Ribbs saw his most success in the Trans-Am Series, winning 17 races while driving for Dan Gurney and Jack Roush.

His father William "Bunny" Ribbs, Sr. was a plumbing contractor and amateur sportscar racer and was friends and neighbors with Indy Car driver Joe Leonard.

As a teenager, Ribbs would take his car out in the California mountains at high speeds, frequently stopped by police for reckless driving.

Ribbs returned to the United States in 1978, making his debut in the Formula Atlantic open-wheel series at Long Beach on April 1, finishing 10th after running as high as 4th.

[7] After being initially rejected by track officials due to a lack of stock car experience,[8] and when the Dodge Magnum Ribbs was supposed to drive was committed to another driver,[9] Wheeler set Ribbs up with owner Will Cronkite and a Bud Moore Engineering-built Ford Torino.

The following year, Ribbs moved to the SCCA Trans-Am Series, driving Chevrolet Camaros with sponsorship from Budweiser.

The deal had been put together in part by boxing promoter Don King, who Ribbs hired to manage him, with sponsorship from Miller Brewing Company, but with a second hand Cosworth machine from Arie Luyendyk.

[13] Also in 1986, Ribbs became the first black person to drive a Formula One car, when he tested for the Bernie Ecclestone-owned Brabham team at the Autódromo do Estoril, Portugal.

In 1987, Ribbs began driving Toyota Celicas for Dan Gurney in the IMSA GT Championship, winning four races.

[2] In 1990, Ribbs joined the CART circuit in a car funded in-part by comedian Bill Cosby.

In 2019, Ribbs won the Indy Legends Charity Pro–Am race with co-driver Ed Sevadjian.

[13] Ribbs, an outspoken Black man (and not an obsequious "Stepin Fetchit," as Ribbs termed the sort of Black man the racing community wanted) had received criticism for his forthrightness during his career, sometimes from other African Americans in auto racing.

In May 2006, a newspaper column by Jason Whitlock of Knight-Ridder quoted Ribbs detailing his criticism of NASCAR and his lauding of the Indianapolis 500.