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Jim Rathmann (racing driver) facts for kids

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Jim Rathmann
Born Royal Richard Rathmann
(1928-07-16)July 16, 1928
Alhambra, California, U.S.
Died November 23, 2011(2011-11-23) (aged 83)
Melbourne, Florida, U.S.
Championship titles
Major victories
Race of Two Worlds (1958)
Indianapolis 500 (1960)
Champ Car career
38 races run over 14 years
Best finish 2nd (1957)
First race 1949 Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis)
Last race 1963 Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis)
First win 1957 Milwaukee 200 (Milwaukee)
Last win 1960 Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis)
Wins Podiums Poles
3 7 1
NASCAR Cup Series career
3 races run over 3 years
Best finish 89th (1950)
First race 1949 Race 4 (Langhorne)
Last race 1951 Motor City 250 (Detroit)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
Formula One World Championship career
Active years 1950, 19521960
Teams Wetteroth, Kurtis Kraft, Moore, Epperly, Watson
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


Royal Richard "Jim" Rathmann (July 16, 1928 – November 23, 2011), was an American racing driver who competed primarily in Championship Cars. Rathmann is best known for winning the Indianapolis 500 in 1960, emerging victorious after a race-long duel with Rodger Ward - as recently as 2023, a panel of fans and historians voted Rathmann's victory as the greatest '500' of all time. In Europe he is well-known for winning the 1958 Race of Two Worlds.

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

Driving career

Championship Car career

Rathmann drove in the AAA and USAC Championship Car series in the 1949–1950 and 1952–1963 seasons with 38 starts, including the Indianapolis 500 during each of those seasons. He had 2 victories in addition to his Indianapolis 500 win, including the USAC Daytona 100.

Rathmann also participated in the two runnings of the Race of Two Worlds at Monza, Italy, winning the 1958 race, a non-championship event.

1960 Indianapolis 500 victory

1960 Ken-Paul Special - June 2022 - Sarah Stierch
Rathmann's winning car from the 1960 Indianapolis 500

Starting in the middle of the first row, 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 Indianapolis 500 history, and has often been considered the greatest Indianapolis 500 ever run.

Stock car career

Rathmann competed in three NASCAR races from 1949 to 1951, competing in one race during each of those years. He debuted in 1949 at Langhorne, dropping out with mechanical issues. In 1950, Rathmann raced at the prestigious Daytona Beach Road Course. Starting 17th in this event, Rathmann finished 12th. In his final race in 1951, Rathmann started 9th at Detroit, but dropped out with mechanical issues.

World Drivers' Championship career

Rathmann Leader Card Monza
Rathmann's Watson-Offenhauser, in which he won the Race of Two Worlds in Monza, Italy.

The AAA/USAC-sanctioned Indianapolis 500 was included in the FIA World Drivers' Championship from 1950 through 1960. Drivers competing at Indianapolis during those years were credited with World Drivers' Championship points and participation in addition to those which they received towards the AAA/USAC National Championship.

Rathmann participated in ten World Drivers' Championship races at Indianapolis. He won once, finished in the top three four times, recorded two fastest laps, and accumulated 29 World Drivers' Championship points. Rathmann's points total is the largest number of World Drivers' Championship points earned by a driver competing solely in the Indianapolis 500.

Post-racing career

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

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. 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.

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

Death

During the decades after his victory, Rathmann was a regular visitor to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during 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.

Awards and honors

Rathmann has been inducted into the following halls of fame:

Motorsports career results

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

FIA World Drivers' 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
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