Sunday 30th April 1967

Mark Donohue drove his Roger Penske Lola to his 2nd straight USRRC Sports Car victory, winning the 70 lap, 182 mile race at Riverside International Raceway, California, US. Donohue had won the season opener at Las Vegas the previous week. Pole winner George Follmer jumped into the lead on the start with Donohue following and Lothar Motschenbacher again moving his McLaren-Chevy from 12th to 3rd. On lap 3, Peter Revson spun while running with the leaders, but recovered. Donohue took the lead when he moved by Follmer coming out of turn 9 on the same lap. European based American Masten Gregory, known for his late arrivals, showed up 5 laps into the race having forgotten to set his watch for the time change (!). His car owner, Carl Haas, told Gregory not to bother taking the car out 5 laps down. Donohue couldn’t shake ’65 USRRC champ Follmer, who kept his Lola-Chevy close. On lap 48, a loss of oil pressure and oil spewing onto his neck and helmet sent Follmer to the pits, out of the race. Fatigued and tiring after an all night engine change, Motschenbacher was surprised when Revson passed him on the next to last lap. Donohue went on to take the checkered 55 seconds ahead of Bob Bondurant’s Dana McLaren. Bondurant’s teammate Revson was 1 lap down in 3rd. All cars were Chevy powered with Donohue’s built by Traco. Supermodel “Twiggy” was on hand to present Donohue his trophy. Donohue won $4350.