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NASCAR’s best drivers at Riverside
By Staff Report | Published: February 27, 2020 11
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Riverside International Raceway, a winding 2.62-mile course in California, hosted 48 NASCAR Cup Series races from 1958-1988. With high temperatures and a curvy, sometimes treacherous course, Riverside's reputation of being a complicated track endeared it to the drivers who won there. Scroll through to see its top performers over time.
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Ricky Rudd
Wins: Two (1983, 1985)Notable: Rudd finished in the top five in half of his 16 career Riverside starts, including his two wins. He had a 12-race streak from 1982-1988 in which his average starting position was 4.3. Riverside was also the site of the first career wins for both Rudd and Richard Childress Racing in their 1983 triumph.
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Terry Labonte
Wins: Two (1984, 1985)Notable: Labonte's 1984 Riverside win was his first of the season and helped springboard him to the NASCAR Cup Series title.
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Rusty Wallace
Wins: Two (1987, 1988)Notable: Wallace won the final two NASCAR Cup Series races at the track.
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Cale Yarborough
Wins: Three (1974 sweep, 1978)Notable: Riverside expanded from one race on the NASCAR schedule to two on a consistent basis in 1970. Yarborough was the first driver to pull off the season sweep. He was also a two-time pole winner at Riverside.
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David Pearson
Wins: Three (1976 sweep, 1977)Notable: Pearson is one of just two drivers in track history to win three consecutive races -- the other comes later in this piece. Pearson also won seven Riverside poles, second-most in series history.
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Tim Richmond
Wins: Four (1982 sweep, 986, 1987)Notable: Richmond is the last driver to sweep both races in a season at Riverside. In his star-crossed NASCAR career spanning 185 races, Riverside and Pocono Raceway are perhaps the tracks with which he is most associated.
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Dan Gurney
Wins: Five (1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968)Notable: Gurney was hailed as one of motorsports' most versatile drivers. He made only 16 NASCAR Cup Series starts, but won five of them -- all at Riverside and all in Fords. He was the first driver to win three consecutive races there.
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Richard Petty
Wins: Five (1969, 1970, 1972, 1975, 1977)Notable: Petty's first Riverside win in 1969 carried another "first" -- his first victory in a Ford after switching from longtime manufacturer Plymouth. His next two wins at Riverside were in a Plymouth, and his final two were in a Dodge.
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Darrell Waltrip
Wins: Five (1979, 1980 sweep, 1981, 1986)Notable: A seven-race stretch from 1979-1981 produced just two winners at the track -- Waltrip (4) and Bobby Allison (3). Pictured is Waltrip's 1986 win, his only victory at the track in the No. 11 Budweiser car for team owner Junior Johnson. Waltrip also holds the series record with nine Riverside pole positions.
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Bobby Allison
Wins: Six (1971, 1973, 1975, 1979, 1981 sweep)Notable: Allison's six wins are most in track history at the NASCAR Cup Series level. He had two extra-dominant efforts: leading 137 of 153 laps in 1971, and leading 173 of 191 laps in 1975. He was also the Riverside runner-up seven times.