SPEED GT Interview by Trackbytes.com

Todd Benne of Trackbytes interviewed Gary Sheehan and I right after the Long Beach Grand Prix this year—the interview can be found here

Willy T. and his Son: My Favorite Photo taken my from Canon A1

I don’t recall the exact circumstances behind this picture, or pictures I took during the Portland Indycar event in 1994. I was there working with the Summit Motorsports Indy Lights team, and think that I might have taken time to wander over to the Indycar paddock to grab lunch and snap a few pics.

Willy T. Ribbs was a controversial figure in Indycars back then—not because of anything he particularly did, but because there was a lot of social resistance amongst most of the crew members of that era. I say this based on my own experiences, conversations overheard, and the open hostility vocied no matter what race we were at. Sad stuff that blighted what should have been a turning point in racing’s growth and inclusiveness. It might have been 1994, but some people will never be ready or willing to accept a man of color or a woman to be the equal, if not superior, of what they consider a “normal” racer to be.

Thankfully, silly concerns as these or ancient ways of thinking aren’t my own. This shot of Willy and his young son always struck me as the perfect modern depiction of pride, love, focus, and determination. Granted, I wasn’t aware the rules allowed toddlers onto pitlane, but regardless, Willy looks at complete peace, and his son looks equally as comfortable at his dad’s feet.

I don’t know if his son has followed his dad’s career of excellence, or can be found driving Karts or similar, but in looking how “at home” he appears to be in this picture, I can only hope so.

I’ve yet to see a biography or autobiography written on Willy’s life and career, but for those of us that saw him destroy the competition in Trans-Am and in IMSA, he deserves to see his story told.

Might be a good book for me to write…

If you can’t make fun of the English, who can you make fun of?

An old friend works in the paint and graphics department at Ganassi–one of the perks of the job was my friends immediate inclusion in any of the devious activities Darren Manning would wreak upon his fellow British drivers in the 2005 IRL season.

In this instance, Manning stole his friend Dan Wheldon’s helmet (with assistance from fellow Islander and AGR driver Dario Franchitti), passed it off to my friend, and had his staff manufacture, cut, and apply a variety of Target-Ganassi graphics along some other choice logos that called Wheldon’s manhood into question. Having the ability to make one’s own graphics at the track isn’t always a good thing.

As Wheldon has since learned, just because you can trust the guy next to you while sharing a piece of track at 200 mph doesn’t mean the same guy isn’t dangerous off the track…

From what I’m told (and keeping Dan’s “I won the Indy 500, yet Danica gets HER own autograph line at the next race instead of me?” incident in mind), the “Danicar” and “Racegirl” stickers weren’t that well received. Makes me wonder if Wheldon’s revenge on Manning was getting him ousted from Chip’s team…

With Dan now driving for Ganassi, I can only hope one of the Andrett-Green drivers takes the time to life Wheldon’s helmet and cover it with AGR stickers. This is this kind of stuff that keep racing fun and entertaining–if you can p*ss off a friend in doing so, even better…