By Scott Daloisio
(Perris, CA, August 2, 2013) Perris Auto Speedway promoter Don Kazarian and JC Agajanian Jr. of Agajanian Promotions are pleased to announce that legendary Midget driver Ron “Sleepy” Tripp has been named Grand Marshal of the 73rd Turkey Night Grand Prix. The annual race, which features the Honda USAC National Midget Series, will be back on dirt for the second year in a row at Perris Auto Speedway on Thanksgiving night, November 28th.
“Sleepy was a special friend of the Agajanian Family & one of JC’s favorites,” Agajanian Jr. said. “ I don’t think he’ll ever be forgotten as one of the stars of Ascot and Turkey Night. It’s with love and admiration that we honor him at the 73rd running of our Thanksgiving Night Tradition, the Turkey Night Grand Prix.”
Kazarian echoed Agajanian’s sentiments.
“Sleepy Tripp is one of the greatest and most respected drivers in the history of Midget racing,” Kazarian stated. “He is a legend. We are so happy that he will be here and will be the Grand Marshal of the Turkey Night Grand Prix. Last year, due to his motorcycle crash, he was in the hospital and could not even come to watch. It will be our pleasure to not only have him at the race, but to honor him as Grand Marshal.”
Sleepy Tripp is shown in the above photo in the #67 car racing against Tommy Astone at the 1987 Turkey Night Grand Prix at Ascot. Media, please feel free to use the photo and please give photo credit to Scott Daloisio.
The racing star, who will turn 60-years-old on August 13th, was a wrestler and a football star at Newport Harbor High. He was named MVP of the football team in 1970 and last played with the pigskin in July of 1971 at the Aloha Senior Classic in Hawaii.
Tripp, whose older brother Bobby tagged him with the nickname “Sleepy” when he was 4 ½ years old because he would fall asleep in the cockpit of his quarter-midget while waiting to race, was named 1974 Rookie of the Year in the Southern California based United States Racing Club. He headed for the USAC National Midget tour in 1975 and amazingly not only won the Rookie of the Year award in that Indianapolis based series, but he won the championship as well. He backed that up in 1976 when he won the National Championship again.
“That shows you what kind of a driver Sleepy was,” Kazarian enthused. “He wins a local club Rookie of the Year Award and follows that up with championships the next two years on the toughest Midget circuit in the world. You had to have a load of talent just to finish top ten in points and he beat them all two years running.”
Tripp, who has been married to wife Erin since 1982, came back to Southern California in the early 1980’s and dominated midget action in the newly formed USAC Western Midget Series. He won that championship in 1983, 85, 87, 88, 90, 91 and 92. In addition, he won 104-main events in that series. Many of those wins came at Ascot.
“Sleepy Tripp is a legend from Ascot Park,” Agajanian beamed. “Running flat out on the Ascot 1/2 mile dirt track in Gardena was as at home for him as it is for surfers to ride the So Cal waves. In fact he looked like a surfer. Well a surfer crossed with a football player.”
Agajanian went on about Tripp’s days in the car.
“Just like Parnelli Jones, you didn’t want to cross him on the race track,” Agajanian affirmed. “He could take care of himself. Speaking of Parnelli, Sleepy was one of his favorites in a midget at Ascot. Sleepy used to battle Ron Shuman on Turkey Night. In 1984, they fought it out & Shuman won with Rich Vogler edging Sleepy out for 2nd. Sleepy ran 2nd to Rick Goudy at Ascot and a lot of champions like Bubby Jones, Gary Bettenhausen, Billy Vukovich and Johnny Rutherford admired him. He was a fighter in the car, but drove a clean race & was a great guy in the pits.”
Tripp, who all told won over 250 Midget main events, was inducted into the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame in Wisconsin in 1986, the National Midget Auto Racing Museum Hall of Fame in Kansas in 2000 and the Legends of Ascot in 2004.
In addition to his prowess in the United States, Tripp spent 17-winters racing down under in New Zealand (where he met his wife) and Australia. In New Zealand, he won the prestigious 50-Lap Classic nine-times, the World 30-Lap Derby four times as well as the Bob Tattersal Memorial and the City of Auckland Grand Prix. In Australia he won the 1983 & 84 Australian Speedcar Grand Prix in Liverpool, the 40-Lap Speedcar Derby in Adelaide and the Harry Neal and Rick Harvey Memorials.
Advance tickets for the 73rd Running of the Turkey Night Grand Prix are available 24-hours a day. You can order online at http://pas.tix.com/Schedule.
For more information call The PAS at: (951) 940-0134.
Camping for all events at The PAS is available for $25.00 per night. The campground will open at noon on Friday. Tailgating in the spectator parking lot will begin at 1:00 PM for all PAS events as well.
The entire 2013 PAS schedule is listed at the end of this release.
Perris Auto Speedway wants to thank its corporate sponsors for the 2012 season. 1-800LoanMart, 777 Racecars, Aaron’s, Ahern Rentals, All Coast Construction, Amsoil, Ayers Hotel and Spa, Budweiser, CamGuard, Champion Towing, City of Perris, Comfort Inn, Day Construction, Daytona Boat & RV Storage, Edelbrok, Frazee Paint, HD Industries, Hoosier Tires, K&N Engineering, McMahon’s RV, OneDirt.com, P.I.P.E., Pepsi-Cola, Pick-A-Part Auto Salvage, Prolong Super Lubricants, Running Waters Hospice, Scott Sales, Snap-on, Soboba Casino, Sprint Car Driving Experience, Square H, Swedish Speed, Temecula Valley Pipe & Supply, Trench Shoring, US Foods, Valley Auto Salvage, White Nuckl USA and Zanzabuku Sports Lounge.
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Video and DVD productions of all racing events at Perris Auto Speedway are available from Loudpedal Productions. For more information on these productions you can contact them by calling (805) 844-3854, E-mailing mailto:trtruex@gmail.com or you can visit the web site http://www.loudpedalvideo.com/
Fans can participate for free in The PAS 2013 Fantasy League at: http://www.shorttrackin.com/. There are separate divisions for the Amsoil USAC/CRA Sprint Cars and the Amsoil OilTwins.com PASSCAR classes of the LoanMart Street Stocks, Pick-A-Part American Factory Stocks and the Modifieds. Players can compete in as many divisions as they like. The winner of the USAC/CRA game will win a 20-lap ($240.00 value) driving session on the famous PAS half-mile clay oval courtesy of the Sprint Car Driving Experience. The winner of the Modified group will take receive a $50.00 gift certificate for Amsoil products from The Oil Twins. More prizes will be announced as they come in.
Perris Auto Speedway is located on the Lake Perris Fairgrounds (home of October’s Southern California Fair), approximately one hour east of Los Angeles and one hour North of San Diego. To get to the track, take the 215 freeway, exit on the Ramona Expressway and go three miles east to the fairgrounds.
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