Jim (Richard
"Dick") Rathmann
Born:
July 16, 1928 Alhambra, Ca.
Died: November 23, 2011, Melbourne, Florida
(Age 83)
Jim
Rathmann (born Richard
(Dick*) Rathmann
July 16, 1928 from Alhambra, California) is a former
American race car driver who won the Indianapolis 500 in
1960.
He drove in the AAA and USAC
Championship Car series in the 1949-1950 and 1952-1963
seasons with 42 starts, including the Indianapolis 500
in each of those seasons. Rathmann also participated in
the two runnings of the Race of Two Worlds at the
Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Italy, winning the 1958
event. He had 6 victories in addition to his Indy 500
win. He also drove in 3 races in the NASCAR series from
1949-1951.
Since retiring, Rathmann has owned
Chevrolet dealerships in Palm Bay and Melbourne, FL. He
is currently the oldest living winner of the Indy 500.
Rathmann was inducted into the
Motorsports Hall of Fame of America on August 15, 2007.
The ceremony took place in Detroit.
*The Name Game
Dick was the
elder brother of 1960 Indianapolis 500 winner
Jim Rathmann. Jim and Dick
switched names in 1946 so that his younger brother could enter a race
while underage. For what was supposed to be a short time, he adopted the
name "Dick" and his brother adopted the name "Jim." The name change
stuck for life.
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OBITUARY -
November 23, 2011
The Associated Press
MELBOURNE, Fla. (AP) — Jim
Rathmann won seven times on auto racing's
biggest stages.
An
elusive win at Indianapolis in the historic
1960 race finally turned him into a star.
Son Jimmy Rathmann said in an e-mail message
to Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials
that his father died Wednesday at a hospice
facility in Melbourne, nine days after
having a seizure at his home. He was 83.
Rathmann was a regular on the IndyCar
circuit from 1949-63, but had to settle for
second in 1952, 1957 and 1959 at
Indianapolis. Then, in 1960, he finally
broke through in one of the greatest two-man
battles in 500 history.
Over the final 250 miles, he and defending
champion Rodger Ward engaged in a test of
wills. They traded the lead 14 times in two
hours, rarely running more than a few feet
apart while fighting worn tires and guessing
at fuel mileage relayed to them only by pit
board.
With three laps to go, it looked as if
Rathmann would once again finish second as
Ward continued to lead the race. But when
Ward noticed the discoloration in the center
of his right front tire, he had to slow down
just to stay in the top two. The relieved
Rathmann nursed his car back to the lead,
winning the race at a then-record speed of
138.767 mph to avoid the dubious distinction
of being the only four-time runner-up in 500
history.
And though Rathman revered Indianapolis,
there was more to his career.
Born Royal Richard Rathmann, he borrowed the
name Jim from his older brother to race
underage in the mid-1940s. The name stuck,
and his brother later raced as Dick Rathmann.
In 1948, he moved from California to Chicago
where he raced hot rods in Andy Granatelli's
Chicago-based Hurricane Hot Rod Association.
One year later, he was driving IndyCars and
over the next decade, Rathmann became a
household name in racing circles. He started
twice in Italy's "Race of Two Worlds,"
winning the title in 1958, and raced three
times on the NASCAR circuit from 1949-51. He
won the 100-mile USAC national championship
race in 35 minutes at a brand-new Daytona
International Speedway, and he drove the
famed Granatelli brothers' car in 1952.
In
1993, he was inducted into the Auto Racing
Hall of Fame, and he was inducted into the
Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2007.
But it was the Indy win that vaulted
Rathmann into the national spotlight.
He became close friends with the early
astronauts and even convinced one of them to
place his car dealership decal on a cart
that was driven on the moon. Rathmann also
became part of the GCR Corporation team that
raced in the USAC Series in 1966 and 1967.
The "G'' represented Gus Grissom, the "C''
represented Gordon Cooper and the "R'' was
for Rathmann.
In recent years, though, Rathmann's health
problems prevented him from making his
annual journey back to Indy, where he often
played golf with former competitors such as
Ward, Lloyd Ruby and Parnelli Jones and
actor James Garner. With Rathmann's death,
Jones is now the oldest living winner of the
500.
Rathmann also drove the Indy pace car six
times, before making his last Indy
appearance in February 2009 at the
speedway's Centennial Era Gala.
He is survived by wife Kay, sons Jimmy and
Jay, stepsons Zack and Tosh Pence, five
grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
|

