JAMES "DICK" RATHMAN - 01/06/1924 - 02/01/2000
He drove in the AAA Championship Car series in the 1949 and 1950 seasons with 4 starts, including the 1950 Indianapolis 500. He finished in the top ten once, in 6th position at Milwaukee in 1950. In 1951, he moved to NASCAR, where he was a very successful Grand National driver through 1955. In his NASCAR Career he made 129 Cup starts. His first start came in Gardena CA where he started fifth and finished seventh. He was close to pulling off a win that first season, as he finished second three races in a row; at Dayton, Grand Rapids and Bainbridge. He only ran 15 of 41 races that year, but when he raced he finished well enough that he ended the season eighth in points. 1952 he broke into the win column early as he won at Martinsville in just the years fifth race. He would win three races in a row later in the year as he went to victory lane at Langhorne; winning by five laps. The next race he won at Darlington, edging out Tim Flock. His third win saw him win at Dayton, beating Lloyd Moore by more than a lap. At this point he had four wins in the seasons first 11 races. When the Cup Series visited Dayton again later in the year Rathman was in the winners circle again. Even though he picked up five wins and ran 27 of 34 events couldn't finish any better than fifth in season points. 1953 saw him win five times once again. He won both races at Langhorne, ran 35 of 37 races, and had 21 top five finishes, he was only able to finish third in the points. Herb Thomas had a great season winning 12 times and became the first repeat Cup
Series Champion. In 1954 Rathman won three times and finished fourth in the years points. He had his best season as he accumulated 23 top five and 26 top tens in 32 starts. Lee Petty put together a great season as he compiled seven wins, 24 top five and 32 top ten finishes. Rathman only ran 20 races in 1955 and failed to post a win. He finished second twice and had seven top fives. His last Cup start came at Longhorne where he started fourth. He led 65 of the first 80 laps before he burned a piston and fell out finishing 30th. He raced select Indy car races the rest of his career starting in 1956 running only a hand full or races through 1964 (some years just the Indy 500). Rathmann sat on the pole for the 1958 Indianapolis 500.
1954 Cup win
1950 Indy 500
On the first lap, he and fellow front-row starter Ed Elisian raced into turn 3 and started a chain-reaction accident
which involved 15 cars and claimed the life of Pat O'Connor. With that accident, Rathmann became the first Indy pole-sitter to complete no laps. This feat has been repeated only twice in Indy history, first by Roberto Guerrero and then by Scott Sharp. For his career Rathman mad 41 Indy car starts; with a best finish of third on three occasions; and seven top five finishes. Rathmann was the elder brother of 1960 Indianapolis 500 winner Jim Rathmann. The two switched names in 1946 so his younger brother could enter a race while underage. For what was supposed to be a short time, he adopted the
name "Dick" and his brother adopted the name "Jim". The change stuck for life. In 2009, Rathmann was inducted into the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame. Some info from WikiPedia
1964 Indy 500
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