February 2-3, 1963 - Riverside International Raceway.

Carroll Shelby raids the Chevrolet camp and hires Dave MacDonald to be his #1 driver. Dave's first race will be here at Riverside

Shelby American arrives at Riverside on Thursday to get some practice time in - some of them bring their family members. Photo Friedman

Dave & crew talk relax before a practice session. Photo Dave Friedman

Friday morning a mix of classes hit the track for practice. Amazing Dave Friedman photo shows Dave MacDonald in the #98 Cobra, Red
Faris in a Stingray, Jay Hills in a Porsche 356, Bill Sherwood in a Stingray, Ronnie Bucknum (#31) in Ol' Yaller MK III, Ken Miles (50) in
a Porsche 718, Dick Guldstrand (56) in a Sringray, Don Meline (118) in a Vette & Max Norris (63) in an Austin Healy. Miles was entered
in Otto Zippers Porsche to run the modified race, but was scratched.

Another practice photo of MacDonald & Miles rumbling through the course...beautiful. Photo Dave Friedman

Race time! Dave MacDonald & Ken Miles go thumbs up on the starting grid. Miles has the pole with MacDonald in the #2 spot and Paul
Reinhart's Stingray on the outside rounding out the front row. Photo courtesy of Sportscarscan.com

Ken Miles grabs the early lead with Reinhart, MacDonald, Guldstrand & Bondurant in hot pursuit through turn 9. (Miles and MacDonald
brushed wheels fighting for the lead into turn 1 and when Dave backed off, Reinhart passed him). Photo Road & Track magazine

MacDonald passes Reinhart in turn 13 and he and Miles have the Cobras side-by-side on the back straight. Photo Bill Norcross

Miles holds the lead and he and MacDonald run 1-2 into turn 14

Miles rounds turn 14 and before lap one is complete he brings his Cobra into the pits, relinquishing the lead to MacDonald. (Miles wanted
to check for possible damage from the brush with Dave but the car was fine he was in & out in 30 seconds)

Midway through the race and MacDonald had stretched to nearly a full lap lead over 2nd place driver Guldstrand. Photo Dave Friedman

Miles still charging after the leaders catches the Stingray's of Guldstrand & Sherwood and goes after MacDonald. Photo Gene Booth

Miles gets past both and now has MacDonald in his sights. Photo Jack McGinn

Dave's front running Cobra is performing flawlessly and he powers into turn 6 with five laps to go. Photo courtesy Dave Friedman

Miles still fighting to catch teammate MacDonald but there's precious little time left.

Final lap and MacDonald looking good as he drifts through turn 6 and heads for home. Photo Dave Friedman

Dave MacDonald rumbles across the line to take the checkered flag and give the Shelby Cobra its historic first-ever victory! Ken
Miles placed 2nd giving Shelby American a 1-2 finish. Photo Dave Friedman Courtesy Sports Car International magazine

Dave MacDonald accepts the checkered flag from Trophy Queen Quinn O'Hara ... happy days in Cobraland

Dave drove the Cobra 260ci twice that weekend and won both races at the SCCA sanctioned event. Photo Dave Friedman

Road & Track Magazine captured this historic race in their June 1963 issue. Miles, Reinhart, MacDonald, Guldstrand & Bondurant
in the first 5 spots ... historic names in the sport of racing as well

News article recapping the race

Ad Shelby American ran after the Riverside victory ... ouch!

The mighty Cobra Roadster knocked Ferrari off its perch and wound up winning the 1963 USRRC Championship! Photo Pete Brock

NoGrip Racing incorporated a Dave MacDonald driven Shelby Cobra Roadster mod into their video game. This is the 260ci Cobra,
painted and numbered, as it was in 1963 when Dave drove it to victory at Riverside for its historic first-ever win

2011 Shelby Hauler with Dave's image on the side. Hauler travels the country transporting Shelby cars to various auto shows