Riverside Speedway, Motorsports track in Canada

Riverside Speedway is a short oval track about one third of a mile long, built for stock car racing with four steeply banked turns at 14 degrees and two straightaways with 5-degree banking on both sides. The asphalt surface allows cars to race at high speeds while drivers navigate different routes through the corners.

Antigonish businessman John Chisholm, a racing fan, flew to Bristol Motor Speedway in 1967 and secured Bill France Sr.'s permission to build a scaled-down copy. Construction began at James River in 1968 and the track opened on May 18, 1969. Benny Parsons raced here in 1975, months after his Daytona 500 win, in an event with a $7,500 purse.

Since 2007 the annual 250-mile race has been run as the IWK 250, raising money for the IWK Health Centre in Halifax; it draws NASCAR champions Brad Keselowski and Matt Crafton, V8 Supercars champion Marcos Ambrose and Daytona 500 winner Joey Logano. Before the 2015 race the track unveiled the John W. Chisholm Memorial Cup, a handmade silver cup whose base plaques also list the winners of the Riverside 250 from 1977 to 2006.

The speedway is located in James River, Nova Scotia, a short drive from Antigonish and easy to reach by car. Visitors can reserve tickets and camping spots in advance and should arrive before races begin to find good seating near the fence.

The speedway was modeled after the famous Bristol Motor Speedway but became the first track of its kind in eastern Canada. The annual IWK 250 race was redesigned in 2007 to raise money for the local IWK Health Centre hospital in Halifax.