Jim Hurtubise

Jim Hurtubise ( born December 5, 1932 in North Tonawanda, New York, † January 6, 1989 in Port Arthur) was an American race car driver.

Jim Hurtubise was one of the most popular U.S. single-seater racing drivers of the 1960s and 1970s. Although he was able to celebrate the really big successes rarely, he was extremely popular among racing fans. They called him a old-style racer and admired his coolness. After a serious accident in the Rex Mays Classic in 1964, where he suffered severe burns to his hands, opened his doctors that his forearms and hands remained forever deformed. Hurtubise said, unmoved, that yes, it could not only hold a steering wheel. A total of 40 % of his skin surface to be burned; he spent six months in a specialist clinic. After a year he raced again.

From 1959 to 1975, he started 97 times in the AAA National Series and the USAC series. Four times, in 1959 in Sacramento, 1960 in Langhorne, and 1961 and 1962 in Springfield, he took the checkered flag as the winner.

Ten times Hurtubise was also in the 500 miles of Indianapolis at the start. His best finish was a 13th place in 1962. 1968 he drove the last front-engined racing car in this race. Since the 500 - mile race from 1950 to 1960 belonged to the world championship of Formula 1, his debut race in 1960 was also his only appearance in this series.

Hurtubise was a jolly fellow, his jokes were legendary. On 21 May 1972, he pushed his covered, sponsored by Miller beer race car just before 18 clock over the finish line in Indianapolis. 18 clock was the time limit within which the cars had to cross this line to come in the qualification. But he had no engine in the car, but five beer boxes, the contents of which he distributed to smiling mechanic, officials and racers. A week later he qualified as a Thirteenth for the race.

Hurtubise, who was also in two NASCAR races at the start, died in January 1989 of a heart attack.

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