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INDYCAR: Robin Miller’s Farewell To Jim Rathmann
Rathmann, who passed away Tuesday at age 83 in a hospice at Melbourne, Fla., drove into history as the 1960 Indy 500 winner.
Robin Miller  |  Posted November 23, 2011  
1960 Indy 500 winner Jim Rathmann died on Tuesday. (IMS Photo)
He won some of the fastest races of his era but Jim Rathmann’s legacy was cemented at the 1960 Indianapolis 500 when he beat Rodger Ward in what still stands as the best duel ever at 16th & Georgetown.

Rathmann, who passed away Tuesday at age 83 in a hospice at Melbourne, Fla., drove into history 51 years ago after a race-long battle with Ward that saw them exchange the lead 14 times.

“I was real tired of finishing second and that was as hard as I ever drove a race car,” said the three-time Indy bridesmaid a few years ago while reminiscing about his IMS career, which ran from 1949-63.

“A lot of people still tell me it was the best race they ever saw so it’s always nice to hear that.”

A native of Los Angeles who began racing in hot rods with Troy Ruttman before moving to Chicago to drive in Andy Granatelli’s Hurricane Hot Road Association, Rathmann’s qualified for his initial Indy 500 in 1949 at age 20 – one year before he was legally eligible.
With the death of Jim Rathmann, right, the distinction of being the oldest living Indy 500 winner has been passed to 78-year-old Parnelli Jones, left. (IMS Photo)

But he’d already been living a lie about who he was for several years before that. Born Royal Richard Rathmann, he borrowed the identity of older brother Jim so he could start running hot rods in L.A. and they decided to keep their name switch the rest of their lives. Dick Rathmann (really Jim) competed in nine Indy 500s.

The younger Rathmann caught on quickly to Indy, finishing second to Ruttman in 1952 and he was runner-up to Sam Hanks in 1957 and to Ward in 1959.

“When I got to Indy, Jim was the guy to beat,” recalled Parnelli Jones, now the oldest living winner at 78. “I really didn’t know him but one day in practice I passed him so he came over my garage later and said: ‘Hey kid, how did you do that?’

“That made me feel pretty good.”
Added three-time Indy winner Johnny Rutherford, who raced against Rathmann in 1963: “Jim was a steady, heady driver who was always up front and knew how to take care of his tires which was really important back then on those little 6-inch wide wheels. But he could drive hard when he had to.”

Before finally conquering Ward and Indy, Rathmann had scored an impressive victory in the tripleheader at Monza, Italy in 1958 with an average speed of 166 mph (the pole at Indy that year was his brother at 145 mph).

He followed that up by winning the first and only Indy car race at Daytona International Speedway in 1959. Speeds on the 31-degree banking topped 176 mph in qualifying and pole-sitter George Amick would lose his life on the last lap.

“We’d run Monza for two years and it was much faster than we’d ever run so Daytona didn’t bother me,” said Rathmann in an interview three years ago. “There was nothing like Daytona in this country but it was just another track to a lot of us.”

A savvy racer on and off the track (he opened a successful Chevrolet/Cadillac dealership with his Indy winnings), Rathmann enjoyed practical jokes as much as going fast.

“Aggie (car owner J.C. Agajanian) always had the same room at the Speedway Motel every May so one year Jim managed to get into Aggie’s room a day or so before he arrived,” recalled Rutherford. “He put a baby alligator in the bathtub with a little water and when Aggie went in to use the facilities the first time he got quite a surprise.

“And I was an eyewitness to one of his pranks. Standing outside Gasoline Alley one night, a Cadillac pulled up, a blonde stuck her head out the window and waved and drove into Gasoline Alley. The yellow shirt guarding the gate nearly had a heart attack and went chasing after the car because, you know, women were off limits in the garages or pits in those days.

“He knocked on the door of the Cadillac, Jim rolled down the window and the guard demanded to know where the blonde was. Rathmann opened the door and the car was empty so the guard took off looking for the mystery woman. Jim smiled, reached under the seat and showed me his blonde wig.”

In failing health prior to his stroke nine days ago, Rathmann didn’t get to come back for the 100th anniversary photo last May but carried on a nice conversation over the phone with IMS historian Donald Davidson just two weeks ago.

Asked how we should remember Rathmann, A.J. Foyt replied:

“He was a super guy and a helluva racer who never gave up and raced his ass off to beat Ward. He was damn good in those roadsters and there’s not many of us left.”



Robin Miller brings 40 years of experience to his role as SPEED.com's senior open-wheel reporter, and serves as a frequent contributor to SPEED Center and Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain.
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