Willy T. Ribbs, who made his mark in American motorsports nearly 20 years ago as a road racer, joins the Craftsman Truck Series in 2001 as the first element in Dodge's diversity program that is designed to bring minority drivers and crewmembers into NASCAR racing. Ribbs will drive a No. 8 Dodge Ram for Winston Cup driver and CTS team owner Bobby Hamilton, who also fields truck entries for full-time driver Joe Ruttman and himself in a limited number of races.

Ribbs, 42, has made few forays into NASCAR competition but he did make two Winston Cup starts in 1986, splitting a pair of decisions with his teammate, Ruttman, who was a Winston Cup regular at that time. Ribbs recently competed in the LA Street Race for the Featherlite Southwest Series.

Ribbs', whose father "Bunny" Ribbs was a noted SCCA sports car racer, began his driving career in 1977, upon graduation from high school. He won the Formula Ford Dunlop Championship in Europe in his first season of competition before returning to the U.S., where he competed for the Ford, Chevrolet and Toyota factories in sports cars, winning more than 20 races before a brief career in Indy cars.