Does anyone have the results for the preliminary and main sports car races held at Riverside for the weekend of Nov. 16-17, 1957? I show Masten Gregory winning the Prelim race on the 16th and Carroll Shelby winning the main event the following day. Shelby and Gregory were both driving 4.7-liter Maserati 450S's. Does anyone have the top three finishers for these races?
Riverside sports car results for November 16-17, 1957
Started by
Joe Fan
, Jul 23 2001 14:55
4 replies to this topic
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#2
Roger Clark
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Posted 23 July 2001 - 17:27
1 Shelby (4.5 Maserati)
2 D Gurney "the comparatively unknown" (4.9 Ferrari)
3 Gregory (4.7 Maserati)
4 Hangsen (3.8 Jaguar D)
5 ginther (3-litre Ferrai)
6 Von Neumann (Porsche)
2 D Gurney "the comparatively unknown" (4.9 Ferrari)
3 Gregory (4.7 Maserati)
4 Hangsen (3.8 Jaguar D)
5 ginther (3-litre Ferrai)
6 Von Neumann (Porsche)
#3
David McKinney
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Posted 23 July 2001 - 19:52
I agree with those results Roger, except that I think Ginther was at the wheel of Edgar’s 410S Ferrari on this occasion and von Neumann in his own Ferrari 625.
#4
Joe Fan
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Posted 23 July 2001 - 20:45
Thanks for the help guys!
#5
Milan Fistonic
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Posted 24 July 2001 - 03:54
This is the Road & Track report on the Riverside meeting.
They saved the best for last. Riverside International Raceway was the scene for this last SCCA National race of 1957 and the last of three exciting and hectic weeks on the West Coast. Over 40,000 people swarmed out to the new million-dollar circuit to see an all-star cast of the best in the U.S. battle it out for the silver cups of SCCA’s Los Angeles region.
As usual there was lots of practice and a number of preliminary races on Saturday, which were televised for the first time in West Coast history – publicity which paid off in Sunday spectators.
Sunday dawned clear but cold. However, the competition was as hot as it comes.
Lew Bracker in a Porsche Carrera won the production under 1600cc race after fighting off a determined Porsche 1600 Super driven by Mitch Michelmore for the whole distance. His average speed was 74.7 mph. Fred Woodward in an Alfa Romeo was third, and first in class G.
Superb driving by silver-haired Jerry Austin netted him a win by one second over Cal Bailey, who drove the race of his career. Both were driving class B fuel-injected Corvettes averaging 76.8 mph in this production over 1600cc race, Austin in a 1957 model and Bailey tooling a new ’58 job. Third and first in class E, only 7 seconds behind, was Bill Love in his AC-Bristol, again proving you can make up in skill what you lose in displacement. Fourth place went to Hugh Woods in another Corvette, while Robert Fletcher was fifth and first in class C. Hugh Pryor in an Austin-Healey was eighth overall and first in class D.
The ladies’ race was won by Ruth Levy (Porsche Spyder) at an average 79.15 mph; May Davis (Aston Martin) was second, followed by Linda Scott (AC-Bristol). Running concurrently were the sedans and the Formula III cars. Per Nystrom in a Volvo won the sedan dash ahead of Ron Pearson and Reg Wilson, also driving Volvos. Jean Geslin flew around at 81.6 mph in his III guided missile to edge out Harry Morrow, both driving Coopers.
The under 1500cc modified race saw Jack McAfee with his throttle foot glued to the floorboard to stay ahead of Sam Weiss, both of them driving Porsche Spyders. Then Weiss got off the course and out of the race, so McAfee eased off a little to finish first at 84.0 mph. Pat Pigott in his 1.5 Lotus grabbed second, over half a lap behind, and Skip Conklin earned third and first in the class G in his 1100cc Lotus, just 2 seconds ahead of John Porter’s Porsche Spyder. Jim Parkinson in a new Ferry-Renault 750cc special won class H honours in spite of a pit stop.
We could go on for days about the modified over 1500cc main event, because they’ll be talking about it for years. Sharing the front row of the grid were Carroll Shelby, Masten Gregory (both in 4.5 Maseratis), and Walt Hansgen (3.8 D-Jaguar). Arrayed behind them were by far the finest aggregate of cars and drivers to meet in one race since Sebring. In addition to the seven Ferraris, three Maseratis and three Aston Martins, the following types were represented: Mercedes 300-SL roadster, D-type Jaguar, Talbot-Lago sports, Frazer Nash, supercharged Lotus, Corvette, and a Buick special.
