Feature veteran hollywood stunt driver and retired usac racing champion tony hunt rolls up driving his spotless 1963 ac cobra roadster reproduction. Wise left clauson marshall racing before the 2020 chili bowl and drove for keith kunz motorsports. Nine of zarounians 88 victories came at ventura raceway, all with tripp. The stunt driver and retired racer on wheeling the hero car in ford v ferrari text. According to an internet posting from tripps wife erin, tripp and one of his riding companions, ray bates were each injured in the accident and another member of their riding group cared for them until they were airlifted to separate hospitals. Ron sleepy tripp won the santa maria debut on may 11, 1985 and leads all drivers with six wins. Usac dirt champ to tom bigelow at springfield mile. Sleepy tripp would be very high on that list as well. He told them that if they could get the car to work that they could run it all he was a very sick man still competitive but nowhere near the brilliant driver of the past. A blast from the past sleepy tripp wxc speedway western springs has had the honour of playing host to some of the greatest drivers ever to get behind the wheel of open wheel speedway cars with american and australian drivers taking on new zealands best for decades worth of summers. But theres nothing diminutive about sleepy tripp, or his record of. Ron sleepy tripp on the gas at ascot with images racing.
Page 1 of 4 a look back at some past races posted in vintage midget racing. I was driving a car owned and set up by my dad, with all the original. The moral of the story no sane driver would stop when in the lead of a midget car race. Larryo vukovich sr would sure be a great candidate for the best the west ever produced. Seventime usac champ and ninetime new zealand champion sleepy tripp 3x of costa mesa went 3for3, by winning the trophy dash, second heat race and the 40lap main event. Driver sleepy tripp 1981 usac gold crown series results.
Mexpipe challenge surf carnival now drawing race car. Click on the site to see sleepy tripps career results at that track glossary. A look back at some past races vintage midget racing. Born in gallup, new mexico, mcspaddens family moved to tempe, a suburb of phoenix, arizona, in 1954.
Anyway, here is a great dennis torres shot of sleepy in a 1976 usac dirt car race at duquoin, il. He even took a shot at the indy 500, but never qualified. Pancho carter wins his 2nd usac sprint car championshp. See more ideas about sprint cars, sprint car racing and racing. Ed tripp leaves the starting line at the sikeston drag strip while his sister, kim lerche and aunt carla tripp photograph the race from behind the line. Check out this piece on sleepy and the zarounian team from 1992. I was watching one of my brothers sprint races with him and i was calling the race from ohsweken.
End of 1981 usac midgets 500 lap race at the indianapolis speedrome john stiles racing. Tripp got his nickname as a youth when he would fall asleep in his quarter midget car while waiting for his next race to start hall of fame. Racing legend sleepy tripp involved in serious motorcycle. Clauson was a development driver for chip ganassi in nascar, where. Sleepy tripp, a memorable name with memorable talent, was the man to beat on the west coast following a fairly brief, but highly successful run on the usac national midget trail in the 1970s, which saw him become the fifth winningest driver in series history. Ron sleepy tripp on the gas at ascot racing photos. Hunt worked as the driving double for alist actor christian bale, who. Click on the year to see the standings for that year. Don branson was perhaps the best sprint driver with tommy hinnershitz being right up there with the best. Click on the number of races to see individual races for that year. Sleepy earned his famous nickname as a child when he would fall asleep in his quarter midget race car while waiting for his next race to start.
Ron shuman wins the pacific coast sprint championship race at ascot. He not only is the greatest western midget driver but should be listed as the greatest driver to ever race the indy 500. He began racing in 1968 with a supermodified bought from local racer billy shuman. Haubstadt main to sleepy tripptwo time midget champion, ron sleepy tripp led from flag to flag to snare the 40lap feature at the tristate speedway.
Ron sleepy tripp is an american hall of fame midget car driver. He did it on a shoe string budget and did it with everything against him. Sleepy tripp has been driving race cars for 30 years and his friends are holding a tribute for him saturday night in ventura. While in auckland for the international events in the late 60s, the capitol motors chevy ii was a bit sluggish and not fully competitive. All the bcra drivers competing at silver state raceway saturday evening were from california, with the exception of carson city driver tom weninger 32.
Legendary california midget racer ron sleepy tripp was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident this past weekend. Bryan clauson, a popular driver considered by many to be the top dirttrack racer in the country, died sunday night from injuries suffered in a crash during a race in kansas. His father, bob, was a popular driver during the midget racing. With over a 100 career wins to his credit, jim was truly one of the best to ever strap himself into a race car. Ron sleepy tripp on the gas at ascot join us for every week to see the latest photos and videos. Driver, a native of costa mesa, cuts large figure in. Imo the nicknames dont need to be said everytime that driver is talked about. Growing up in a racing family had the boys racing at a very young age, winning their way into the record books.
