December 19, 2024 • 7 mins
Welcome to The Bama Brown Experience, where Bama Brown and the Big Puma bring you a unique blend of sports talk, history, and personal anecdotes. In this episode, join us as we dive into the fascinating world of motorsports and beyond.
Bama Brown shares his incredible encounter with Willy T. Ribbs, the first Black driver to qualify for the Indy 500, and Al Unser Jr., a two-time Indy 500 champion, in the quaint town of Dripping Springs. Listen in as they reminisce about the golden days of racing, from the iconic STP stickers to the legendary Richard Petty's 200th win with President Reagan in attendance.
Big Puma, a history buff, adds his own flavor to the conversation, discussing the marketing genius behind the STP brand and the nostalgic tales of driving race cars across the country. Together, they explore the idea of a racing league where drivers must race the same cars they drive to the track, blending humor and insight in a way only they can.
Whether you're a motorsports enthusiast, a history lover, or just someone who enjoys a good story, this episode has something for everyone. Tune in to The Bama Brown Experience on the iHeart Podcast Network and join the conversation. Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and share with your friends!
Bama Brown shares his incredible encounter with Willy T. Ribbs, the first Black driver to qualify for the Indy 500, and Al Unser Jr., a two-time Indy 500 champion, in the quaint town of Dripping Springs. Listen in as they reminisce about the golden days of racing, from the iconic STP stickers to the legendary Richard Petty's 200th win with President Reagan in attendance.
Big Puma, a history buff, adds his own flavor to the conversation, discussing the marketing genius behind the STP brand and the nostalgic tales of driving race cars across the country. Together, they explore the idea of a racing league where drivers must race the same cars they drive to the track, blending humor and insight in a way only they can.
Whether you're a motorsports enthusiast, a history lover, or just someone who enjoys a good story, this episode has something for everyone. Tune in to The Bama Brown Experience on the iHeart Podcast Network and join the conversation. Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and share with your friends!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey, you're listening to the Bama Brown Experience with the
Big Puma on the iHeart Podcast Network. Thank you for
spending little time with us. Hey, Big Puma, Big Cat.
Tell them how you can.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Hear your sports show.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
As always, if you want to spend a little time
listening to some solid sports talk, just search the Sports
Cave with Biggest Puma should be available wherever you get
your podcasts.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Hi, I was sitting here.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
I've been watching a lot of TV, you know, with
the holidays and stuff, every kind of thing's coming on,
and then I'm reading a lot of stuff I like
to do that. Puma is a big history buff like me,
and hopefully if you're listening to this, you like history
no matter how old you are. I'm sixty six. How
are you You're I'm thirty eight. Yeah, you're thirty eight.
I'm sixty six. You're an old soul though you you're pretty.
(00:49):
You're cool about that having a Well, you're a history buff, So.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
Yeah, I was. I was raised by I had no
choice but to turn out the way I did. It
was pre destined for me to live life like a
like a fifty year old. At twenty five.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
I was uh, I was at the cafe there and
Dripping Springs and my, uh, there's you know a few
famous people living in Dripping Springs that come in there.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
But this was really cool. Uh.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Willie t Ribs, the first black Indie driver, lives in
Dripping Springs.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Uh, and just a nice guy.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Met him and talk to him a couple of times,
and and uh, he was a transam road race champion.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
That was where he was.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
He won the championship, but he did Indy cars and
uh qualified once a getting first black driver to do
the Indy five hundred.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
But he was in there one day.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
I walked in and to eat and he was sitting
over there and we kind of waved to each other.
And then when he got ready to leave, he came
over to nicely come over and say hello, and I
stand and I was talking to him for a minute
and he goes, well, you know this guy and it
was a Luster Junior was in our little Yeah, it
was in our little town and Dripping Springs was having
lunch with him. And I got to talk to Al
Junior for a little bit and we were talking about
(02:08):
all kinds of stuff, but he reminded me about the
I don't know which.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
What it came up. But the STP sticker.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
When I was a kid, Andy Grinnatelly and those STP
stickers were everywhere. Now that's too early for you, but uh,
I'm telling you bad. You didn't see anything. It didn't
have one stuck on it. And STP basically is ninety
eight ninety weight motor oil. There's nothing tripped to its
(02:37):
it says. Especially treated petroleum was what STP stands for.
But my race car buddies go, no, it's ninetyweight oil.
And they would use it to pour when they were
assembling engines, so an engine could sit for a while
and would have the oil in there and it wouldn't
just run out, it would sit in there.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
That was that was what it was used for.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
And people would port in their motors and you know,
it didn't help the motors really. But they as I
looked up the granted Telly him and his brother were
they weren't Indian. They were in Ah. They were in
Saint Louis I think it was or Chicago, one of
the two. I can't remember which one it was. But
they had built an Indy car in the fifties. They
were there in the fifties and sixties, they built an
(03:17):
Indy car to race it Indianapolis in the five hundred.