Al Torres dropped the green flag and Gregory pushed his big blue Maserati through turn 1, inches ahead of Shelby and Hansgen. The cars tore around the course and instead of stringing themselves out a bit by the end of the first lap, the first three came flying by the pits again in a pack, with Gregory still leading. This time a big 4.9 Ferrari had joined them, and as the driver wasn’t listed in the program, it wasn’t until the public address system announced the name of Dan Gurney (a local Riverside resident driving a Ferrari for the first time) that the mystery man was identified. None of the four drivers were giving an inch, and they were setting a frightening pace as they drew away from the rest of the cars in the race. Gregory, who had won the preliminary race the day before, couldn’t shake off his pursuers. In fact, Hansgen, Shelby and Gurney were actually closing tighter around him. The cars were obviously very evenly matched and none of these four great drivers were making any mistakes. Something had to happen.
Hansgen made his bid early and outbraked Gregory at the end of the 1-mile straight to lead for two laps, only to lose it to Shelby, who set a new lap record. Shelby overdid it, spun, dropped to sixth place, and Hansgen took over again for the next 10 laps. The order on lap 14 was Hansgen, Gregory (who had set a new record down the main straight of 156.7 mph), Gurney, Shelby (working his way back up), Richie Ginther (4.9 Ferrari), John von Neumann (2.5 Ferrari), Jack McAfee (3.5 Ferrari), Pete Lovely (2.0 Ferrari), Paul O’Shea (3.0 Mercedes 300-SL roadster), and Max Balchowsky (5.4 Buick special), followed by the rest of the pack.
The pace was fantastic, with only 5 to 6 seconds still separating the first four cars. The crowds were cheering on their favourites, and the announcers were shouting themselves hoarse.
On lap 15, Gurney got around Gregory and Hansgen and into the lead, and while the local rooting section went wild, Shelby slammed past Gregory into third. Newcomer Gurney then stood the crowd on their collective heads by clocking a fantastic 163.109 mph through the speed traps on the main straight. Meanwhile, Shelby had taken Hansgen and moved in for the kill. He took Gurney on the 17th lap to regain the lead. The lead had now changed six times, but Shelby meant to keep it this time and set a new lap record for the 3.3-mile circuit by averaging 90 mph! Gregory went past Hansgen into third place, and none of the first six drivers could change positions for the remaining nine laps, no matter how hard they tried.
Driving one of the best-controlled races of his career, Shelby stormed by the checkered flag at a record winning average of 87.8 mph, to establish Riverside (as we forecast last month) as unquestionably the fastest road circuit in the U.S. Gurney finished a scant 5 seconds behind, a fitting finish for his debut in the big-car category. Gregory was only 7 seconds behind Shelby, and Hansgen was fourth, 15 seconds away. The remaining cars finished in the following order: 5,Ginther; 6, von Neumann; 7, Lovely; 8, McAfee; 9, O’Shea; 10, Bob Oker (Aston Martin); 11, Balchowsky; 12, Bill Love (Aston Martin); 13, John Timanus (supercharged 1.5 Lotus); 14, Bruce Danielson (2.0 Ferrari Mondial) and 15, Jim Firestone (Frazer Nash), five cars having retired.
Thus the 1957 season ended with a bang, but the West is certain to recover.
They saved the best for last. Riverside International Raceway was the scene for this last SCCA National race of 1957 and the last of three exciting and hectic weeks on the West Coast. Over 40,000 people swarmed out to the new million-dollar circuit to see an all-star cast of the best in the U.S. battle it out for the silver cups of SCCA’s Los Angeles region.
As usual there was lots of practice and a number of preliminary races on Saturday, which were televised for the first time in West Coast history – publicity which paid off in Sunday spectators.
Sunday dawned clear but cold. However, the competition was as hot as it comes.
Lew Bracker in a Porsche Carrera won the production under 1600cc race after fighting off a determined Porsche 1600 Super driven by Mitch Michelmore for the whole distance. His average speed was 74.7 mph. Fred Woodward in an Alfa Romeo was third, and first in class G.
Superb driving by silver-haired Jerry Austin netted him a win by one second over Cal Bailey, who drove the race of his career. Both were driving class B fuel-injected Corvettes averaging 76.8 mph in this production over 1600cc race, Austin in a 1957 model and Bailey tooling a new ’58 job. Third and first in class E, only 7 seconds behind, was Bill Love in his AC-Bristol, again proving you can make up in skill what you lose in displacement. Fourth place went to Hugh Woods in another Corvette, while Robert Fletcher was fifth and first in class C. Hugh Pryor in an Austin-Healey was eighth overall and first in class D.
