Johnny Rutherford : biography
For the Major League Baseball pitcher, see Johnny Rutherford (baseball). For other people with a similar name, see John Rutherford
John Sherman Rutherford III (born March 12, 1938), better known as Johnny Rutherford, and also known as "Lone Star JR" is a former U.S. automobile racer known for being one of nine drivers to win the prestigious Indianapolis 500 mile race at least three times. Rutherford won that race in 1974, 1976, and 1980.http://www.aeispeakers.com/speakerbio.php?SpeakerID=878
Rutherford began racing Modified stock cars in 1959 and he also dabbled in stock car racing, making 35 NASCAR Winston Cup starts from 1963 to 1988. Rutherford won in his first start, at Daytona International Speedway driving for Smokey Yunick. This made him one of the youngest drivers ever to win in NASCAR history, in a full points-paying NASCAR race.
Racing career
In 1959, Rutherford started driving modified stock cars in Dallas. He joined the International Motor Contest Association sprint car circuit in 1961 leading it for most of 1962. Rutherford later joined the United States Auto Club (USAC) starting in the Hoosier Hundred and later winning his first championship.
Rutherford set a world record for speed in his first qualifying effort in a stock car during qualifying for the 1963 Daytona 500. Later that year he also had his first start in the Indianapolis 500. Rutherford’s first Indy car race took place at the Atlanta 250. He won the USAC National Sprint Car Championship in 1965.
On April 3, 1966, Rutherford suffered a serious crash at Eldora Speedway. His car flipped out of the track, and he suffered broken arms, a broken finger, and a head injury. He was forced to sit out the 1966 Indy 500.
Rutherford won pole position at the Indy 500 in 1973, 1976, and 1980. In 1973, Rutherford set a one-lap track record of 199.071 mph, falling just shy of becoming the first driver to break the 200 mph barrier at Indianapolis. Victories at the Indy 500 for him came in the years 1974, 1976 and 1980. In 1984, at Michigan International Speedway, Rutherford set an all time Indy car qualifying lap speed record of 215.189 mph. He became the first driver to win all three 500 mile races, in 1986, by winning the Michigan 500. Rutherford recorded 9 straight seasons with a victory making him one of just 6 drivers in Indy Car history to do so.
Rutherford’s NASCAR Winston Cup career included 35 starts from 1963 to 1988. He won in his first start, at Daytona International Speedway driving for Smokey Yunick. The win, in the second 100-mile Daytona 500 qualifying race, made him one of the youngest drivers ever to win in NASCAR history, in a full points-paying NASCAR race. (Until 1971, the qualifying races were full points-paying races.) In 1981, Rutherford drove twelve races, the most he ever raced in a single NASCAR season. In addition, Rutherford competed in five runnings of the International Race of Champions – 1975, 1977, 1978, 1980, and 1984.
Awards
- Inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1996
- Inducted in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1995
- Inducted in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1993
American open–wheel racing results
(key)
PPG Indycar Series
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)
Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Rank | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1979 | McLaren International | PHX3 | ATL1 | ATL1 | INDY18 | TRE15 | TRE3 | MCH3 | MCH11 | WGL15 | TRE5 | ONT4 | MCH4 | ATL11 | PHX6 | 4th | 2163 | |||
1980 | Chaparral Cars Inc. | ONT1 | INDY1 | MIL2 | POC2 | MDO1 | MCH1 | WGL5 | MIL1 | ONT2 | MCH4 | MEX10 | PHX13 | 1st | 4723 | |||||
1981 | Chaparral Cars Inc. | PHX1 | MIL6 | ATL2 | ATL3 | MCH22 | RIV21 | MIL4 | MCH20 | WGL2 | MEX26 | PHX21 | 5th | 120 | ||||||
1982 | Chaparral Cars Inc. | PHX4 | ATL | MIL15 | CLE23 | MCH28 | MIL17 | POC12 | RIV3 | ROA12 | MCHDNS | PHX21 | 12th | 62 | ||||||
1983 | Patrick Racing | ATL18 | INDYDNQ | MIL21 | CLE | MCH | ROA | POC | RIV | MDO | MCH23 | CPL24 | LAG | PHX20 | NC | 0 | ||||
1984 | Gilmore Racing | LBH | PHX | INDY22 | MIL | POR | MEA | CLE | MCH7 | ROA | POC28 | MDO | 22nd | 20 | ||||||
Team Penske | SAN5 | MCH14 | PHX11 | LAG | CPL | |||||||||||||||
1985 | Alex Morales Motorsports | LBH10 | INDY6 | MIL23 | POR9 | MEA14 | CLE15 | MCH4 | ROADNS | POC14 | MDO22 | SAN1 | MCH9 | LAG21 | PHX26 | MIA19 | 11th | 51 | ||
1986 | Alex Morales Motorsports | PHX5 | LBH9 | INDY8 | MIL4 | POR15 | MEA7 | CLE10 | TOR10 | MCH1 | POC18 | MDO8 | SAN16 | MCH9 | ROA14 | LAG12 | PHX9 | MIA12 | 11th | 78 |
1987 | Alex Morales Motorsports | LBH23 | PHX9 | INDY11 | MIL9 | POR7 | MEA11 | CLE9 | TOR21 | MCH28 | POC26 | ROA24 | MDO12 | NAZ20 | LAG15 | MIA16 | 18th | 23 | ||
1988 | Bernstein Racing | PHX | LBH | INDY22 | MIL | POR | CLE | TOR | MEA | 43th | 0 | |||||||||
A. J. Foyt Enterprises | MCH18 | POC | MDO | ROA | NAZ | LAG | MIA | |||||||||||||
1989 | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | PHX | LBH | INDYDNQ | MIL | DET | POR | CLE | MEA | TOR | 27th | 3 | ||||||||
Stoops Freightliner | MCH10 | POC13 | MDO | ROA | ||||||||||||||||
Machinists Union Racing | NAZDNS | LAG | ||||||||||||||||||
1990 | Conseco Racing | PHX | LBH | INDYDNQ | MIL | DET | POR | CLE | MEA | TOR | MCH | DEN | VAN | MDO | ROA | NAZ | LAG | NC | – | |
1992 | Walker Motorsport | SRF | PHX | LBH | INDYDNQ | DET | POR | MIL | NHA | TOR | MCH | CLE | ROA | VAN | MDO | NAZ | LAG | NC | – | |
1994 | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | SRF | PHX | LBH | INDYWth1 | MIL | DET | POR | CLE | TOR | MCH | MDO | NHA | VAN | ROA | NAZ | LAG | NC | – |