Johnny Rutherford

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	(1938-03-12) March 12, 1938 Coffeyville, Kansas
Awards	1974, 1976, and 1980 Indianapolis 500 champion 1980 PPG Indycar World Series champion 1986 Michigan 500 champion 1974 USAC Pocono 500 champion 1993 Motorsports Hall of Fame of America Inductee 1995 National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Inductee 1996 International Motorsports Hall of Fame Inductee
NASCAR Cup Series career
35 races run over 12 years
Best finish	33rd - 1981 (Winston Cup)
First race	1963 Daytona Qualifier #2 (Daytona)
Last race	1988 Checker 500 (Phoenix)
First win	1963 Daytona Qualifier #2 (Daytona)
Last win	1963 Daytona Qualifier #2 (Daytona)
Wins Top tens Poles 1 5 5

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.

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 win 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 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 nine straight seasons with a victory making him one of just six drivers in Indy Car history to do so.

In October 1977, Rutherford travelled 'down under' to compete in Australia's most famous motor race, the Bathurst 1000 km (800 mi) touring car race at the Mount Panorama Circuit. There, partnering fellow Indianapolis racer Janet Guthrie (who earlier that year had become the first woman to qualify for the Indianapolis 500), Rutherford drove a V8 powered Holden Torana for the team that had won the 1976 race, Ron Hodgson Racing. Driving a completely unfamiliar car (Australian cars have the steering wheel on the right side of the car) on a 6.172 km (3.835 mi) public road course carved into the side of a mountain, Rutherford qualified 26th out of 60 starters. During practice he complained about his car as it was not as good as the teams lead car driven by 1976 winners Bob Morris and John Fitzpatrick (JR was 8.2 seconds slower). Morris then got in the car and while not as quick as his own Torana, easily lapped over 5 seconds faster showing the problem was simply JR's lack of familiarity with the car and track. Wisely, JR made a cautious start to the race (another new experience was the standing start), but his race would come effectively to an end on lap 8 when he attempted to lap the Ford Escort RS2000 of 1966 winner Bob Holden. The Torana and Escort made contact and Rutherford ended up crashing into an earth bank at the top of The Mountain. The bent Torana was then brought back to the pits on the back of a tilt-tray truck (with the race still going at full speed and cars passing the truck going along the 2 km long Conrod Straight at over 150 mph (241 km/h)). It was then disqualified before being reinstated. Rutherford then completed another 5 laps before finally retiring with Guthrie not getting to drive.

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.

Post-racing career

Rutherford's 24th and final start at Indianapolis would be 1988. By that time he was running only a part-time schedule, and was splitting time working as a television analyst on NBC, ABC, CBS and ESPN and radio analyst on Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network. He also served as the pace car driver for the PPG Indycar series for most of that period. He failed to qualify at Indy in three attempts (1989, 1990, 1992) and was not able to find a ride in 1991 or 1993. Starting in 1989, Rutherford began serving as the driver analyst on the IMS Radio Network. He was never able to achieve his milestone 25th Indy start.

During the month of May 1994, Rutherford officially retired from racing. At its inception in 1996, Rutherford took a full-time position as an official with the IRL, serving as pace car driver and driver coach. Rutherford also served as a racing consultant for Team Pennzoil.

Personal life

Rutherford was born in Coffeyville, Kansas. Rutherford was the honorary chairman of the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance in 2006.

Johnny's wife Betty was a fixture at his side throughout his racing career. His first Indy 500 win in 1974, with Betty looking on from the pits, helped to end the taboo in American racing against allowing women in the pit area. Rutherford, whom has been invited to The White House on behalf of Indy on multiple occasions, is considered a popular ambassador and spokesman for the sport of Indy car racing.