They drove it to the track from either Saint Louis
or Chicago. I can't remember which one it was. They
drove it to the track, qualified it for the race
like one's in the cockpit, and Andy was sitting on
the outside, riding on.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
The riding on the body. You know. It was like
a real long wide.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
Feels like a cannonball run.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
As he rode he said, I rode outside on the
car to the track.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
This is a totally true story. He said.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
We qualified for the Indy five hundred. Then we drove
it to lunch and went to lunch in it, and
then came back and then ran it in the race.
I don't remember how well it did, but they did
qualify and ran the race in this car.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
It just cracked me up.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
And then when he landed this STP sponsorship, he went
on to sponsor Richard Petty.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
By the way, there my generation knows right there, that's
stp'd for us.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
He said he had the biggest fight with Richard Petty
when they sponsored him over how much of the car
was blue and how much of it was STP red
and they would.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Argue every season over it.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
But he won his last race for Richard Petty to
win his two hundredth win with Reagan there, you know,
and all that. It was in the STP car and
they Andy granted Telly was went crazy and Victory Lane.
I remember that as a kid, but just neat stories
like that about people. But I couldn't imagine somebody driving
a car across country and then coming back, you know,
(04:46):
and and and driving it in the street, you know,
him winning or at least getting in the race.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
That makes me feel like we need more, We need
more racing leagues like that, like where you have to
drive the vehicle to the track, yeah, and drive it
away like it's not a you know, like have a
set uh you know, set parameters like nothing. Everyone's in
the same kind of ballpark. But it's got to be
(05:12):
basically a daily driver.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Cliss they come instead of coming in eighteen wheelers or gents.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
If you're Formula one.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
You're talking about the Formula one car is getting you know,
better first class service on an airplane than I've ever received.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
Oh.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
Absolutely, the race horses, you know, the one of the
biggest guys. Is Kolina that drag races. He hauls all
the race horses around. They get treated exactly like what
you're talking about. Yeah, but you need to you need
to be able to drive one to the track, race it,
drive it home.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Yeah, you've got to.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
Drive it home, even if you won the race. If
you can't make it on and have like a like
one hundred mile buffer distance, you gotta at least cover
one hundred miles to get there and one hundred miles
to leave. If you break down on the way home,
you look out.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
Yeah, and it's an honor system though.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
Yeah, I don't know a million dollar idea there, you
know talking about that. The STP branding that is a
masterclass in marketing from that era.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
I mean there's the amount of people that know absolutely
nothing about cars, that wouldn't even know where to put
the oil into the car, wouldn't know how to change
their own oil, much less change a tire.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Right.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
No, the STP brand.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
Yeah, STP the Racer's Edge And you go, what is
it in these car?
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Guys?
Speaker 1 (06:31):
I got you put SVB that's just ninety eight dude.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
It's like it's like when you put a sticker on
the back of the car and it gives it five
extra horsepower.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
He did.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
They don't remember how many stickers they printed over the years.
It was in the millions and millions, but he said,
he said it was the cheapest marketing thing in the world.
You know, to do those stickers. That's pretty pretty awesome. Well,
you've been listening to the Bama Brown Experience with the
Big Puma. We talk about all kinds of stuff here.
So if you've got a suggestion, email us anytime it's
(07:02):
on the iHeart podcast network. Tell all your friends, damn it.
Hey, you're listening to the Bama Brown Experience with the
Big Puma on the iHeart Podcast Network. Thank you for
spending little time with us. Hey, Big Puma, Big Cat.
Tell them how you can.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Hear your sports show.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
As always, if you want to spend a little time
listening to some solid sports talk, just search the Sports
Cave with Biggest Puma should be available wherever you get
your podcasts.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Hi, I was sitting here.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
I've been watching a lot of TV, you know, with
the holidays and stuff, every kind of thing's coming on,
and then I'm reading a lot of stuff I like
to do that. Puma is a big history buff like me,
and hopefully if you're listening to this, you like history
no matter how old you are. I'm sixty six. How
are you You're I'm thirty eight. Yeah, you're thirty eight.
I'm sixty six. You're an old soul though you you're pretty.
(00:49):
You're cool about that having a Well, you're a history buff, So.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
Yeah, I was. I was raised by I had no
choice but to turn out the way I did. It
was pre destined for me to live life like a
like a fifty year old. At twenty five.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
I was uh, I was at the cafe there and
Dripping Springs and my, uh, there's you know a few
famous people living in Dripping Springs that come in there.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
But this was really cool. Uh.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Willie t Ribs, the first black Indie driver, lives in
Dripping Springs.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Uh, and just a nice guy.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Met him and talk to him a couple of times,
and and uh, he was a transam road race champion.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
That was where he was.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
He won the championship, but he did Indy cars and
uh qualified once a getting first black driver to do
the Indy five hundred.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
But he was in there one day.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
I walked in and to eat and he was sitting
over there and we kind of waved to each other.
