So when you were in town for a race, outside of the track, you're in town, did you ever encounter any sort of Driving While Black situations? You're just cruising around, and you seem to get pulled over for no good reason.
Yeah, I did [get pulled over]. But I was going fast, so I deserved to be pulled over. If they stopped me, they had a reason to stop me. One time in Sebring, Florida, it was a little Southern cop. And I got into the parking lot and he came up behind me with his lights on. I got out, and he says, "Why are you driving so fast?" I said, "Are you kidding? That's not that fast."
He asks where I come from, and I said, "I drive race cars, and I'm Willy T. Ribbs." And he says, "Oh, I know who you are." I said, "If you write me up, I understand. I was going over the speed limit. But what are they going to say when you get back to the headquarters for writing up Willy T. Ribbs for going 65 in a 55? Come on. They'll laugh at you." So I said, "If I was going triple digits, OK. I can understand."
And he didn't write me up. I very seldom, to this day, get speeding tickets. Very seldom. And nearly every time it's a great experience because I tell them stories. And I don't want to be confrontational with those guys. I know there's some that will stop with me for driving while Black. There's some that are legitimately stopping me, but I'm not going to be mad at them. I get it.
