Jim Rathmann

Jim Rathmann (July 16, 1928 – November 23, 2011), born Royal Richard Rathmann, was an American race car driver who won the Indianapolis 500 in 1960.

Jim Rathmann

Born	(1928-07-16)July 16, 1928 Alhambra, California
Died	November 23, 2011(2011-11-23) (aged 83) Melbourne, Florida
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	American
Active years	1950, 1952–1960
Teams	Kurtis Kraft, Epperly, Watson, Wetteroth, Moore
Entries	10
Championships	0
Wins	1
Podiums	4
Career points	29
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	2
First entry	1950 Indianapolis 500
First win	1960 Indianapolis 500
Last win	1960 Indianapolis 500
Last entry	1960 Indianapolis 500

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 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 to 1951.

Rathmann and his older brother notably swapped names while teenagers. As a 16-year-old going by the name of "Dick Rathmann," he wanted to start racing. In order to enter races, he borrowed his older brother's I.D. and assumed the identity of "Jim Rathmann."[1] The name change stuck for life in public circles.

On August 15, 2007, Rathmann was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America.[2] The ceremony took place in Detroit.[3] He died in 2011 after a seizure.[4]

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 prestigious 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.[5]

Indianapolis 500 win

Started first row centered, 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 the "Indy 500" history.

Complete AAA/USAC Championship Car results

Year	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Pos	Points
1949	ARL	INDY 11	MIL	TRE	SPR	MIL	DUQ	PIK	SYR	DET	SPR	LAN	SAC	DMR DNQ	39th	100
1950	INDY 24	MIL	LAN	SPR	MIL	PIK	SYR	DET	SPR	SAC	PHX	BAY	DAR		-	0
1952	INDY 2	MIL 10	RAL 4	SPR DNQ	MIL DNQ	DET	DUQ 18	PIK	SYR 18	DNC DNQ	SJS	PHX			6th	1.070
1953	INDY 7	MIL	SPR	DET	SPR	MIL	DUQ	PIK	SYR	ISF	SAC	PHX			26th	169.5
1954	INDY 28	MIL	LAN	DAR 27	SPR	MIL	DUQ	PIK	SYR	ISF	SAC	PHX	LVG		-	0
1955	INDY 14	MIL 20	LAN	SPR	MIL	DUQ	PIK	SYR	ISF	SAC	PHX				-	0
1956	INDY 20	MIL 19	LAN	DAR 11	ATL 4	SPR DNQ	MIL 15	DUQ 3	SYR DNQ	ISF 15	SAC	PHX			23rd	300
1957	INDY 2	LAN	MIL 5	DET	ATL	SPR	MIL 1	DUQ	SYR	ISF	TRE 6	SAC 12	PHX 6		2nd	1.470
1958	TRE	INDY 5	MIL 7	LAN	ATL	SPR	MIL 23	DUQ	SYR	ISF	TRE	SAC	PHX		14th	560
1959	DAY 1	TRE 4	INDY 2	MIL DNQ	LAN	SPR	MIL 4	DUQ	SYR	ISF	TRE	SAC	PHX		4th	1,154.8
1960	TRE	INDY 1	MIL DNQ	LAN	SPR	MIL 18	DUQ	SYR	ISF	TRE 21	SAC	PHX			4th	1,000
1961	TRE DNQ	INDY 30	MIL DNQ	LAN	MIL	SPR	DUQ	SYR DNQ	ISF	TRE	SAC	PHX			-	0
1962	TRE	INDY 9	MIL	LAN	TRE	SPR	MIL	LAN	SYR	ISF	TRE	SAC	PHX		19th	200
1963	TRE	INDY 24	MIL	LAN	TRE	SPR	MIL	DUQ	ISF	TRE	SAC	PHX			-	0

Indianapolis 500 results

Year[6] 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 2nd 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 2nd 200 24 Running 1958 2 20 143.147 15 5 200 0 Running 1959 16 3 144.433 4 2nd 200 19 Running 1960 4 2 146.371 4 1st 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

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	WDC	Points
1950	Pioneer Auto Repair	Wetteroth	Offenhauser L4	GBR	MON	500 24	SUI	BEL	FRA	ITA					NC	0
1952	Grancor-Wynn's Oil	Kurtis Kraft 3000	Offenhauser L4	SUI	500 2	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	NED	ITA				10th	6
1953	Travelon Trailer	Kurtis Kraft 500B	Offenhauser L4	ARG	500 7	NED	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	SUI	ITA			NC	0
1954	Bardahl	Kurtis Kraft 500C	Offenhauser L4	ARG	500 28	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	SUI	ITA	ESP			NC	0
1955	Belond Miracle Power	Epperly	Offenhauser L4	ARG	MON	500 14	BEL	NED	GBR	ITA					NC	0
1956	Hopkins	Kurtis Kraft 500C	Offenhauser L4	ARG	MON	500 20	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	ITA				NC	0
1957	Chiropractic	Epperly Indy Roadster	Offenhauser L4	ARG	MON	500 2	FRA	GBR	GER	PES	ITA				10th	7
1958	Leader Card 500 Roadster	Epperly Indy Roadster	Offenhauser L4	ARG	MON	NED	500 5	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	POR	ITA	MOR	21st	2
1959	Simoniz	Watson Indy Roadster	Offenhauser L4	MON	500 2	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	POR	ITA	USA			11th	6
1960	Ken-Paul	Watson Indy Roadster	Offenhauser L4	ARG	MON	500 1	NED	BEL	FRA	GBR	POR	ITA	USA		8th	8

World Championship career summary

The Indianapolis 500 was part of the FIA World Championship of Drivers each year 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.

After racing

Astronaut Alan Shepard's Corvette on display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex

Rathmann later owned a Chevrolet-Cadillac dealership in Melbourne, Florida, where he befriended astronauts Alan Shepard, Gus Grissom, and Gordon Cooper. Rathmann convinced GM President Ed Cole to set up a program which supplied each astronaut with a pair of new cars each year. Most chose a family car for their wives and a Corvette for themselves.[7] Alan Bean recalls Corvettes lined up in the parking lot outside the astronaut offices at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, and friendly races between Shepard and Grissom along the Florida beach roads.[8]

After retiring from the car business, Rathmann lived with his wife, Mary Kay, in Indialantic, Florida.[9]

Death

Over the decades after his victory, Rathmann was a regular visitor to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the month of May each year. He drove the pace car several times. However, he missed the 100th anniversary celebration in 2011 due to failing health. Rathmann died on November 23, 2011. He had reportedly suffered a seizure at his home days earlier and died at a hospice center in Melbourne, Florida.[4]

References

1. "The Talk of Gasoline Alley - May 11, 2011
2. Jim Rathmann at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
3. "Rathmann, Elliott lead way". The Indianapolis Star. February 20, 2007. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
4. "1960 Indy 500 winner Rathmann dead at 83". Sports Illustrated. 23 November 2011. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
5. "Driver Jim Rathmann Career Statistics - Racing-Reference.info". www.racing-reference.info.
6. Jim Rathmann Indy 500 Race Stats
7. Bean, Alan. "Training".
8. Nelson, John (June 2009). "The AstroVette an astronaut's Corvette from the beginning of the Space Age". Vette.
9. Aumann, Mark (21 July 2010). "Rathmanns crisscross NASCAR, Indianapolis". NASCAR.COM. Retrieved 23 November 2011.

External links

• The Greatest 33

Preceded by Rodger Ward	Indianapolis 500 Winner 1960	Succeeded by A. J. Foyt