Ron "Sleepy" Tripp is an American Hall of Fame
midget car
Midget cars, also speedcars in Australia, is a class of racing cars. The cars are very small with a very high power-to-weight ratio and typically use four cylinder engines. They originated in the United States in the 1930s and are raced on most ...
driver. Tripp got his nickname as a youth when he would fall asleep in his
quarter midget
Quarter midget racing is a form of automobile racing. The cars are approximately one-quarter (1/4) the size of a full-size midget car. The adult-size midget being raced during the start of quarter midget racing used an oval track of one-fifth of a ...
car while waiting for his next race to start.
[Biography]
at the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame
The National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame is an American Hall of Fame and museum for midget cars. The Hall of Fame is located at Angell Park Speedway
Angell Park Speedway has a 1/3 mile () dirt racetrack located in Sun Prairie, Wiscons ...
, retrieved January 16, 2007
Midget car career
Tripp won the 1975 and 1976
United States Automobile Club
The United States Auto Club (USAC) is one of the sanctioning bodies of auto racing in the United States. From 1956 to 1979, USAC sanctioned the United States National Championship, and from 1956 to 1997 the organization sanctioned the Indianapol ...
(USAC)
National Midget championships. He stayed on the national tour for several more years before he started racing in the Western States series, on the
West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to:
Geography Australia
* Western Australia
*Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia
* West Coast, Tasmania
**West Coast Range, mountain range in the region
Canada
* Britis ...
. He consistently placed first or second in the series points, winning championships in 1983, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991 and 1992. He reached his 100th win May 2, 1998 at
Ventura Raceway
Ventura Raceway is a 1/5 mile, high-banked clay oval racetrack located at the Ventura County Fairgrounds in Ventura, California, United States. It is owned and operated by Jim Naylor, who is also the track announcer. In 2010 Jim was inducted in ...
. Sleepy sits on top of the Western States feature list with 104 wins.
He also had 59 National Midget car victories, which places him fifth on USAC's all-time National Midget Car series feature winners list.
And those 59 National USAC total victories, placing him 11th on USAC's all-time National career feature victory leaders list.
His combined National, Western and Regional USAC wins have him the winningest driver in midgets. With over 250 career wins to his name.
Hall of Fame inductions
*1986 – Inducted in the
National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame
The National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame is an American Hall of Fame and museum for midget cars. The Hall of Fame is located at Angell Park Speedway
Angell Park Speedway has a 1/3 mile () dirt racetrack located in Sun Prairie, Wiscons ...
.
*1999 – Inducted in the 'Daily Pilot Sports' Hall of Fame
*2000 – Inducted in the Belleville
National Midget Auto Racing Museum.
*2004 – Inducted in the 'Legends of Ascot' Hall of Fame.
*2015 – Inducted into the USAC 'Hall of Fame'
History
"Sleepy" was born Ronald James Tripp to parents Barbara and Gerald Tripp, August 13, 1953, and he was raised with his older brother, Bob and younger sister, Karen in
Costa Mesa, California
Costa Mesa (; Spanish for "Table Coast") is a city in Orange County, California. Since its incorporation in 1953, the city has grown from a semi-rural farming community of 16,840 to an urban area including part of the South Coast Plaza–John Wa ...
. Growing up in a racing family had the boys racing at a very young age, winning their way into the record books. The boys raced in
Quarter midget
Quarter midget racing is a form of automobile racing. The cars are approximately one-quarter (1/4) the size of a full-size midget car. The adult-size midget being raced during the start of quarter midget racing used an oval track of one-fifth of a ...
s, winning numerous trophies along the way. They then tried their hand in
motorcycle
A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...
s, before jumping up to the full-size midget cars. During Sleepy's high school years, he was a wrestler and accomplished football star at Newport Harbor High School, being named MVP and Captain for their 1970 League Championship football season. Last played in July 1971 at the
Aloha All Star Football Classic at
Honolulu Stadium
Honolulu Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium located in the Moiliili district of Honolulu, Hawai'i, at the corner of King and Isenberg Streets. Opened in 1926, it was the primary sports venue in Hawaii preceding Aloha Stadium. During its final y ...
. Has been married to Erin since Nov 1982, whom he met in
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
while racing, they have one daughter, Shay, who is married and has recently made Sleepy and Erin grandparents. Both of Sleepy's parents have since passed and the boys still work together at their families electrical contracting business.
USAC years
After Sleepy took the 'Rookie of the Year' and USRC 1974 Championship he then headed for the Midwest and tried his luck with USAC, taking 'Rookie of the Year' honors and Championship in 1975 and then again winning the USAC Championship back-to-back in 1976. He was invited to race in Australia during their 1976/77 season, along with Johnny Rutherford (who was that years Indianapolis 500 winner). In turn, Sleepy raced 17-years in either Australia, New Zealand or both. He raced with USAC National series, until he returned to California to race the newly formed USAC Western States Championship, in which he joined car owners George and Gary Zarounian, to dominate the early years, winning the 1983, 85, 87, 88, 90, 91, 92 Championships. During those years, he won 104 features, putting him at the top of the feature win list. His racing career ended after crashing at a USAC/BCRA race at
Stockton, California
Stockton is a city in and the county seat of San Joaquin County, California, San Joaquin County in the Central Valley (California), Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. Stockton was founded by Carlos Maria Weber in 1849 after he acquir ...
