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Willy T Ribbs
William Theodore Ribbs Jr. (born January 3, 1955) is a retired American race car driver, racing owner, and sport shooter known for being the first African-American man to have tested a Formula One car (he did so in 1986) and to compete in the Indianapolis 500 (tested in 1985, raced in 1991 and 1993). Ribbs competed in many forms of auto racing, including the Trans-Am Series, IndyCar, Champ Car, IMSA, and the NASCAR Cup Series and Gander Outdoors Truck Series. After retiring, he became a sport shooter in the National Sporting Clays Association. Ribbs saw his most success in the Trans-Am Series, winning 17 races while driving for Dan Gurney and Jack Roush. Biography Ribbs grew up in San Jose, California as one of five children in a middle-class family. His father William "Bunny" Ribbs, Sr. was a plumbing contractor and amateur sportscar racer and was friends and neighbors with Indy Car driver Joe Leonard. Ribbs was nearly killed at eight years old when an out-of-control car at a ...
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San Jose, California
San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 population of 1,013,240, it is the most populous city in both the Bay Area and the San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland Combined Statistical Area, which contain 7.7 million and 9.7 million people respectively, the third-most populous city in California (after Los Angeles and San Diego and ahead of San Francisco), and the tenth-most populous in the United States. Located in the center of the Santa Clara Valley on the southern shore of San Francisco Bay, San Jose covers an area of . San Jose is the county seat of Santa Clara County and the main component of the San Jose–Sunnyvale–Santa Clara Metropolitan Statistical Area, with an estimated population of around two million residents in 2018. San Jose is notable for its innovation, cultural div ...
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Long Beach Street Circuit
The Grand Prix of Long Beach (known as Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach since 2019 for naming rights reasons) is an IndyCar Series race held on a street circuit in downtown Long Beach, California. Christopher Pook is the founder of the event. It was the premier race on the CART/Champ Car World Series calendar from 1996 to 2008, and the 2008 race was the final Champ Car series race prior to the formal unification and end of the open-wheel "split" between CART and IRL. Since 2009, the race has been part of the unified IndyCar Series. The race is typically held in April. It is one of the longest continuously running events in Indy car racing and is considered one of the most prestigious events on the circuit. The Long Beach Grand Prix is the longest running major street race held in North America. It started in 1975 as a Formula 5000 race, and became a Formula One event in . In an era when turbocharged engines were starting to come to prominence in Formula One, Long Beach remains one ...
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Auto Racing
Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as ... for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organised, with the first recorded as early as 1867. Many of the earliest events were effectively reliability trials, aimed at proving these new machines were a practical mode of transport, but soon became an important way for automobile makers to demonstrate their machines. By the 1930s, specialist racing cars had developed. There are now numerous different categories, each with different rules and regulations. History The first prearranged match race of two self-powered road vehicles over ...
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1993 Indianapolis 500
The 77th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 30, 1993. Emerson Fittipaldi took the lead with 16 laps to go, and won his second career Indy 500 victory. The race was sanctioned by USAC and was part of the 1993 PPG Indy Car World Series. Several sidebar stories during the month complemented one of the most competitive Indy 500 races in recent years. Much of the pre-race attention for the month focused heavily on rookie Nigel Mansell, the reigning Formula One World Champion, who switched to the CART Indy car series during the offseason. A large international media contingent arrived at the track creating a huge frenzy surrounding the Englishman. Mansell was competitive all afternoon, and was leading the race on lap 184 as the field was coming to a restart. His inexperience on oval circuits, however, led to him misjudging the restart speed and he was quickly passed down the main stretch by Fittipaldi, which proved to be ...
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1991 Indianapolis 500
The 75th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, on Sunday, May 26, 1991. Rick Mears won from the pole position, becoming the third four-time winner of the Indy 500, joining A. J. Foyt and Al Unser. During time trials, Mears also established an Indy record by winning his sixth career pole position. The month of May for Mears was tumultuous, as he suffered his first ever crash at Indy since arriving as a rookie in 1977. The wreck during a practice run totaled his primary car, and broke a bone in his right foot. Mears kept the injury mostly secret, and later admitted that the pain he experienced during the race was so bad, he had to cross his legs in the car and push the accelerator pedal down with his left foot. The race was noteworthy in that it featured the first African American driver to qualify for the Indianapolis 500, Willy T. Ribbs. It also saw its first Japanese driver, Hiro Matsushita. The pre-race attention going into the month ...