Jim
Rathmann, winner of the
1960 Indianapolis 500, the 1957
Monza (Italy) 500, and what for many
years was the fastest National
Championship race ever held
(Daytona, 1959), always appeared to
be poker-faced and not particularly
moved in victory shots. Did this
fellow even like racing? He'd stand
in the cockpit with a wreath around
his neck, grime all over his face,
and his helmet still in place, but
with the unfastened straps dangling
lazily around his chin. A plea from
the battery of photographers for
some sort of acknowledgement would
result in the bare trace of a smile,
and a wave of one hand at
approximately chest level.
So was he just
one of those iron "he-men" who
simply never showed emotion, or was
he even bored by racing and in it
merely to make a living? In truth,
Jim Rathmann loved racing. He was
just a matter-of-fact individual who
had been plying his trade since the
age of 16, and had been involved in
business even before that, earning a
living in the flourishing hot-rod
business while still in high school.
As competitive as anybody on a race
track (particularly those with paved
surfaces), the off-track version of
Jim Rathmann was (and is) actually a
fun-loving, good-natured person, who
has a twinkle in his eye, thoroughly
enjoys a practical joke, and
possesses a most infectious giggle
when telling an amusing story. And
he certainly has plenty of those.
Born in Los
Angeles as Richard Rathmann, he was
just 16 years old when he decided he
wanted to start racing hot rods
along with his friends, one of whom
was an even younger Troy Ruttman.
While Ruttman was able to get his
mother to alter his birth
certificate, Rathmann dealt with the
"underage" problem by swapping
identities with his brother James,
who was two and a half years older.
Thus Richard became "Jim," and James
(the 1958 Indianapolis 500
pole-sitter) became "Dick."
Jim (as we know
him) competed in 14 Indianapolis
500-Mile Races, finishing as
runner-up three times (1952, 1957
and 1959) before finally triumphing
in 1960 in what many feel was the
greatest Indianapolis 500 ever. It
certainly featured the greatest
sustained two-man battle ever
witnessed at the famed track, as
during the entire second half of the
"500" Rathmann and defending winner
Rodger Ward were never any more than
a few feet apart from each other,
swapping the lead a total of 14
times. It was only when Ward was
forced to slow due to a worn tire
with three laps remaining that
Rathmann was finally able to claim
the victory which had eluded him so
many times before.
Three times the
champion of the Midwest track
roadster circuit and one of the
stars of Andy Granatelli's Hurricane
Hot Rod Association?Rathmann was the
third-ranking driver in the 1955 AAA
National Stock Car standings. In
1957, he almost won the USAC
National Championship title. He had
ceased competing on dirt tracks by
this time, but with a second-place
finish at Indianapolis and a first
in the Milwaukee 200, he found
himself leading in points. He showed
up for the final two races of the
year, on the dirt tracks of
Sacramento and Phoenix, but was
unable to hold off the onslaught by
dirt-track specialist Jimmy Bryan.
In 1958, Rathmann
won all three legs of the Monza 500,
posting an amazing overall average
of 166.722 mph, while in the first
(and only) appearance of the USAC
championship cars at the brand-new
Daytona International Speedway in
April 1959, he completed the 100
miles in just over 35 minutes to
average an incredible 170.261 mph.
Set up with a
Cadillac and Chevrolet dealership in
Melbourne, Florida, Rathmann
resisted an agreed-upon retirement
from racing for several years until
he was finally "forced" to do so in
the spring of 1964. By that time, he
had climbed to third in the all-time
laps-completed category at
Indianapolis, with only Cliff
Bergere and Mauri Rose having
traveled a greater distance.
Close friends of
several of the original U. S.
astronauts, Rathmann briefly
participated as a "500" car entrant
in 1966 and 1967, "GCR Racing"
having comprised Gus Grissom and
Gordon Cooper, with Jim being the
"R."
A perennial
visitor to the Indianapolis Motor
Speedway each May, he served as the
pace car driver for the "500" six
times between 1969 and 1982, and has
continued to be an outstanding
ambassador for the sport.
By Donald Davidson
http://www.mshf.com/
|
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NASCAR career
Rathmann drove in 3 NASCAR
Strictly Stock/Grand National races from 1949 to 1951,
competing in one race in each of those years. He debuted
in 1949 at Langhorne. Starting 13th in the race,
Rathmann slid to 32nd by the end of the race. In 1950,
Rathmann raced at the pretigious Daytona Beach Road
Course. Starting 17th in this event, Rathmann finished a
career-best 12th, two laps down. In his final race in
1951, Rathmann started a career-best 9th at Detroit. He
finished 52nd in this race.
'Rebel' Frank Mundy' Olds (51) racing Jim Rathmann's Hudson (7)
the Milwaukee Mille in 1953

Jim Rathmann owned a chevrolet dealership to the south
in Melbourne Fla. and owned and sponsored this '58 checy
for the 1958 Daytona Beach race with Banjo Mathews
driving.

