|| *Comments on the 1963 Riverside 500:* View the most recent comment <#36> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. Steve posted: 11.04.2006 - 5:31 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) First Grand National win for Dan Gurney. He is the most sucessful American-born driver in Formula One racing. In 87 starts he won 4 Grand Prix, 3 pole positions, stood on the podium 19 times, and scored points 31 times. His best World Championship finish was 4th in 1961 and 1965. 2. Anonymous posted: 01.20.2007 - 1:19 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) One would argue that Mario Andretti is the best "American" Formula One driver of all time, but Gurney was much better than his record indicated. He had legendary bad luck; Jim Clark, whom many consider the greatest of all time, said that Gurney was the only driver he ever feared on track. His career was also hampered by ill-timed moves, from Ferrari to a privately run B.R.M. a year before Ferrari's dominance of the new 1.5 litre formula, from Brabham to run his own Eagle car right when Brabham unveiled his underpowered but reliable Repco engine and dominated the new 3 litre formula. 3. biffle16 posted: 06.17.2007 - 5:09 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Joe Ruttman's NA$CAR debut, and he finishes 10th. 4. FHgrad99 posted: 08.24.2007 - 5:44 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) You don't see NASCAR races that last 6 hours anymore unless a rain delay is involved. 5. MegaRacer posted: 09.01.2007 - 2:29 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The first NASCAR race for one Anthony Joseph Foyt, Junior. 6. Destiny posted: 06.30.2008 - 7:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) In addition to Joe, his brother Troy's best finished, 3rd is great. 7. Clayton posted: 01.19.2009 - 10:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bill Clinton (no not THE Bill Clinton) finished 34th. 8. Anonymous posted: 02.10.2009 - 12:03 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Video of this race shows it actually finishing under caution. 9. Anonymous posted: 02.16.2009 - 12:24 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) This was a crazy race. Danny Weinberg rolled once at Turn 6, Jim Paschal went end over end, Clem Proctor sailed gently over the wall in what was one of the strangest incidents in racing history, Marshall Sargent ended on top of the hay bales at turn 6, and someone ended half on their roof, causing the race to end under caution. Plus there about 10 spins, with Jim Pardue spinning 3(!) times. 10. Walleyewhacker posted: 07.04.2011 - 10:19 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Isn't this the first win for one of the great engines in NASCAR history, the 427 FE Ford? 11. rob posted: 07.27.2012 - 12:29 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) dave mcdonald was in a holman-moody chevy ? 12. Anonymous posted: 03.25.2013 - 2:50 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Roger McCluskey was entered in this, in a car #16. I think he crashed in the lead up though and the car rolled. 13. Jim posted: 04.12.2014 - 10:58 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Richard Petty experimented with an automatic transmission and it failed. 14. Anonymous posted: 05.15.2014 - 3:26 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Roger McCluskey flipped his #16 Chevy in practice and did not qualify. 15. Paul posted: 02.03.2015 - 2:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor Update: #0 Dave MacDonald - Paramount Chevrolet (https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2815/10463984444_1944582d19_b.jpg) #02 A.J Foyt - Herman Theroff Pontiac (https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7395/10463721354_5c93dd4304_b.jpg) #07 Len Sutton - Meadows Pontiac Co. (https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7378/10463989836_2762e8303e_b.jpg) #1 Danny Letner - Duffield Lincoln-Mercury (https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2823/10464182163_764d3b3ea8_b.jpg) #2 Bill Foster - Tar Heel Speedway (https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2843/10463847915_4a6b063274_b.jpg) #4 Rex White - Nalley Chevrolet Inc. (https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5472/10463814326_c3c984c0db_b.jpg) #7 Bobby Johns - Allison Pontiac (https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7438/10463999075_692889bb3c_b.jpg) #10 Jim Cook - Bob Keefer Ford (https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3714/10463804615_4d48a55a63_b.jpg) #21 Fred Lorenzen - English Motors (https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5530/10463772726_611a52298f_b.jpg) #22 Fireball Roberts - John Hine Pontiac (https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2876/10463893884_b60699abcc_b.jpg) #23 Danny Weinberg - So. Calif. Pontiac Dealers (https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3673/10464032463_e2e4d7a1f2_b.jpg) #28 Dan Gurney - Lafayette Ford (https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2810/10463850833_f2ce259d73_b.jpg) #33 Clem Proctor - Starlite Lounge (http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c185/70Charger440/63riverside500clemproctor.jpg) #38 Bob Perry - Al's Auto Towing (https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3700/10463679914_edcb752545_b.jpg) #50 Harold Beal - Pederson Motors (https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3719/10463875795_66d5096f0a_b.jpg) #54 Jimmy Pardue - Bush Olds-Pontiac (https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7389/10463703126_00a9983cf3_b.jpg) #70 Bob Ross - Mountain Meadows Hotel (https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3767/10463711716_538aeba2cc_b.jpg) #75 Jim Hurtubise - Mountain Meadows Hotel (https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5472/10463853956_bb0677f6dc_b.jpg) #80 Sal Tovella - Sal's Auto Sales (https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3725/10464068543_6b21b664a4_b.jpg) #88 Don Noel - Galpin Ford (https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7433/10463720126_3461df8795_b.jpg) #97 Ron Hornaday - Galpin Ford (https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3701/10464164583_06ab62f18e_b.jpg) 16. rob posted: 02.26.2015 - 7:06 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) McCluskey was in a 62 Chevy. 