, in 2003.
New Zealand/Australia
First invited to tour 'down-under' through Australia and New Zealand in 1976/77 where he began to win races and fans for nearly two decades. After running his own car for six years, he teamed up with car owner,
Danny Lendich, winning many of the prestigious races, such as the 50 Lap Classic, the World 30 Lap Derby, Bob Tattersal Memorial, Ross Goonan Memorial and the City of Auckland Grand Prix. In all, he has 34 feature wins at
Western Springs Speedway in Auckland.
Tripp also had success in Australia during the 1970s and 1980s with many feature wins including winning the 1983 and 1984
Australian Speedcar Grand Prix
The Australian Speedcar Grand Prix is an annual dirt track racing meeting held in Australia for Speedcars. The meeting has traditionally been held in Sydney, but on occasions has been held on tracks in Victoria and in 2000 the race was held a ...
on the paved
Liverpool City Raceway, as well as both the Harry Neal and Rick Harvey Memorial's and the 40 Lap Speedcar Derby at
Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
's
Speedway Park
Speedway Park was a dirt, oval, auto racing track, located in Jacksonville, Florida.
It was built in 1946 by Eddie Bland on land belonging to the family farm and later came to be known as Jacksonville Speedway after it was sold in 1954.
Open ...
. Despite regularly beating the local drivers, Tripp's laid back nature, and his style of car set up and driving which often involved racing with the left (inside) front wheel not even touching the track, proved popular with Australian crowds.
In the 80's, his name and popularity extend motor racing, as there was a racing horse, greyhound and rock band all named 'Sleepy Tripp'. Still today there is a trotter racing down-under with his name.
Accomplishments
*1974 – USRC 'Rookie' and Champion
*1975 – USAC 'Rookie' and National Champion
*1976 – USAC National Champion
*1976 – Volkswagen 'Driver of the Year' Midget Division
*1979 –
Night Before the 500
The Dave Steele Carb Night Classic is a United States Auto Club dirt track car race held near Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, which takes place in late May before the Indianapolis 500 at the nearby Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Over its his ...
Midget race winner
*1983–85–87–88–90–91–92 – USAC Western States Champion
*1985 and 1987
Belleville High Banks Nationals Champion
*1986 – was the youngest driver to be inducted into the National Midget Hall of Fame.
*Won over 250 career feature wins
*104 USAC Western States Midget wins
*Won 18 USAC Features in the 1988 season
*Won 33 features at
Ascot Park – (12 wins coming in 1983–84)
*3 Time winner of ESPN Thursday Night Thunder Series at Ascot Park – 1989
*Scored his record 132nd win, May 4, 1991 at
El Centro, California
El Centro (Spanish for "The Center") is a city and county seat of Imperial County, California, United States. El Centro is the largest city in the Imperial Valley, the east anchor of the Southern California Border Region, and the core urban ar ...
– to make him the winningest driver in combined USAC (National, Western and Regional) wins
*Won features in four different countries: USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand
*9 Time New Zealand '50 Lap Classic' Winner – 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1994
*5 Time New Zealand '30 Lap Derby' Winner – 1978, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1987
*3 Time 'Bob Tattersall Memorial' Winner – 1980, 1981, 1982
*2 Time 'City of Auckland' Midget Grand Prix Winner – 1983, 1985
*2 Time 'New Zealand' Midget Car Grand Prix – 1978, 1980
*2 Time 'Ross Goonan Memorial' – 1977, 1978
*2 Time
Australian Speedcar Grand Prix
The Australian Speedcar Grand Prix is an annual dirt track racing meeting held in Australia for Speedcars. The meeting has traditionally been held in Sydney, but on occasions has been held on tracks in Victoria and in 2000 the race was held a ...
winner
* Harry Neale Memorial winner (Australia)
* Rick Harvey Memorial winner (Australia)
* 40 Lap Speedcar Derby winner (Australia)
More Recently
The afternoon of October 7th, 2012, on his way home from a weekend away to Mammoth, he crashed his motorcycle and was airlifted to Antelope Valley Hospital, where he spent a touch-and-go month long in ICU, eventually moved to Brea Kindred Rehab, to learn to walk again. Sleepy and Erin spent their 30th Wedding Anniversary at this hospital. Eventually released to go home the end of Jan, only to end up at Hoag Hospital with a heart infection and spent 6-weeks on a regimented medicated cleansing at Crystal Cove Rehab. Once they had got on top of the infection, he was released to go home. The Tripp's are very thankful to all their family, friends and fans that were behind his recovery all the way!!!
More Honors
* 2013 Grand Marshall for the '73rd Turkey Night Grand Prix', held at Perris Auto Speedway
* 2019 Co-Grand Marshall (with Gary Zarounian) for the '79th Turkey Night Grand Prix, held at Ventura Raceway.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tripp, Sleepy
American racing drivers
1953 births
Living people
People from Costa Mesa, California
Racing drivers from California
USAC Silver Crown Series drivers