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	Team McLaren	PHX 3	ATL 1	ATL 1	INDY 18	TRE 15	TRE 3	MCH 3	MCH 11	WGL 15	TRE 5	ONT 4	MCH 4	ATL 11	PHX 6				4th	2163
1980	Chaparral Cars	ONT 1	INDY 1	MIL 2	POC 2	MDO 1	MCH 1	WGL 5	MIL 1	ONT 2	MCH 4	MEX 10	PHX 13						1st	4723
1981	Chaparral Cars	PHX 1	MIL 6	ATL 2	ATL 3	MCH 22	RIV 21	MIL 4	MCH 20	WGL 2	MEX 26	PHX 21							5th	120
1982	Chaparral Cars	PHX 4	ATL	MIL 15	CLE 23	MCH 28	MIL 17	POC 12	RIV 3	ROA 12	MCH DNS	PHX 21							12th	62
1983	Patrick Racing	ATL 18	INDY DNQ	MIL 21	CLE	MCH	ROA	POC	RIV	MDO	MCH 23	CPL 24	LAG	PHX 20					NC	0
1984	Doug Shierson Racing	LBH	PHX	INDY DNQ															22nd	20
	Gilmore Racing			INDY 22	MIL	POR	MEA	CLE	MCH 7	ROA	POC 28	MDO
	Team Penske												SAN 5	MCH 14	PHX 11	LAG	CPL
1985	Alex Morales Motorsports	LBH 10	INDY 6	MIL 23	POR 9	MEA 14	CLE 15	MCH 4	ROA DNS	POC 14	MDO 22	SAN 1	MCH 9	LAG 21	PHX 26	MIA 19			11th	51
1986	Alex Morales Motorsports	PHX 5	LBH 9	INDY 8	MIL 4	POR 15	MEA 7	CLE 10	TOR 10	MCH 1	POC 18	MDO 8	SAN 16	MCH 9	ROA 14	LAG 12	PHX 9	MIA 12	11th	78
1987	Alex Morales Motorsports	LBH 23	PHX 9	INDY 11	MIL 9	POR 7	MEA 11	CLE 9	TOR 21	MCH 28	POC 26	ROA 24	MDO 12	NAZ 20	LAG 15	MIA 16			18th	23
1988	King Racing	PHX	LBH	INDY 22	MIL	POR	CLE	TOR	MEA										43rd	0
	AJ Foyt Enterprises									MCH 18	POC	MDO	ROA	NAZ	LAG	MIA
1989	Team Menard	PHX	LBH	INDY DNQ															27th	3
	AJ Foyt Enterprises			INDY DNQ	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	MEA	TOR
	Stoops Racing										MCH 10	POC 13	MDO	ROA
	Machinists Union Racing														NAZ DNS	LAG
1990	Stoops Racing	PHX	LBH	INDY DNQ	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	MEA	TOR	MCH	DEN	VAN	MDO	ROA	NAZ	LAG		NC	-
1992	Walker Racing	SRF	PHX	LBH	INDY DNQ	DET	POR	MIL	NHA	TOR	MCH	CLE	ROA	VAN	MDO	NAZ	LAG		NC	-
1994	AJ Foyt Enterprises	SRF	PHX	LBH	INDY Wth1	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	TOR	MCH	MDO	NHA	VAN	ROA	NAZ	LAG		NC	-

¹ Retired

Indy 500 results

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish
1963	Watson	Offy	26th	29th
1964	Watson	Offy	15th	27th
1965	Halibrand	Ford	11th	31st
1966	Did not compete due to injury
1967	Eagle	Ford	19th	25th
1968	Eagle	Ford	21st	18th
1969	Eagle	Offy	17th	29th
1970	Eagle	Offy	2nd	18th
1971	Eagle	Offy	24th	18th
1972	Brabham	Offy	8th	27th
1973	McLaren	Offy	1st	9th
1974	McLaren	Offy	25th	1st
1975	McLaren	Offy	7th	2nd
1976	McLaren	Offy	1st	1st
1977	McLaren	Cosworth	17th	33rd
1978	McLaren	Cosworth	4th	13th
1979	McLaren	Cosworth	8th	18th
1980	Chaparral	Cosworth	1st	1st
1981	Chaparral	Cosworth	5th	32nd
1982	Chaparral	Cosworth	12th	8th
1983	Wildcat	Cosworth	Practice Crash
1984	March	Cosworth	30th	22nd
1985	March	Cosworth	30th	6th
1986	March	Cosworth	12th	8th
1987	March	Cosworth	8th	11th
1988	Lola	Buick	30th	22nd
1989	Lola	Cosworth	Failed to Qualify
1990	Lola	Cosworth	Failed to Qualify
1991	Did not enter
1992	Lola	Chevrolet	Failed to Qualify
1994	Retired

External links

• Rutherford's career NASCAR and IROC Stats
• Rutherford at Champ Car Stats
• Rutherford at The Greatest 33