Uppity: The Willy T. Ribbs Story

I knew of some of his accomplishments but never knew the backstory. Mr. Ribbs along with others during this time raised the level of consciousness in America concerning race issues and how he never played the victim but looked at his struggles as hurdles rather than brick walls. Lewis Hamilton is standing on one of his shoulders.

I didn't know anything about Willy T. Ribbs before watching this and very little about American motorsport (oval tracks to an Englishman are generally scoffed at), but by the time I reached the last 20mins of this documentary I was rooting for that man like I have never rooted for anyone before. Willy isn't a household name with multiple world championships to his name (although in a colour-blind world he might well have been), but his story/career is one of the most inspiring in any sport. Whether motor racing is your thing or not this is well worth watching.

Really enjoyed this Doc! If you like any form of racing you will love this. Never knew much about Willy T but glad I do now. Thank you Adam Carroll's for this!

Pretty good motor sport doco. I'm a NZer and don't know much about US motorsport, so it was interesting to see historical Nascar, Trans Am, Atlantic Championship, IMSA and Indie car racing and more.

All in all enjoyable, but you do start to get a strong sense that Willy T had a big ego and enjoyed boasting, something people rarely find endearing regardless of skin colour. While there was doubtless racism going on, you get the sense that the race card is being played too often to explain this or that problem. There's always two sides to the story and this, for better or worse, is definitely a one sided story by a proud racer. It would have been interesting to hear the full story from those that stood accused.

One thing that stood out is the supposed intentional crashing of Willy T by Pruett in IMSA. The footage looked like Pruett had the inside line and Willy T turned in on him. The camera angle didn't do Willy T any favours for his side of the story. To hear that Willy T then hit the guy while he sat inside a car next to a woman just wasn't cool, but Willy T is portrayed as the victim in all of it.

To recap, decently interesting for people into racing. However critical watchers will note that this is definitely a very one sided story.

Is a sad movie that reminds us how bad it was/still is racism (injustice) but had me with tears of joy at the end, knowing that Wllly never give up.

Extremity well produced documentary with an outstanding narrative, that brings hope by showing us that not all white guys in Motorsports are evil... because indeed, it is a cut throat field where the good bud white guys network always seems to win...

Well done, well done Adama Carolla!

PS: people that blames his attitude had never been treated differently for no apparent reason, or ask themselves why I have to try harder than my counter parts? A victim of society, Willy was in fight mode at all time and on top having to prove he had something to offer to the teams as the other drivers (caucasian), and since is Motorsports, Willy had to prove that he was better than them, because that's why we rave!