And then when he got ready to leave, he came
over to nicely come over and say hello, and I
stand and I was talking to him for a minute
and he goes, well, you know this guy and it
was a Luster Junior was in our little Yeah, it
was in our little town and Dripping Springs was having
lunch with him. And I got to talk to Al
Junior for a little bit and we were talking about
(02:08):
all kinds of stuff, but he reminded me about the
I don't know which.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
What it came up. But the STP sticker.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
When I was a kid, Andy Grinnatelly and those STP
stickers were everywhere. Now that's too early for you, but uh,
I'm telling you bad. You didn't see anything. It didn't
have one stuck on it. And STP basically is ninety
eight ninety weight motor oil. There's nothing tripped to its
(02:37):
it says. Especially treated petroleum was what STP stands for.
But my race car buddies go, no, it's ninetyweight oil.
And they would use it to pour when they were
assembling engines, so an engine could sit for a while
and would have the oil in there and it wouldn't
just run out, it would sit in there.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
That was that was what it was used for.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
And people would port in their motors and you know,
it didn't help the motors really. But they as I
looked up the granted Telly him and his brother were
they weren't Indian. They were in Ah. They were in
Saint Louis I think it was or Chicago, one of
the two. I can't remember which one it was. But
they had built an Indy car in the fifties. They
were there in the fifties and sixties, they built an
(03:17):
Indy car to race it Indianapolis in the five hundred.
They drove it to the track from either Saint Louis
or Chicago. I can't remember which one it was. They
drove it to the track, qualified it for the race
like one's in the cockpit, and Andy was sitting on
the outside, riding on.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
The riding on the body. You know. It was like
a real long wide.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
Feels like a cannonball run.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
As he rode he said, I rode outside on the
car to the track.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
This is a totally true story. He said.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
We qualified for the Indy five hundred. Then we drove
it to lunch and went to lunch in it, and
then came back and then ran it in the race.
I don't remember how well it did, but they did
qualify and ran the race in this car.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
It just cracked me up.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
And then when he landed this STP sponsorship, he went
on to sponsor Richard Petty.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
By the way, there my generation knows right there, that's
stp'd for us.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
He said he had the biggest fight with Richard Petty
when they sponsored him over how much of the car
was blue and how much of it was STP red
and they would.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Argue every season over it.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
But he won his last race for Richard Petty to
win his two hundredth win with Reagan there, you know,
and all that. It was in the STP car and
they Andy granted Telly was went crazy and Victory Lane.
I remember that as a kid, but just neat stories
like that about people. But I couldn't imagine somebody driving
a car across country and then coming back, you know,
(04:46):
and and and driving it in the street, you know,
him winning or at least getting in the race.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
That makes me feel like we need more, We need
more racing leagues like that, like where you have to
drive the vehicle to the track, yeah, and drive it
away like it's not a you know, like have a
set uh you know, set parameters like nothing. Everyone's in
the same kind of ballpark. But it's got to be
(05:12):
basically a daily driver.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Cliss they come instead of coming in eighteen wheelers or gents.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
If you're Formula one.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
You're talking about the Formula one car is getting you know,
better first class service on an airplane than I've ever received.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
Oh.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
Absolutely, the race horses, you know, the one of the
biggest guys. Is Kolina that drag races. He hauls all
the race horses around. They get treated exactly like what
you're talking about. Yeah, but you need to you need
to be able to drive one to the track, race it,
drive it home.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Yeah, you've got to.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
Drive it home, even if you won the race. If
you can't make it on and have like a like
one hundred mile buffer distance, you gotta at least cover
one hundred miles to get there and one hundred miles
to leave. If you break down on the way home,
you look out.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
Yeah, and it's an honor system though.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
Yeah, I don't know a million dollar idea there, you
know talking about that. The STP branding that is a
masterclass in marketing from that era.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
I mean there's the amount of people that know absolutely
nothing about cars, that wouldn't even know where to put
the oil into the car, wouldn't know how to change
their own oil, much less change a tire.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Right.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
No, the STP brand.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
Yeah, STP the Racer's Edge And you go, what is
it in these car?
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Guys?
Speaker 1 (06:31):
I got you put SVB that's just ninety eight dude.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
It's like it's like when you put a sticker on
the back of the car and it gives it five
extra horsepower.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
He did.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
They don't remember how many stickers they printed over the years.
It was in the millions and millions, but he said,
he said it was the cheapest marketing thing in the world.
You know, to do those stickers. That's pretty pretty awesome. Well,
you've been listening to the Bama Brown Experience with the
Big Puma. We talk about all kinds of stuff here.
So if you've got a suggestion, email us anytime it's
(07:02):
on the iHeart podcast network. Tell all your friends, damn it.
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