Kenny woodruff wins a carowner championship in narc. Larry with sleepy tripp and kevin olson larry with manny, moe and, oh no its ko and sleepy. End of 1981 usac midgets 500 lap race at the indianapolis. Sleepy tripp injured in motorcycle accident speed sport. In all, zarounian cars won 88 total western states midget features between 1983 and 2000 with drivers tripp, ken nichols, jeff gordon, donnie beechler, pat bliss and tony hunt. Although tripp was winning races in new zealand as late as 199394 and in the. Ron sleepy tripp auto racing memories vintage race cars. Miller said clausons 112 victories are behind a very, very short list of usac hall of famers that include rich vogler, a.
He currently is the race director for powri and a former series director for usac. Sprint cars race cars dirt track car and driver vintage racing ascot. Leffler, sherman armstrong, mel kenyon, joe roush, sleepy tripp. Tripp won last weeks western states race at raven raceway in tucson, his sixth in 10 starts, and pulled 29 points ahead of bennet, 342 to 3. Tripp went on to win the 75, and 76 usac midget titles. Known as a proving ground for drivers moving on to indy or nascar, the usac.
Race weekends are family events for the tripps, who race four cars and often have as many as two dozen people gathered at the race track. Bob posing on the sydney docks with his much shorter traveling partner, mike mcgreevy. He possessed a humility and character out of the race car that made him a person that fellow competitors and fans alike enjoyed being around. Sleepy was born ronald james tripp to parents barbara and gerald tripp, august, 1953, and he was raised with his older brother, bob and younger sister, karen in costa mesa, california. His 112 wins trail only usac hall of famers rich vogler, a. Arnold, greg leffler, sherman armstrong, mel kenyon, joe roush, sleepy tripp. Lealand mcspadden born july 16, 1946 is a former dirt track racing driver who competed mostly in sprint and midget cars.
Newlycrowned eighttime usaccra sprint car champ damion gardner is entered for bakersfield aboard terry klatts no. Driving the rimcomiller vw, tripp edged ron shuman and lonnie caruthers to post his 31st usac career win. Jason mccord is a 6 time usac sprint car winner and has a solo silver crown win. Usac west coast midget racing legends sleepy tripp and gary zarounian will be cogrand marshals for the 79th running of the turkey night grand prix on thanksgiving night, november 28, at californias ventura raceway. Usac west coast midget racing legends sleepy tripp and gary. But dont get the idea that the midget car veteran from costa mesa. Tripp got his nickname as a youth when he would fall asleep. Highlights of 198485 international midget series world derby. Sleepy tripp to me the 50 lap race at western springs was the biggest midget car race. But there is one driver that not only captured the hearts of kiwi speedway fans. Its one of the cars used in the movie ford v ferrari.
We are of course talking about the legendary ron sleepy tripp. I know mario andretti won the ardc feature and mark donohue, driving ken brenns pusher, won the midgets vs formula car race, but im looking for the complete order of finish for one, or both, events. Ron sleepy tripp is perhaps one of the greatest midget drivers in usac history as he compiled over 250 career feature wins. The 2019 edition of the turkey night grand prix begins wednesday, november 27 and closes out on thursday, november 28, the 98lap main event for the usac nos energy drink. Sprint carsrace carsdirt trackcar and drivervintage racingascotsaturday nightcars and motorcyclescool cars.
Sleepy tripp was a great race driver, but never really liked the bigger cars, sprints, dirt champ, just did not suit him. Tripp got his nickname as a youth when he would fall asleep in his quarter midget car while waiting for his next race to start. Arguably one the very best midget car racers ever came down here in my opinion. Zarounian was previously inducted into the national midget auto racing hall of fame in 2017. Im looking for the race results for the ardc race at the lime rock park road course held in july 1963. Sleepy tripp, a twotime national and seventime regional midget champion. From the kevin mcivor collection john steele of mcmillan ford with the placegetters in the 197879 auckland midget car championships. The fourtime usac national champion was as aiming to become the winningest driver in series history. A blast from the past sleepy tripp springs speedway. Ardc midgets ardc historyardc history ardc midgets. Raw footage from telecast of a 500 lap usac midget race at the indianapolis speedrome in september of 1981. Indianapolis bryan clauson, a popular driver considered by many to be.
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