My Pops & I were about 100 yrds past the S/F line towards turn 1! What a nasty, hot & smoggy day it was, just a bad day for a race, especially after my all-time favorite driver fell out early 😩 Of course 3yrs later, Pop & I would sit in almost the same spot & watch my all-time fav win his 7th Cup Title! 😃 So I guess it all worked out in the end 👍
Wish this track had survived. I know its just a copy of Indianapolis, but it was still cool none the less. I wonder what places like this and Riverside would be like today if they hadn't closed down.
Sadly these two and several others like Mesa Marin were worth more dead than alive thanks to urban sprawl, rising land values, etc. And while not a big issue when these two tracks died, they'd have the NIMBY issue these days if they had somehow survived, thanks to all development that encroached and surrounded them by people that knew they were building next to a racetrack yet believe that they have a right to force it to shut down.
I was at this race. The crowds here look large but I remember seeing almost no one there that year. It wasn't till 1978 that I remember thinking the place was packed. One of the strangest things I saw was watching Richard Petty take turns 1 and 2. He start by taking turn 1 the way everyone else did but when he went down the short straight between 1 and two he'd stay up against the wall all the way around turn 2. He was the only one doing this and I've always wanted to ask him about why he chose to run turn 2 like that. Anyway fun times. Wish this track and Riverside still existed. Was happy Pearson won in the Wood Bros. Mercury here. Was even more happy when Bobby Allison won driving Bud Moore's #15 Ford to victory in 1978. Thanks for posting this distant memory.
I got to go to Ontario a couple of times, drag racing...beautiful venue for speed ! Thank you for cutting the advertising. Love the $3,000 race, back when 3k was worth 2.5k....😂
Lived about 10 miles away at the time, but didn't ever get to go because I was a kid but my parents weren't gearheads (I think I was switched at birth). I do remember the smog! It's a lot clearer down there now, and they built Fontana Speedway (or whatever they call it) just down the road. I was a Pearson fan, always liked his style and the Wood Brothers cars. Cool to see this one!
My dad and I were sitting in the turn 4 grandstand, I still have the program.
My Pops & I were about 100 yrds past the S/F line towards turn 1! What a nasty, hot & smoggy day it was, just a bad day for a race, especially after my all-time favorite driver fell out early 😩 Of course 3yrs later, Pop & I would sit in almost the same spot & watch my all-time fav win his 7th Cup Title! 😃 So I guess it all worked out in the end 👍
That's awesome man and Cale Yarbrough won the championship that's great you can say you witnessed the real Nascar
Richard Childress driving that's crazy to watch
Judging by the NFL playoff score at 3:26. this race aired on Wide World of Sports on December 18, about a month after it was actually run.
Yes. Sandwiched in between ski jumping and ping pong
This happened a lot back then. The 1974 Firecracker 400 was aired August 10, 1974 the day before the Talladega 500
Wish this track had survived. I know its just a copy of Indianapolis, but it was still cool none the less. I wonder what places like this and Riverside would be like today if they hadn't closed down.
Sadly these two and several others like Mesa Marin were worth more dead than alive thanks to urban sprawl, rising land values, etc. And while not a big issue when these two tracks died, they'd have the NIMBY issue these days if they had somehow survived, thanks to all development that encroached and surrounded them by people that knew they were building next to a racetrack yet believe that they have a right to force it to shut down.
This track was ahead of it's time . With the media box and corporate suites, well thought out spectator ergonomics it was quite the race track 😊
Sadly, it's a similar story for so many tracks.
Turn 3 of Ontario is still (kinda) there. Found a chunk of asphalt once
Rest well, Cale.
I was at this race. The crowds here look large but I remember seeing almost no one there that year. It wasn't till 1978 that I remember thinking the place was packed.
One of the strangest things I saw was watching Richard Petty take turns 1 and 2. He start by taking turn 1 the way everyone else did but when he went down the short straight between 1 and two he'd stay up against the wall all the way around turn 2. He was the only one doing this and I've always wanted to ask him about why he chose to run turn 2 like that.
Anyway fun times. Wish this track and Riverside still existed. Was happy Pearson won in the Wood Bros. Mercury here. Was even more happy when Bobby Allison won driving Bud Moore's #15 Ford to victory in 1978.
Thanks for posting this distant memory.
I got to go to Ontario a couple of times, drag racing...beautiful venue for speed !
Thank you for cutting the advertising.
Love the $3,000 race, back when 3k was worth 2.5k....😂
Lived about 10 miles away at the time, but didn't ever get to go because I was a kid but my parents weren't gearheads (I think I was switched at birth). I do remember the smog! It's a lot clearer down there now, and they built Fontana Speedway (or whatever they call it) just down the road.
I was a Pearson fan, always liked his style and the Wood Brothers cars. Cool to see this one!
When I first moved to California in 1991, I lived in Ontario. I never knew there was a racetrack there in the past.
It seems to me Chris Economaki had alot of respect for Janet Guthrie,and rightfully so.
Yeah I got that vibe as well.
Hard to believe the track couldn't draw crowds of any size, Indy cars ran there also
00:49 "We got Jimmy Carter" 🤦🏻♂️
Pearson & the Wood Brothers won the Triple Crown that year (Daytona 500, World 600, Southern 500).
After being told this Pearson asked “How much does it pay?”
And Richard Petty finished 2nd to Pearson in all 3 of them.
5:55 - "Car ran real good...I'm not sure what to do with my hands."
🏁Enjoyed!!!!! 🏁
Ontario was a replica of Indianapolis.
Who else here thought Darrel waltrip reminded you of Ricky Bobby?
Not a good day for the Dodges😮
Yes. Dodges won just six races that year. Rockingham twice and Pocono by Petty. Richmond Talladega and Atlanta by Marcis
DW Had A Cool Hair Style
Waltrip’s Mike Nesmith look