Jim Rathmann, winner of both the 1960 Indianapolis 500 and the international 500-mile "Race of Two Worlds" in 1958 at Monza, Italy, died Wednesday, Nov. 23. Rathmann passed away in a hospice in Melbourne, Fla., nine days after suffering a seizure at his home. He was 83.
Rathmann, who was inducted into the Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 1993 and the Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2007, already was a three-time runner-up in the "500" (1952, 1957 and 1959) when he scored his greatest victory. And if the 1960 race, with its record 29 lead changes, was not the finest "500" ever held, there can be no question that Rathmann's epic two-hour duel with defending winner Rodger Ward continues to stand out as the Speedway's greatest sustained two-man battle of all time.
For the entire second half of that never-to-be-forgotten classic, Rathmann and Ward were rarely any more than a few feet from each other, exchanging the lead 14 times between them. That number could have been considerably more had not tire wear played into the equation. Long before the days of computer-generated race strategies, two-way radio communication, spotters, and pace car-led pack-ups during caution periods, these two wily veterans pretty much had to figure it out for themselves, aided only by a pit board message flashed to them every minute or so.
Ward, an early leader, had stalled on his first of three planned stops, losing at least a half-minute. He raced hard to regain lost ground and caught up with Rathmann just before the halfway mark, fully cognizant that in the process he had placed undue stress on his tires. They swapped the lead several times before Ward decided to run behind Rathmann for a while and let him dictate the pace, both aware that third-placed Johnny Thomson was running a comfortable margin behind them. That was until the pit board signs began advising them that the advantage was shrinking. When it fell to only 10 seconds, they determined it was time to go.
The lead changed hands six more times in the final 30 laps until Ward happen to notice tell-tale discoloration appearing in the center of his right front tire, indicating that the cords were about to show through. He led as late as lap 197 before reluctantly slowing down to salvage second as a greatly relieved Rathmann nursed his ailing tires to the finish and won at a record average speed of 138.767mph.
Had Ward prevailed, Rathmann, who led exactly half of the 200 laps that day, would have held the dubious distinction of being history's only four-time runner-up at Indianapolis.
As an illustration of just how different things were in those days, the winning Ken-Paul Special was a brand new Offenhauser-powered car Rathmann had commissioned from his old friend A.J. Watson on behalf of Rathmann's partners, Kenny Rich and Paul Lacy. Rathmann and his chief mechanic, Chickie Hirashima, drove a station wagon out to Watson's shop in Glendale, Calif., to pick up the car whereupon they loaded it on to an open trailer and then towed it back to the Midwest themselves. More than rewarded by the eventual first-place prize money checks totaling a record $110,000, Rathmann later estimated the entire investment at only $35,000.
Born in Los Angeles on July 16, 1928, Rathmann started life as Royal Richard Rathmann, becoming "Jim" in the immediate post World War II years when he began racing hot rods as an underage teenager. He borrowed the identity of his two-and-half-year older brother, James, who later raced extensively and won the 1958 "500" pole position as "Dick" Rathmann. Although they were later to modify their dates of birth from time to time, they thankfully avoided further confusion by never professionally using their given names as they appeared on their driver's licenses and so forth, Richard Rathmann known for the remainder of his life as Jim, and James as Dick.
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