It took Johnny Rutherford more than a decade to win at Indianapolis and, for a long time, the jury was out on whether the aggressive sprint car champion would ever make it to Victory Lane. But Lone Star J.R. never lost belief in himself and when Team McLaren finally came calling in 1973, he pounced on the opportunity. He trumped in 1974 and again in '76 before becoming a three-time winner in 1980 with Jim Hall's Chaparral. The tough Texan also became one of the most popular winners because of his personable nature with the fans and media and he's been one of IndyCar racing's best ambassadors for more than 50 years, whether it was racing, doing color commentary on television, driving the...
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