The
1960 Nascar Grand National Champion Rex White in his No.
4 car and the 1960 Indy 500 Champion Jim Rathmann (who
also won with #4 at Indy)
Indy 500 Win
After
starting in the middle of the first row, Jim Rathmann
ran in the front the entire race. From the midway point
on, Rathmann and fellow driver Rodger Ward were locked
in a neck and neck duel for first. Tire wear became an
issue as the race wore on and Rathmann was able to keep
his wheels fresh long enough to outrace Ward to the
finish. The race featured the most recorded lead changes
in 500 history. The win was especially sweet for
Rathmann, as he had been the runner-up 3 of the previous
8 races.

Smokey Yunick in the
black hat

Rare autograph
Indy 500 Results
Year |
Car |
Start |
Qual |
Rank |
Finish |
Laps |
Led |
Retired |
1949 |
68 |
21 |
126.516 |
29 |
11 |
175 |
0 |
Flagged |
1950 |
76 |
28 |
129.959 |
24 |
24 |
122 |
0 |
Flagged |
1952 |
59 |
10 |
136.343 |
7 |
2 |
200 |
0 |
Running |
1953 |
2 |
25 |
135.666 |
28 |
7 |
200 |
1 |
Running |
1954 |
38 |
28 |
138.228 |
21 |
28 |
110 |
0 |
Crash T4 |
1955 |
33 |
20 |
138.707 |
24 |
14 |
191 |
0 |
Flagged |
1956 |
24 |
2 |
145.120 |
3 |
20 |
175 |
3 |
Rings |
1957 |
26 |
32 |
139.806 |
31 |
2 |
200 |
24 |
Running |
1958 |
2 |
20 |
143.147 |
15 |
5 |
200 |
0 |
Running |
1959 |
16 |
3 |
144.433 |
4 |
2 |
200 |
19 |
Running |
1960 |
4 |
2 |
146.371 |
4 |
1 |
200 |
100 |
Running |
1961 |
4 |
11 |
145.413 |
13 |
30 |
48 |
6 |
Magneto |
1962 |
44 |
23 |
146.610 |
21 |
9 |
200 |
0 |
Running |
1963 |
16 |
29 |
147.838 |
32 |
24 |
99 |
0 |
Magneto |
Totals |
2320 |
153 |
|
|
Starts |
14 |
Poles |
0 |
Front Row |
3 |
Wins |
1 |
Top 5 |
5 |
Top 10 |
7 |
Retired |
4 |
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World Championship Career
Summary
The
Indianapolis 500 was part of the FIA World Championship
from 1950 through 1960. Drivers competing at Indy during
those years were credited with World Championship points
and participation. Jim Rathmann participated in 10 World
Championship races. He won 1 race, set 2 fastest lead
laps, and finished on the podium 4 times. He accumulated
a total of 29 championship points. This total is the
largest number of World Championship points earned by a
driver in the Indianapolis 500

A fan sent me
this fantastic print of Jim Rathmann in the
Ken-Paul Special, 1960, Indianapolis 500
Bill
Daniels sent this: "I am the the
publisher of the limited edition print
and owner of publication rights and you
have my permission to use the image on
your site.
Limited edition print signed by
Jim Rathmann and artist Colin Carter."
Available at
www.BillDaniels.com . Check it out!
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Almost 2nd Four Times In A Row
It has often been
said that the 1960 Indianapolis 500 was the most
exciting ever with Jim Rathmann and defending Indy
Champion Roger Ward fighting a fierce duel for the
entire second half of the race. Both cars were never
more than a few car lengths apart and the lead changed
dozens of times before, with less than four laps to go.
Ward's front tire was down to it's white cord and he
backed off whereas Jim Rathmann with equally poor rear
tires, decided to push on, winning the race by 13
seconds with a record average speed of 138.767 mph to
give him a well deserved victory, after three previous
second place finishes.
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Smokey Yunick's Unique "Winged" Special
The first wing set-up at Indy. Needless to say<
it was controversial. But FAST.
(Note Rathmann's Signature)

Jim Rathmann giving advice to Don
Boberick

Rathmann loved Go-Karting and even
had a manufacturer name a kart after him
(Notice friction-scrub brake)

Jim Rathmann with Carroll Shelby -
Winners of the 1960 Vanderbilt Cup Race
 


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