Troy Ruttman Indianapolis 1961 in the John Zink Trackburner Watson Offenhauser. This gorgeous Watson roadster was built in 1958 and was entered in the 1958 500 for Pat Flaherty , however Pat was unable to pass his physical due to critical injuries he suffered in 1956. John Zink then put fellow Oaklahoman Jimmy Reece in the brand new car. The car suffered damage to the front end and rear in the first lap crash which caused extra pit stops that dropped Jimmy to 16th place at the 10 lap mark. Reece ended up bringing the car home in 6th place. In 1959 Flaherty returned and drove an outstanding race leading several laps before a crash on the mainstretch knocked him out after 162 laps. Troy Ruttman took over the ride for the 1960 500 and was terrific. He started 6th and charged to the front early. He was 2nd on lap 15 and passed Ward for the lead on his 19th lap. Later about the 125 mile mark he battled fiercely with Eddie Sachs for the lead. Troy was still in contention when mechanical ills ended his day after 134 laps. In 1961 pictured here Troy returned to give the four year old car another run. Troy qualified the car at 144.799 to start 22nd. On race day in his usual hard charging fashion he came flying up through the pack. While battling with A.J. Foyt for the lead on lap 91 Troy turned the fastest lap of the race at 147.589 nearly 3 mph faster that he qualified. He ended up leading 10 laps 84-88 and 90-94. Troy finished 20th after a clutch failure at 105 laps.
Posted on: Tue, 20 Jan 2015 02:50:12 +0000
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