17. simonracer posted: 04.11.2015 - 5:33 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Photos of Danny Letner's car would suggest that it was a Mercury or a Ford, not a Dodge. DNQ or WD: #63 Curly Mills 18. rob posted: 04.11.2015 - 7:24 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Letter's sponsor would also suggest he was in a Mercury. 19. RaceFanX posted: 04.11.2015 - 8:32 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) In this era it wasn't unheard of for dealers to sponsor cars that weren't their own brands. (Although that might not be the case here as you said you have a photo of the car?) 20. simonracer posted: 04.11.2015 - 8:59 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) It's these couple of photos here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/thehenryford/10463883405/in/set-72157636912631994 https://www.flickr.com/photos/thehenryford/10464182163/in/set-72157636912631994 Judging by these couple of photos, the car was a '62 or '63 Mercury S-55: http://public.fotki.com/tomcoolidge/models-by-my-friend/1963-mercury-s55.html http://s.hswstatic.com/gif/1962-1963-mercury-s55-3.jpg 21. RaceFanX posted: 04.11.2015 - 10:38 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) It's really cool to see how the cars were virtually identical to their road going counterparts back then. 22. Scott B posted: 04.16.2015 - 12:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "dave mcdonald was in a holman-moody chevy ?" Yes, even though Holman-Moody had very strong ties to Ford. This was a one-time thing because Dave McDonald picked up a local Chevy dealer's sponsorship for the race. McDonald drove one more race for Holman-Moody, in a Ford, and made a few starts for other NASCAR teams before losing his life in a crash at the 1964 Indy 500. 23. Anonymous posted: 04.16.2015 - 3:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Isn't there some story about Junior Johnson getting a spare "Mystery 427" Chevy motor from Holman and Moody during speedweeks at Daytona? Just wonder if the Dave McDonald Chevy run here by H-M had any connection with that. 24. Scott B posted: 12.04.2015 - 12:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 3rd place finisher Troy Ruttman was held a lap for hitting the pace car under one of the cautions, otherwise would have been on the lead lap and contending for the win. 25. The Great Dave posted: 01.22.2016 - 9:22 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor Update #14 Mercury #15 Mercury #26 Joiner Racing (Car was unsponsored) #41 Petty Enterprises (Car was Unsponsored) 26. Eric posted: 05.09.2017 - 10:37 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I believe John Rostek is the car that flipped, ending the race. 27. Dorsal Fin posted: 04.24.2018 - 7:27 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @23 why would Holman Moody give Junior a Chevy motor? 28. gary24fan posted: 03.25.2019 - 9:28 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Well sorry to jump into the Dave MacDonald car owner discussion here so late on but I do not believe Holman & Moody had any connection with this car. A photo on the davemacdonald.net site shows the owner's name painted on the front fender as Jim Simpson: http://www.davemacdonald.net/gallery/Images/63%20motor%20trend%20500%20dave%20macdonald%20in%20jim%20simpson%20NASCAR%20chevy.jpg The fact that H-M would be involved with a Chevy on this one and only occasion does not ring true to me for some reason but maybe somebody has other proof regarding their involvement? Otherwise I think Jim Simpson should be listed as the owner and he should be added to the owner database. Unfortunately I know nothing else about him. 29. ScottB posted: 03.25.2019 - 12:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) There was a Jim Simpson who raced the West series, including a race at Riverside later that year in a Chevy. Probably the same guy, though it is a common name. So the question may be, was this some kind of last minute "plan B" deal because MacDonald's primary car had a problem in qualifying? That would make the pieces fit. 30. Anthony posted: 11.16.2019 - 6:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Wendell Scott's sponsor for this race was "Scott Racing" 31. MSportRev posted: 12.30.2019 - 8:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) DNQ: Al Self There was a qualifying race to set the final 24 starters with 28 cars in the field for that qualifying race. Al Self is the only driver I've found that was in the qualifying race and not listed here, leaving possibly three missing. 32. Eric posted: 01.01.2020 - 6:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) An absolute bloodbath of a race weekend. Roger McCluskey and Richard Petty both flipped in practice. Fred Lorenzen flipped in qualifying. Danny Weinberg, Jim Paschal, and Jim Cook all flipped over during the race. In other wrecks throughout the race, Clem Proctor sailed backwards over the turn 9 wall, and Carl Joiner's car turned into an accordion in a three car pileup. The race ends under caution because John Rostek climbs up the guardrail in turn 9 and tips onto his side. 33. acerogers58 posted: 01.01.2020 - 8:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Richard Petty's crew had been so focused on repairing the damage from his practice flip, they forgot to fill the gas tank before qualifying, so when he went to start, he didn't move very far! 34. Anthony2 posted: 06.19.2020 - 9:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Joe Ruttman made his first premier series start at the age of 17. Something you'll never likely see again. 35. thog posted: 06.20.2020 - 11:40 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @34 and a top 10 to go with it!! 36. A.C posted: 03.28.2021 - 10:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) A.J Foyt makes his debut cup race and qualifies second and finishes second ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: