We’re celebrating Willy T. Ribbs on the 30th anniversary of his historic performance at the Indianapolis 500 where he became the first African American driver to qualify for ‘The Greatest Spectacle In Racing.’ The large and durable 4-inch sticker,…
Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area and being part of the West Coast racing community meant trips to Portland International Raceway took place on a regular basis. I’m guessing I’ve been to PIR at least 30 times,…
Bill Cosby was Public Enemy No. 1 in 2016. When I interviewed him in 2011 about his role in sponsoring Willy T. Ribbs, the first African-American driver to race at the Indy 500, he was still my childhood hero. Listening again…
In 2011, The Indianapolis Motor Speedway celebrated the 20th anniversary of Willy T. Ribbsâ breakthrough performance to become the first African-American to race at the Indy 500. I wrote a five-part feature to honor the historic event for the…
Originally posted in May, 2011. We left you after Part 1 of Willy T. Ribbs: One Of A Kind with Ribbs at an all-time low after failing to get through the Rookie Orientation Program for the 1985 Indy 500….
Originally posted in May, 2011. We left you after Part 2 of Willy T. Ribbs: One Of A Kind with Ribbs having taken his first laps in the new Lola-Buick just two days ahead of the first of two weekends of…
Originally posted in May, 2011. We left you after Part 3 of Willy T. Ribbs: One Of A Kind with Ribbs ready to qualify for the Indy 500. With a new set of tires bolted onto the Walker Motorsport/Bill Cosby Lola-Buick,…
Originally posted in May, 2011. We left you after Part 4 of Willy T. Ribbs: One Of A Kind with Ribbs at the track on Sunday morning, May 26th, as he prepared to start his first Indy 500. Ribbs was moments…