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1985 Indianapolis 500
The 69th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, on Sunday, May 26, 1985. The race was sanctioned by USAC, and was included as part of the 1985 CART PPG Indy Car World Series. The Speedway also celebrated 40 years of ownership by the Hulman/ George family. In one of the most dramatic moments in Indy 500 history, Danny Sullivan took the lead from Mario Andretti on lap 120. But as he was completing the pass, Sullivan's car stepped out, and he lost control. He spun directly in front of Andretti in turn one, doing a complete 360°. Andretti veered to the inside and slipped by unscathed, while Sullivan's car somehow avoided contact with the concrete wall. Sullivan remarkably gathered control without stalling the engine, and continued in the race. About twenty laps later, Sullivan managed to re-pass Andretti for the lead, this time cleanly. Sullivan led the final 61 laps, and scored his first and only Indy victory. It was the fifth Indy wi ...
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Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indianapolis. The event is traditionally held over Memorial Day weekend, usually the last weekend of May. It is contested as part of the IndyCar Series, the top level of American open-wheel car racing, a formula colloquially known as "Indy car racing". The track itself is nicknamed the "Brickyard", as the racing surface was paved in brick in the fall of 1909. One yard of brick remains exposed at the start/finish line. The event, billed as ''The Greatest Spectacle in Racing'', is considered part of the Triple Crown of Motorsport along with the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Monaco Grand Prix, with which it typically shares a date. The official attendance is not disclosed by Speedway management, but the permanent seating capacity is upwards o ...
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Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, which became the FIA Formula One World Championship in 1981, has been one of the premier forms of racing around the world since its inaugural season in 1950. The word ''formula'' in the name refers to the set of rules to which all participants' cars must conform. A Formula One season consists of a series of races, known as ''Grands Prix'', which take place worldwide on both purpose-built circuits and closed public roads. A points system is used at Grands Prix to determine two annual World Championships: one for drivers, the other for constructors. Each driver must hold a valid Super Licence, the highest class of racing licence issued by the FIA. The races must run on tracks graded "1" (formerly "A"), the highest grade-rating issue ...
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African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of Slavery in the United States, enslaved Africans who are from the United States. While some Black immigrants or their children may also come to identify as African-American, the majority of first generation immigrants do not, preferring to identify with their nation of origin. African Americans constitute the second largest racial group in the U.S. after White Americans, as well as the third largest ethnic group after Hispanic and Latino Americans. Most African Americans are descendants of enslaved people within the boundaries of the present United States. On average, African Americans are of West Africa, West/Central Africa, Central African with some European descent; some also have Native Americans in th ...
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Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Las Vegas Motor Speedway, located in Clark County, Nevada in Las Vegas, Nevada about 15 miles northeast of the Las Vegas Strip, is a complex of multiple tracks for motorsports racing. The complex is owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., which is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. History Following the final closure of Stardust International Raceway in 1971, plans were developed for a new racing facility in Las Vegas: the Las Vegas Speedrome. Located in the far northeast corner of the Las Vegas Valley, the Speedrome consisted of a road course and drag strip, opening in 1972. Alexander Rodriguez leased the facility from the City of Las Vegas, and added the 3/8-mile short track in 1985 after the closure of Craig Road Speedway in 1983. Ralph Engelstad of the Imperial Palace purchased the track in 1989, renaming the facility Las Vegas Speedway Park. Engelstad partnered with William Bennett of the Sahara Hotel and opened a new $72 million superspeedway on the site in Sept ...
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Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area and is the largest city within the greater Mojave Desert. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city, known primarily for its gambling, shopping, fine dining, entertainment, and nightlife. The Las Vegas Valley as a whole serves as the leading financial, commercial, and cultural center for Nevada. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous for its luxurious and extremely large casino-hotels together with their associated activities. It is a top three destination in the United States for business conventions and a global leader in the hospitality industry, claiming more AAA Five Diamond hotels than any other city in the world. Today, Las Vegas annually ranks as one ...
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1999 Indy Racing League Season
Greg Ray won his first and only Drivers' Championship while Kenny Bräck (pictured) finished second in the championship. The 1999 Pep Boys Indy Racing League was highly competitive and parity was the order of the year. Team Menard had a very good season with their driver Greg Ray capturing 3 race wins in a row and the series championship. This was the last year before CART teams began to break ranks and jump to the IRL. Confirmed entries Season Summary Schedule Race results All races running on Oval/Speedway. Race summaries TransWorld Diversified Services Indy 200 The TransWorld Diversified Services Indy 200 was held on January 24 at Walt Disney World Speedway. Scott Sharp qualified on the pole position. The race was broadcast on ABC. Top 10 results # 51- Eddie Cheever # 4- Scott Goodyear # 35- Jeff Ward # 8- Scott Sharp # 30- Raul Boesel # 28- Mark Dismore # 18- Steve Knapp # 9- Davey Hamilton # 11- Billy Boat # 91- Buddy Lazier *Failed to qualify ...
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