Back in the mid 1970's, me and webby eagerly awaited the annual USAC National Midget Series races to come to Colorado. In 1975 two surfer type dudes came out of So. California, a two car team of blue LTC VW powered midgets. Bob and Ron Tripp, the younger brother Ron, had grown up racing 1/4 midgets, he was known to doze off waiting for his race, hence earning the nickname "Sleepy". Sleepy was simply awesome in the midget, me and webby became immediate fans. Tripp went on to win the 75', and 76' USAC Midget titles. He even took a shot at the Indy 500, but never qualified. Sleepy Tripp was a great race driver, but never really liked the bigger cars, sprints, dirt champ, just did not suit him. Anyway, here is a great Dennis Torres shot of Sleepy in a 1976 USAC dirt car race at DuQuoin, IL. Sadly it did not end well.
![]()
![]()
↧