Ernie Triplett was the 1931 and 1932 AAA West Coast Champion. Although he was born in the Midwest and did most of his early racing there, he rose to prominence after he started winning at the Legion Ascot Speedway in Los Angeles. He competed in the Indianapolis 500 five times between 1929 and 1933. He failed to finish four times because of mechanical failures. However in 1931 he completed the distance finishing  in seventh place. By 1934 he had semi-retired from the sport and was racing only occasionally.

On March 4th, 1934 he entered a AAA Pacific Coast Big Car Championship race at Imperial Raceway in California. According to reports the track was so dusty that the vision of the drivers was severely impaired. One car, slowed by engine problems, had stopped on the track in the north turn. Another car hit the stationery race car and rolled over on impact. At this point several people from the infield had run onto the track to assist just as Triplett arrived on the scene at speed. Triplett’s car struck and killed a mechanic, and crashed heavily, causing injuries to Triplett that would prove fatal within a few hours.

Willy T. Ribbs -  3rd January 1956

Perhaps the best known African-American driver who over the years competed in many forms of racing. After retiring, he became a sport shooter in the National Sporting Clays Association.

Willy was born in San Jose, California,  and  after his graduating high school in 1975,  he moved to Europe to compete in the Formula Ford Series. He won the Dunlop Championship in his first year of competition, then returned to the United States. NASCAR owner Will Cronkite hired Ribbs to drive his Winston Cup car, but fired him after Ribbs skipped two practice sessions. Ribbs went on to race Formula Atlantic cars, winning the pole in the Long Beach Formula Atlantic race in 1982.

The following year, Ribbs won five races in the SCCA Trans-Am Series and was honored as Pro Rookie of the Year. Ribbs would attempt NASCAR again in 1986, running three races.

Here’s  onboard footage of Willy T. Ribbs driving an IMSA GTO Toyota around the temporary circuit at Del Mar Fairgrounds in 1988.

Also in 1986, Ribbs drove a Formula One car, when he tested for the Brabham team. In 1990, Ribbs joined the CART circuit in a car owned by comedian Bill Cosby. Ribbs had two top-10 events that season, and in 1991, he became the first African-American to qualify for the Indianapolis 500. He raced there a second time in 1993. After being released from the team in 1994, he continued in the CART series with another two top 10 finishes.

In 1999, Ribbs raced in an Indy Racing League event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, finishing 26th after a crash. After three top-10s in the SCCA in 2000, Ribbs signed to drive in the Craftsman Truck Series. Driving 23 out of 24 races, Ribbs had a best finish of 13th, and finished 16th in points.

 The official Willy T. Ribbs website.

Other Driver Birthdays today

• Russell Spence F3000 and occasional F1 driver (1960)
• Michael Schumacher  – Seven Times F1 World Champion (1969)

In what seems to be coming the regular picture of the later stages of the 2007 IRL season, AGR’s Tony Kanaan snatches victory, only to have his win over shadowed by an incident involving team mate Dario Franchetti.

While Kanaan played an excellent fuel strategy to win the IRL race at Detroit’s refurbished Belle Isle road circuit, all the talk was of a last lap incident invloving Franchetti and championship rival Scott Dixon. Dixon spun to avoid Buddy Rice, who had run out of fuel, and in trying to collect up his car backed in to Franchetti. Both limped to the finish to make sure they scored championship points. Almost unnoticed in the melee was the fact that Danica Patrick scored a career best second place.

The Top 10 finishers were:

1.  Tony Kanaan
2.  Danica Patrick
3.  Dan Wheldon
4.  Darren Manning 
5.  Kosuke Matsuura
6.  Dario Franchitti
7.  Buddy Rice
8.  Scott Dixon 
9.  AJ Foyt IV 
10.  Ed Carpenter 

Saturday night’s IndyCar race at Kentucky, like the previous week’s event, ended up with Tony Kanaan in winners circle and AGR team mate Dario Franchitti getting airborne. This time Dario’s escapade came after the race had officially finished. Unaware that the checkerd flag had been thrown the fast moving Dario hit the rear tire of a slowing Kosuke Matsuura. The result was another trip into the air with the car coming to rest against the wall. Franchitti took full responsibilty for the incident.

Kanaan’s win wasn’t without its tense moments as early on he touched wheels with Penske’s Helio Castroneves.  Danica Patrick once more looked capable of taking a victory until an expolding tire pitched her into a spin that ended with her “threading the needle” between the wall and a safety truck – while travelling backwards. Surprise of the night was the strong showing of A.J. Foyt IV in his Vision Racing car, who finished a strong thrid behind Kanaan and championship contender Scott Dixon.

The Top 10 finishers were:

1.  Tony Kanaan
2.  Scott Dixon
3.  A.J. Foyt IV 
4.  Marco Andretti
5.  Tomas Scheckter
6.  Scott Sharp
7.  Ed Carpenter
8.  Dario Franchitti
9.  Helio Castroneves
10.  Vitor Meira

AGR’s Tony Kanaan just beat team mate Marco Andretti to the line for victory in what appears to be the last IRL race held at the ultra fast Michigan International Speedway. But this race will be remembered for the spectacular crash with points leader Dario Franchetti’s car getting airborne after touching wheels with Dan Wheldon’s car at well over 200 mph and bouncing twice before coming to rest inverted.

Luckily Franchetti and all the other drivers involved emerged unscathed from the scary looking incident. Earlier in the race another crash had taken out Helio Castroneves and Vitor Miera which resulted in a harsh exchange of words between the two.

With just a few laps to go it appeared that the race may also grab headlines as Danica Patrick’s first victory as she clearly had the fastest car and was making a good run on both Kanaan and Andretti, but a cut tire meant a last minute pit stop with an eventual seventh place finish for Patrick.

The Top 10 finishers were:

1. Kanaan
2. Andretti
3. Sharp
4. Matsuura
5. Rice
6. Hunter-Reay
7. Patrick
8. Foyt IV
9. Hornish Jr.
10. Dixon