Willy Ribbs, the winningest African-American driver in history, will return the cockpit of a race car for the first time in a decade to compete in the Indy Lights race at the inaugural Baltimore Grand Prix on Labor Day weekend.
Ribbs, 55 who raced in the CART series in the 1990s, has experienced Indy Lights as a team owner, running Chase Austin.
He will drive for the team that carries his name, Willy T. Ribbs Racing.
Ribbs said he decided to jump back behind the wheel after coaxing from friend and business partner Chris Miles of Starting Grid, Inc.
“Even though I have been out of the car for 10 years, I have never ‘officially’ retired,” Ribbs said in an interview posted on Indycar.com.
“Chris said he got the idea for me to race again when he heard Wally Dallenbach say during an IndyCar broadcast that he was going to drive a Lights car in Edmonton.
“For whatever reason, Wally didn’t do it, but the more Chris kept talking to me, the more I got pumped up about racing again, and Baltimore is the perfect place to do it. I’m sure the consensus will be that I should not be racing against these young guns, but as Chris reminded me -- when the (Sprint) Cup boys come down and race in the Trucks and Nationwide Series, no one seems to mind. So I told Chris, ‘Done deal, I’m in!’ ”
A key emphasis behind Ribbs’ return to racing is to garner additional exposure for Starting Grid, Inc.’s diversity initiatives, in hopes of securing additional funding for Willy T. Ribbs Racing moving forward.
Ribbs, 55 who raced in the CART series in the 1990s, has experienced Indy Lights as a team owner, running Chase Austin.
He will drive for the team that carries his name, Willy T. Ribbs Racing.
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| Ribbs coaching young driver Chase Austin (Photo: IMS) |
Ribbs said he decided to jump back behind the wheel after coaxing from friend and business partner Chris Miles of Starting Grid, Inc.
“Even though I have been out of the car for 10 years, I have never ‘officially’ retired,” Ribbs said in an interview posted on Indycar.com.
“Chris said he got the idea for me to race again when he heard Wally Dallenbach say during an IndyCar broadcast that he was going to drive a Lights car in Edmonton.
“For whatever reason, Wally didn’t do it, but the more Chris kept talking to me, the more I got pumped up about racing again, and Baltimore is the perfect place to do it. I’m sure the consensus will be that I should not be racing against these young guns, but as Chris reminded me -- when the (Sprint) Cup boys come down and race in the Trucks and Nationwide Series, no one seems to mind. So I told Chris, ‘Done deal, I’m in!’ ”
A key emphasis behind Ribbs’ return to racing is to garner additional exposure for Starting Grid, Inc.’s diversity initiatives, in hopes of securing additional funding for Willy T. Ribbs Racing moving forward.