annis PhD., Toly Arutunoff, Bob Bondurant, Dusty Brandel, Pete Brock, Peter Bryant**, Tim Considine, John Dinkel, Jim Dittemore, John Dixon, Jerry Entin, Art Evans, Bruce Flanders, George Follmer, Elliott Forbes-Robinson, Dave Friedman, Howden Ganley, Jim Gessner, Jerry Grant, Dick Guldstrand, Dan Gurney, Alice Hanks, Doug Hooper, Deke Houlgate, Jim Jeffords, Davey Jordan, Ed Justice Junior, George Keck, Bruce Kessler, Oscar Koveleski, Bill Krause, Jim Law, Pete Lovely, Michael Lynch, Sherry McDonald, Michael Lynch, Pete Lyons, Tom Meeham, Frank Jr. and Howard Monise, John Morton, Lothar Motschenbacher, Paula Murphy, Arthur Newman, Ralph Ormsbee, Scooter Patrick, Joe Playan, Bill Pollack, Andy Porterfield, Bob Schilling, Tony Settember, Arlene Sidaris, Matt Stone, Linda Vaughn, Sylvia Wilkinson, and John Zimmermann.
**Sadly we must report on the loss a friend, race car designer/author Peter Bryant. On Monday, only one day after the event, he was felled by a massive heart attack. Peter had spent a friend-filled weekend with us in Riverside.
Peter had signed a number of his autobiography “CanAm Challenger” and had been an active participant in a number of bench racing sessions, both public and private, during the three-day event.
The “Cockney Mechanic”, who rose from the ranks to challenge the very best in CanAm racing, will be sorely missed by every-one who knew him, and the many more who knew of him. -DS
Dan Gurney
