Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 22, 1994 TAG: 9405220102
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: INDIANAPOLIS LENGTH: Medium
The three-time Indianapolis 500 winner, inactive in racing the past five years, took his final lap in the same car in which four-time winner A.J. Foyt made his farewell tour of the speedway one year ago.
"I really wanted to slip that thing into third gear and on into fourth gear and on into fifth gear and on into sixth gear," Rutherford said. "I asked A.J., jokingly, if I could get it up to 222 on this parade lap, could I pull it in the end of the line and qualify it? And he said, `Sure, go ahead.' "
Rutherford made his announcement just before the start of the third of the four days of qualifications for the May 29 race.
The final lap, he said, "was hard to believe. So many memories flooded back. All of the times I've done it, all the fans' appreciation of racing around here. They were all waving, standing. It was hard for me to believe I wasn't going out to qualify."
His retirement came four days after four-time winner Al Unser Sr. retired and left Mario Andretti, who will retire at the end of the season, as the only active member of an elite group of drivers who dominated Indy racing for three decades.
The only other four-time Indy 500 winner, Rick Mears, retired prior to last season.
Rutherford, 56, said he started thinking about retirement two years ago, when he failed to qualify for Indy.
"We had a sponsor that did everything but give us the money. That was probably the beginning of the end, I guess," he said. "I tried to qualify and just missed it.
"Then trying to find something to drive from that point on became extremely tough. The state of the business today, it's very expensive and it's limited the number of players, so it was tougher to find an opportunity to go racing."
His last race at Indianapolis was in 1988, and his last race at any track was at Pocono in 1989.
He qualified at Indy in 1989 and 1990, but was bumped from the lineup both years. In 1992, he was the last driver to make a qualification attempt, but was too slow to get in the field.
"This is one of the most mixed emotion days I've ever spent, to realize it's all come to an end," Rutherford said. "To say I'm not going to drive again in Indy cars is really a tough decision. There comes a time when you've got to do this thing and say, `I've had my day and I've got to move aside and let the young guys come along.'
"It makes me realize what Rodger Ward and Jim Rathmann and Troy Ruttman must have felt like when Al and Mario and myself and A.J. came on the scene. A.J. was a little ahead of us, but we're all the same, our gang."
Rutherford, of Fort Worth, Texas, and known as "Lone Star J.R.," competed at Indianapolis in 24 races. He started from the pole position three times and won in 1974, 1976 and 1980. He also was the 1980 Championship Auto Racing Teams season champion, and he ranks fourth behind Andretti, Foyt and Unser in Indy-car career starts with 315.
Rutherford's last victory was in the Michigan 500 in 1986, giving him 27 wins for his career.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB