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(Photo Courtesy Joe Kelly)
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As Richmond International Raceway celebrates its 70th anniversary, we chronicle its history in this timeline.
October 12, 1946: The very first race held at the site of RIR features open-wheel cars on a half-mile dirt track. Then known as Atlantic Rural Exposition Fairgrounds, Ted Horn would win this race and go on to win the American Automobile Association (AAA) National Motor Car Championship (prior to the establishment of NASCAR).
(Photo Courtesy Joe Kelly)
1946: Ted Horn would become a three-time AAA Championship winner, but even though he would win in 1948, he died that same year in an accident at the racetrack in DuQuoin, Illinois.
(Photo Courtesy Joe Kelly)
1946: Driver Lee Wallard smiles for the camera near the start/finish line in Richmond. The grandstands are at capacity as spectators take in a race at the first track built after World War II strictly for car and motorcycle racing (existing tracks had been used for horse racing).
(Photo Courtesy Joe Kelly)
1946: In that same race, Wallard is the first to be involved in an accident at the site of Richmond International Raceway. He was pinned inside of his car while others worked to free him.
(Photo Courtesy Joe Kelly)
May 1950: Joe Weatherly near the start/finish line in Richmond for the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) 10-Mile National championship. A Norfolk native, Weatherly (who drove both cars and motorcycles) is a NASCAR Hall of Famer credited with first attracting fans to the sport due to both his racing skills and personality.
(Photo Courtesy Joe Kelly)
May 1950: Weatherly wins the AMA 10-Mile National championship. Here he receives his trophy from Bert Tilley. If you look closely, you can see a smear of lipstick on his lips which he received from one of the race trophy girls. Joe Kelly (a former racing radio show host) laughs as he says, “things were different back then.” In fact, during the fifties it became common for the victor to receive a kiss from the trophy girl in addition to his prize.
(Photo Courtesy Joe Kelly)
May 1950: Weatherly basks in his AMA 10-Mile National championship trophy alongside Magnus Marlin (H.D. Factory Rep.) and C.W. Peievell. Kelly says, “Motorcycles were very big here in Richmond because the South didn’t have any major teams — no baseball, no football, none of that, everything was always minor, but when the racing came, that was big time and the motorcycles actually drew more than the cars.”
Photo Courtesy Joe Kelly)
1950s: Marshall Teague drives the “Fabulous Hudson Hornet” (the nickname for his circa 1950s racecar) in Richmond. Notice how close fans and members of the press could sit in the infield. There’s even a man sneaking a glance at the action by peering over the fence.
(Photo Courtesy Joe Kelly)
April 19, 1953: Lee Petty (driver Richard Petty’s father) wins the first NASCAR Grand National Division race held in Richmond.
1955: Paul Sawyer and Joe Weatherly purchase the Richmond track, modifying the name to Atlantic Rural Fairgrounds.
1959: The track begins hosting two NASCAR Cup Series events each season, which it continues to do today.
April 23, 1961: Richard Petty wins his first race at Richmond. He would ultimately accrue 13 Richmond wins (a track record).
March 8, 1964: Cale Yarborough enjoys a corndog and a Pepsi while sitting on the pit wall during a race practice day. Yarborough, a NASCAR Hall of Famer, is considered one of the racing greats with 83 wins and four Daytona 500 victories (ranking him second to Richard Petty’s seven Daytona wins).
(Photo Courtesy RIR/Harrelson Archives)
1967: The track becomes known as the Virginia State Fairgrounds.
September 8, 1968: The track switches from dirt to pavement and Richard Petty would win the first paved race in Richmond.
February 24, 1974: Bobby Allison wins the Richmond 500 (in what was formerly the Winston Cup Series) race, effectively dethroning “The King” Richard Petty, who up until this point had seven consecutive wins in Richmond (still a track record).
(Photo Courtesy RIR/Harrelson Archives)
September 7, 1980: Cale Yarborough in the #11 car wins the pole position for the Capital City 400 (formerly the Winston Cup Series) race and Bobby Allison in the #15 starts in the second position. However, it is Allison who would win the day.
(Photo Courtesy RIR/Harrelson Archives)
September 13, 1987: Dale Earnhardt wins his second consecutive race in Richmond, the Wrangler Jeans Indigo 400 (during what was formerly the Winston Cup Series). Notice the plaque in the shape of Virginia specifies the name of the track, Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway, which was the name from 1969 to 1988.
(Photo Courtesy RIR/Harrelson Archives)
February 21, 1988: Richard Petty jumps on a bulldozer following the conclusion of the Pontiac Excitement 400 (during what was formerly the Winston Cup Series) race. This would be the start of a massive renovation to the track, reconfiguring it to the ¾-mile “D”-shaped oval that it remains today. This was also the first race at the track under its current name, Richmond International Raceway.
(Photo Courtesy RIR/Harrelson Archives)
September 11, 1988: A view of the first race on the recently renovated track during the Miller High Life 400 (what was formerly known as the Winston Cup Series) race. Davey Allison would win this race.
(Photo Courtesy RIR/Harrelson Archives)
September 7, 1991: The first permanent night race is held at the track and Harry Gant would take the checkered flag “under the lights.”
September 12, 1992: Rusty Wallace wins the Miller Genuine Draft 400 (during what was formerly known as the Winston Cup Series) race. Beginning in 1992, RIR would experience a consecutive streak of 33 sold-out races, including this one.
(Photo Courtesy RIR/Harrelson Archives)
December 1, 1999: International Speedway Corporation (the current owner) purchases the track from Paul Sawyer.
September 11, 2004: Recently retired driver, Jeff Gordon, in the #24 goes head-to-head with Jimmie Johnson in the #48 during the Chevy Rock and Roll 400 (in what was formerly known as the Nextel Cup Series) race. This particular race was the inaugural “One Last Race to Make the Chase” (meaning the last opportunity for drivers to qualify for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup), a position in the NASCAR Sprint Cup race circuit that RIR continues to hold today.
(Photo Courtesy RIR/Harrelson Archives)
May 1, 2010: Kyle Busch in the #18 making a lap during the Crown Royal Presents The Heath Calhoun 400 Sprint Cup Series race. This particular Richmond race was named in honor of Calhoun, a retired Army member from Tennessee who lost both of his legs in an explosion in Iraq.
(Photo Courtesy RIR/Harrelson Archives)
April 26, 2014: Chesterfield native Denny Hamlin in the #11 car (left) battles it out against Joey Logano in the #22 (right) during the Toyota Owners 400 Sprint Cup Series race. Ultimately, Logano takes the checkered flag.
(Photo Courtesy RIR/Harrelson Archives)
September 6, 2014: Brad Keselowski leads the pack during the Toyota Owners 400. He would win this race, his first in Richmond.
(Photo Courtesy RIR/Harrelson Archives)
2016: RIR returns to day racing for the April Toyota Owners Sprint Cup Series race.
