There are many a great race car drivers in our world but there is not many as great as Ron "Sleepy" Tripp. Tripp gave his all to provide us with years and years of that, Ron "Sleepy" Tripp excitement!
Tripp is no doubt my racing hero! I'm a proud friend, previous mechanic and at one time his sponsor!
I have several photos of Tripp that most of you have never seen. I am going to share them with you and I hope you enjoy them as much as I do! These photos are just a visual of my racing treasures from the years prior to and after the years Tripp and I were together.
I think Sleepy's wife (Erin) was responsible for getting most of the photos to me back in them wild ass days and what a real sweetheart she is! Sleepy was so involved with winning that photos were the last thing he had on his devious mind! Some of the phots also were shot by myself or my family.
Tripp was a middle child, the second of three children. Unlike so many kids trapped between the shadows of two siblings, Tripp grew up to become a legend in auto racing. He was unmatched by his fiercest rivals but loved by many people across the nation and around the world.
Trip was born on August 13, 1953 in Southern California and spent most of his first five years playing on the beach with his older brother, Bobby and his younger sister, Karen. At the age of five Tripp's father and mother (Jerry & Barbara) moved the family from a coastal island to the mainland of Costa Mesa, California. It was then that Tripp began his most incredible journey to becoming one of the worlds most reconized midgets drivers of all time and my racing hero!
That was the early years of the "Tripp Brothers Racing" and the brothers were already making headlines.
Trophies soon filled the rooms of these two youngersters and the family was so well known that on several occasions entire towns would put up banners to honor the Tripp boys and family when they came to their towns to race.
The tiny little race cars were as popular back in them days as they are today and due to so many kids racing the delays between races were long and Tripp would often find a place to rest while waiting or his turn to race. This is where the pseudonym "Sleepy" came from. His folks would have to wake him up so he could make the line up! Whata' Tripp!