Long after his third Indianapolis 500 win in 1980, John Sherman Rutherford III maintains a well-deserved reputation as a personable, articulate, refined auto racing ambassador.
Belying that personal sophistication, Rutherford’s racing career evolved on the dangerous, rough-and-tumble short tracks unique to American racing. He clawed his way to the top from treacherous places like Devil’s Bowl Speedway, Eldora and Winchester.
He loved the action on the IMCA dustbowls, on USAC’s notorious half-miles like Terre Haute and the goose-bump-raising, paved high banks.
He reveled in the camaraderie with his competitors as they banged across the country in old station wagons and pickups, eating bologna and white-bread sandwiches, and bathing in lakes and streams.
By 1966 his success on those fearsome facilities had pushed Rutherford towards the upper echelons of the sport. He’d already made three Indianapolis 500 appearances and claimed the 1965 USAC National Sprint Car championship.
He seemed on his way.
Then events at Eldora nearly ended his career. It was one of Rutherford’s favorite tracks. He’d captured his first USAC feature win there in 1964, and in 1965 set a speed record on the half-mile clay oval.
His prowess at Eldora inspired owner/promoter, Earl Baltes, to proclaim the Spring 1966, race Johnny Rutherford Day.
But Rutherford was too busy working the bugs out of Wally Meskowski’s new sprint car to help celebrate the honor.
He only made the feature through a heat race, then while attempting to pass teammate, Mario Andretti, a rock torn loose by Andretti’s churning tires, pounded Rutherford between his eyes. It knocked him unconscious.
The out-of-control car bounded hard into the guardrail flipped 25 feet into the air and tumbled over a 60-foot embankment into a creek below. When the car slammed to a stop, right side up, Rutherford’s flailing arms impacted the windshield, snapping both.
He spent a month in the hospital and endured a year of arduous recovery that included seven surgeries, multiple bone grafts and bouts with infection.
Demanding as that was, Rutherford never thought of quitting. He’d fallen in love with racing while going to races with his dad as a kid, and had no intention of letting go of his passion.
Popularly known as, “Lone Star JR,” Rutherford was actually born in Coffeyville, Kan., before his family finally settled in Fort Worth, Texas. There, Rutherford launched his racing career at nearby Devil’s Bowl Speedway.
He first ran his own ’32 Chevy coupe, but soon decided that being a car owner wasn’t for him and agreed to drive another owner’s car. It was a sprint car, and it transformed his life.
Rutherford made his way to the Midwest and the IMCA in 1960. While leading the IMCA Sprint Car points, in mid-1962 he switched to USAC. Some questioned his reasoning, but USAC was the path to where Rutherford wanted to go — Indianapolis.
He qualified for his first 500 in 1963 and had an Indy car race win to his credit — the 1965 Atlanta 250 — when the Eldora accident jerked his dreams to a halt.
When he returned, questions about his physical ability, plus being out of car owners’ sights for a year, made it difficult for him to find a quality ride.
Then in 1970, he caught a career-altering break.
Pat Patrick formed his first Indy car team, with Mike Devin as the chief mechanic. Their car was old, a ’67 Eagle, but in what remains as the closest run for the pole in Indianapolis history, Rutherford came within .001 thousands of a second, or 2-1/2 feet, of stealing the 1970 top spot from Al Unser.
Rutherford was back.
For 1973 Rutherford’s old friend, Herb Porter, introduced him to McLaren’s manager, Teddy Mayer. A brief conversation ensued and Mayer named Rutherford as the team’s driver.
Success was immediate.
In 1973, Rutherford stormed to the Indianapolis Pole and finished ninth in the rain-shortened 500. In 1974 he charged from 25th place to finish his first complete 500 with a victory. In 1976, he took the pole and another 500 win.
McLaren backed out of Indy Car racing after 1979, but Rutherford caught the ride in Jim Hall’s ground effects Chaparral. He controlled the 1980 500 from the pole, becoming a three-time Indianapolis champion.
“I’ve enjoyed a blessed life,” emphasizes Rutherford. “Anytime you accomplish what you set out to do, it’s very gratifying. When I was running Devil’s Bowl I could only dream about making the 500, much less winning it not once, but three times. I often look back and wonder if that was really me.”