Editing Johnny Rutherford (section)

==Racing career==
In 1959, Rutherford started driving modified stock cars in Dallas. He joined the [[International Motor Contest Association]] sprint car circuit in 1961 leading it for most of 1962.  Rutherford later joined the [[United States Auto Club]] (USAC) starting in the [[Hoosier Hundred]] and later winning his first championship.<ref name="aei" />

Rutherford won his qualifying heat race for the 1963 [[Daytona 500]], becoming the youngest winner of a Duel as a championship race, a record that would stand as the races were taken off the championship schedule in 1971 (though it has since been broken, the race was not a championship race when it happened). Later that year he also had his first start in the Indianapolis 500. Rutherford's first [[Indy car]] race win took place at the [[Atlanta 500 Classic|Atlanta 250]].  He won the USAC National Sprint Car Championship in 1965.<ref name="aei" />

Rutherford made his first start in the Indianapolis 500 in [[1963 Indianapolis 500|1963]]. [[1964 Indianapolis 500|The following year]] he was directly behind [[Eddie Sachs]] when Sachs plowed into the burning car of [[Dave MacDonald]], killing both drivers. Rutherford miraculously squeezed between the crash and the wall, passing so close to Sachs' car that a lemon that Sachs wore on a string around his neck was found inside Rutherford's engine compartment.

On April 3, 1966, Rutherford suffered a serious crash at [[Eldora Speedway]]. His car flipped out of the track, and he suffered broken arms, a broken finger, and a head injury. He was forced to sit out the 1966 Indy 500 and the rest of the season. He struggled without a competitive ride for the next several seasons. He raised his profile by qualifying a surprising 2nd for the 1970 500. He was back with a top-flight ride when he joined the McLaren team in 1973.

[[Image:Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum in 2017 - Racecars 06.jpg|thumb|left|Rutherford's winning car from the 1974 Indianapolis 500.]]
Rutherford won [[pole position]] at the Indianapolis 500 in [[1973 Indianapolis 500|1973]], [[1976 Indianapolis 500|1976]], and [[1980 Indianapolis 500|1980]]. In 1973, Rutherford set a one-lap track record of 199.071&nbsp;mph, falling just shy of becoming the first driver to break the 200&nbsp;mph barrier at Indianapolis. His long-awaited second career win came at the [[Ontario Motor Speedway]] in 1973, and victories at the Indianapolis 500 followed in 1974, 1976 and 1980. In 1984, at [[Michigan International Speedway]], Rutherford set an all time Indy car qualifying lap speed record of 215.189&nbsp;mph. His win in the [[1986 Michigan 500]] at age 48 made him the oldest winner of a 500-mile race, a record that still stands. From 1973 to 1981 Rutherford recorded nine straight seasons with a victory making him one of just six drivers in Indy Car history to do so.<ref name="aei" />

[[Image:Chaparral 2K.jpg|thumb|right|Rutherford's winning car from the 1980 Indianapolis 500.]]
In October [[1977 Bathurst 1000|1977]], Rutherford travelled 'down under' to compete in [[Australia]]'s most famous motor race, the [[Bathurst 1000]] km (600&nbsp;mi) [[Touring car racing|touring car]] race at the [[Mount Panorama Circuit]]. There, partnering fellow Indianapolis racer [[Janet Guthrie]] (who earlier that year had become the first woman to qualify for the Indianapolis 500), Rutherford drove a [[Holden V8 engine|V8]] powered [[Holden LX Torana|Holden Torana]] for the team that had won the [[1976 Bathurst 1000|1976 race]], [[Ron Hodgson Motors]]. Driving a completely unfamiliar car (Australian cars have the steering wheel on the right side of the car) on a 6.172&nbsp;km (3.835&nbsp;mi) public road course carved into the side of a mountain, Rutherford qualified 26th out of 60 starters. During practice he complained about his car as it was not as good as the teams lead car driven by 1976 winners [[Bob Morris (racing driver)|Bob Morris]] and [[John Fitzpatrick (racing driver)|John Fitzpatrick]] (JR was 8.2 seconds slower). Morris then got in the car and while not as quick as his own Torana, easily lapped over 5 seconds faster showing the problem was simply JR's lack of familiarity with the car and track. Wisely, JR made a cautious start to the race (another new experience was the standing start), but his race would come effectively to an end on lap 8 when he attempted to lap the [[RS2000|Ford Escort RS2000]] of [[1966 Gallaher 500|1966]] winner [[Bob Holden (racing driver)|Bob Holden.]] The Torana and Escort made contact and Rutherford ended up crashing into an earth bank at the top of The Mountain. The bent Torana was then brought back to the pits on the back of a tilt-tray truck (with the race still going at full speed and cars passing the truck going along the 2&nbsp;km long Conrod Straight at over {{Convert|150|mph|km/h|0|abbr=on}}). It was then disqualified before being reinstated. Rutherford then completed another 5 laps before finally retiring with Guthrie not getting to drive.

Rutherford's [[NASCAR]] [[Winston Cup]] career included 35 starts from 1963 to 1988. He won in his first start, at [[Daytona International Speedway]] driving for [[Smokey Yunick]]. The win, in the second [[Gatorade Duel|100-mile Daytona 500 qualifying race]], made him one of the youngest drivers ever to win a full points-paying NASCAR race, as well as the only driver to date to have won in their first start in the Cup Series. (Until 1971, the qualifying races were full points-paying races.) In 1981, Rutherford drove twelve races, the most he ever raced in a single NASCAR season. In addition, Rutherford competed in five runnings of the [[International Race of Champions]] – 1975, 1977, 1978, 1980 and 1984.