Riverside International Raceway’s Les Richter

Les Richter, former head of the now defunct Riverside International Raceway, passed away this weekend in Riverside. He was 79.

Les Richter
(NASCAR.com)

RIR logo

Post-1969 track configuration
(wikipedia)

1970s
Richard Petty, Bobby Allison

Winston Cup Series

1982
Winston Cup Series

@1990
RIR control tower
(AP)

Probably no one else is more responsible for putting both Riverside International Raceway on the map as well as expanding stock car racing beyond its southeastern U.S. environs in the early days of NASCAR than Richter.
From 1963 to 1984, Richter ran the famed Riverside road course, one of the most challenging stops on the NASCAR circuit. For several years, RIR hosted either the first or final race on the NASCAR schedule as well as various other major races, including the Los Angeles Times Grand Prix.
Through the years, the track proved its versatility by hosting nearly every form of racing, including CART, IMSA, INDY, F1, Can-Am, Trans-Am, SCORE and IROC (one | two; whom Richter was a co-creator). Its proximity to Los Angeles also made it a prime location for advertising, television and movies. It also served as a testing track for automotive (one | two | three | four) and motorcycle companies.
RIR, which sat on the eastern edge of Riverside, was sold to Texas-based developer Fritz Duda in 1984 with the last major race in late 1988 and the track officially closing in early 1989.
Today, the 600-plus acres of the former racetrack include homes, apartments, parks and retail uses as part of Moreno Valley’s master-planned Towngate development. The largest parcel, on which both the grandstands along Highway 60 and the famed “esses” (one | two | three) were once located, has been home to Moreno Valley Mall since 1992 (view overlay image here). The track’s southern end, where the sweeping Turn 9 once was, is now comprised mostly of single-family residential.
Prior to managing the raceway, Richter was a football star at both UC Berkeley and the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams for nine seasons, where he was a first-team, all-pro linebacker. After RIR, Richter went on to be a NASCAR executive for nearly 10 years until the early 1990s, when he was tapped by Roger Penske to oversee the development of California Speedway (now Auto Club Speedway) in Fontana, which opened in 1997.
Richter’s influence went beyond the race track, however. He was a long-time Riverside resident and was involved in several civic organizations, including the city’s influential Monday Morning Group.
Photos: Riverside International Raceway
Related