The ladies’ race was won by Ruth Levy (Porsche Spyder) at an average 79.15 mph; May Davis (Aston Martin) was second, followed by Linda Scott (AC-Bristol). Running concurrently were the sedans and the Formula III cars. Per Nystrom in a Volvo won the sedan dash ahead of Ron Pearson and Reg Wilson, also driving Volvos. Jean Geslin flew around at 81.6 mph in his III guided missile to edge out Harry Morrow, both driving Coopers.
The under 1500cc modified race saw Jack McAfee with his throttle foot glued to the floorboard to stay ahead of Sam Weiss, both of them driving Porsche Spyders. Then Weiss got off the course and out of the race, so McAfee eased off a little to finish first at 84.0 mph. Pat Pigott in his 1.5 Lotus grabbed second, over half a lap behind, and Skip Conklin earned third and first in the class G in his 1100cc Lotus, just 2 seconds ahead of John Porter’s Porsche Spyder. Jim Parkinson in a new Ferry-Renault 750cc special won class H honours in spite of a pit stop.
We could go on for days about the modified over 1500cc main event, because they’ll be talking about it for years. Sharing the front row of the grid were Carroll Shelby, Masten Gregory (both in 4.5 Maseratis), and Walt Hansgen (3.8 D-Jaguar). Arrayed behind them were by far the finest aggregate of cars and drivers to meet in one race since Sebring. In addition to the seven Ferraris, three Maseratis and three Aston Martins, the following types were represented: Mercedes 300-SL roadster, D-type Jaguar, Talbot-Lago sports, Frazer Nash, supercharged Lotus, Corvette, and a Buick special.
Al Torres dropped the green flag and Gregory pushed his big blue Maserati through turn 1, inches ahead of Shelby and Hansgen. The cars tore around the course and instead of stringing themselves out a bit by the end of the first lap, the first three came flying by the pits again in a pack, with Gregory still leading. This time a big 4.9 Ferrari had joined them, and as the driver wasn’t listed in the program, it wasn’t until the public address system announced the name of Dan Gurney (a local Riverside resident driving a Ferrari for the first time) that the mystery man was identified. None of the four drivers were giving an inch, and they were setting a frightening pace as they drew away from the rest of the cars in the race. Gregory, who had won the preliminary race the day before, couldn’t shake off his pursuers. In fact, Hansgen, Shelby and Gurney were actually closing tighter around him. The cars were obviously very evenly matched and none of these four great drivers were making any mistakes. Something had to happen.
Hansgen made his bid early and outbraked Gregory at the end of the 1-mile straight to lead for two laps, only to lose it to Shelby, who set a new lap record. Shelby overdid it, spun, dropped to sixth place, and Hansgen took over again for the next 10 laps. The order on lap 14 was Hansgen, Gregory (who had set a new record down the main straight of 156.7 mph), Gurney, Shelby (working his way back up), Richie Ginther (4.9 Ferrari), John von Neumann (2.5 Ferrari), Jack McAfee (3.5 Ferrari), Pete Lovely (2.0 Ferrari), Paul O’Shea (3.0 Mercedes 300-SL roadster), and Max Balchowsky (5.4 Buick special), followed by the rest of the pack.
The pace was fantastic, with only 5 to 6 seconds still separating the first four cars. The crowds were cheering on their favourites, and the announcers were shouting themselves hoarse.
On lap 15, Gurney got around Gregory and Hansgen and into the lead, and while the local rooting section went wild, Shelby slammed past Gregory into third. Newcomer Gurney then stood the crowd on their collective heads by clocking a fantastic 163.109 mph through the speed traps on the main straight. Meanwhile, Shelby had taken Hansgen and moved in for the kill. He took Gurney on the 17th lap to regain the lead. The lead had now changed six times, but Shelby meant to keep it this time and set a new lap record for the 3.3-mile circuit by averaging 90 mph! Gregory went past Hansgen into third place, and none of the first six drivers could change positions for the remaining nine laps, no matter how hard they tried.
Driving one of the best-controlled races of his career, Shelby stormed by the checkered flag at a record winning average of 87.8 mph, to establish Riverside (as we forecast last month) as unquestionably the fastest road circuit in the U.S. Gurney finished a scant 5 seconds behind, a fitting finish for his debut in the big-car category. Gregory was only 7 seconds behind Shelby, and Hansgen was fourth, 15 seconds away. The remaining cars finished in the following order: 5,Ginther; 6, von Neumann; 7, Lovely; 8, McAfee; 9, O’Shea; 10, Bob Oker (Aston Martin); 11, Balchowsky; 12, Bill Love (Aston Martin); 13, John Timanus (supercharged 1.5 Lotus); 14, Bruce Danielson (2.0 Ferrari Mondial) and 15, Jim Firestone (Frazer Nash), five cars having retired.
Thus the 1957 season ended with a bang, but the West is certain to recover.
