...at 56??....look like he been eatin plenty pork ribs too...I eh know how he go fit in dat car
http://www.insideline.com/car-news/willy-t-ribbs-will-make-racing-comeback-at-56.htmlWilly T. Ribbs Will Make Racing Comeback at 56Just the Facts:
•Willy T. Ribbs, the first black driver to compete in the Indianapolis 500, is returning to racing.
•Ribbs will race in a preliminary event to the IndyCar race scheduled next month in Baltimore.
•Ribbs, 56, will drive an entry in the Firestone Indy Lights series.
INDIANAPOLIS — Willy T. Ribbs, the black driver who made history by qualifying for the 1991 Indianapolis 500 starting field, announced Wednesday that he will return to racing next month on a street course in Baltimore.
Ribbs, 56 and largely inactive as a race driver for the past 10 years, will compete in the Firestone Indy Lights Series preliminary to the Izod IndyCar Series event on September 4. The car will be prepared by the team he launched in May, Willy T. Ribbs Racing, which has fielded entries on a limited schedule for driver Chase Austin.
Ribbs will drive at Baltimore in place of Austin.
"It's kind of like coming back to (Class) AA baseball after being out of the major leagues for a while," Ribbs said. "I'll have to bring my walker to get it on with those kids, and they're all kids since none of them were born when I raced."
Ribbs last raced in a major event in 1999 in an IndyCar race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He was involved in an early crash and finished last in a 26-car field.
In competition between 1990 and 1999, Ribbs posted 11 top-10 finishes, the best of them a 6th-place run at Denver in a Derrick Walker-owned car.
In his first start at Indy in 1991, Ribbs — who failed to qualify for the 500 in 1990 — suffered a blown engine and finished 32nd in the 33-car field. He finished 21st in the 1993 edition of the 500.
Ribbs went to Europe to compete in the Formula Ford series in 1975. Later he raced in NASCAR, getting a top finish of 22nd in a race at North Wilksboro (North Carolina) Speedway. He fared much better in sports cars, winning five Trans-Am events.
Inside Line says: Born in 1955 in San Jose, California, Ribbs has fallen short of glory, but has some career achievements to his credit as well.
