Rutherford Knows His Way Around the Track

Twenty-five years ago, Johnny Rutherford drove a Ford-powered Chaparral known as “the Yellow Submarine” to victory in the Indianapolis 500, leading 118 of the 200 laps.

This year, Rutherford will be leading the 500 again, but in his role as pace car driver during caution periods, he hopes he won’t be in front nearly as long.

“That was one of those years you dream about,” he reminisced about his 1980 triumph at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where Thursday’s practice session was rained out. “We’d won a couple of races before Indy and we came here full of confidence, but that’s when you’ve got to be extra careful that something bad doesn’t happen.”

The most memorable moment, one pictured in nearly every paper the next day, was Tim Richmond getting a lift back to the pits from Rutherford on his cool-off lap after taking the checkered flag.

“Tim’s car had stopped in the fourth turn and when I came by, he was just standing there, looking like he wanted to kick it,” recalled Rutherford. “I slowed to a stop and he ran over and shook my hand.

“I asked him if he wanted a ride back to the pits. He said, ‘Where?’ I told him to climb on a side-pod and hang on to the roll bar. The crowd really went wild. I always regretted that he didn’t live long enough to win the 500, so I could tell everyone I showed him the way to Victory Lane.”

Richmond died of AIDS in 1989.

The 1980 victory was the last of Rutherford’s three 500 victories and the second time he had won from the pole. In 1976 he also started on the pole and was leading when rain halted the race after 102 laps, the shortest “500” in history. He won for the first time in 1974.

Rutherford’s duties today include not only driving the pace car during the race, but coaching the celebrity drivers who pace the 33-car field to the starting line for the green flag.

Gen. Colin Powell, former secretary of state, will drive the Chevrolet Corvette pace car for the race May 29. Powell owns a Corvette but has never raced.

“He makes my job easy, he’s such a gentleman,” Rutherford said. “He’s like just about everybody who drives around this place the first time. It comes easy until they come to that long straightaway and get feeling good about how they’re doing when they suddenly have a pretty sharp left turn.

“He was like the rest of them, he got a little jerky with the steering wheel. After a few laps he got the hang of it, though. When we did our first simulated start, he moved up through 45 and 50 [mph] toward the second turn, got up to 90 down the back straight and 95 through the short chute, and coming off [Turn] 4 I had him ease down on the throttle until he was hitting 110. I wanted him at 115 when he went through the gate [at the pit entrance]. He went right on by.

“ ‘General, you missed the pit entrance,’ I said as we continued down the straightaway.

“He looked at me kind of sheepishly and said, ‘I guess I was having too much fun.’ ”

Powell said later, “I didn’t want to get off the track. I’m really, really looking forward to practicing some more and then looking forward to a great day.”

Powell and Rutherford plan a final practice Saturday.

Rutherford says that since his final victory here, the biggest change has been in car construction.

“The cars in the ‘70s and ‘80s were made of sheet aluminum, like airplanes,” he said. “They had a lot of flex in them. Now, cars are built of carbon fiber, Kevlar and exotic composites that give them much more rigidity. They are faster and safer.”

Rutherford qualified at 192 mph in 1980. Tony Kanaan won the pole for next week’s race at 227.

“What’s more, they’re going faster today with less horsepower,” Rutherford said. “We were running about 800 horsepower and today they’re between 650 and 670. The difference is in the design, the aerodynamics and little things the engineers learn from computer readouts. Both the Dallara and Panoz [formerly G Force] cars are marvelous examples of race car technology and engineering.”

California Scene

The Glendora-based National Hot Rod Assn. and Coca-Cola have extended the Powerade title sponsorship of the NHRA’s drag racing series through 2011. Two years remained on the original pact, which began in 2002 when Powerade replaced Winston as title sponsor.

The California Sports Car Club will hold double regional road races this weekend at Buttonwillow Park, the Cal Club’s home track. There will be competition for five racing groups.

Racing Group 2 will be one to watch as four Mazda Miatas, owned by William Christian Sr. of Covina, and driven by himself and sons William II, 22; Jonathan, 20, and Austin, 19, will be in the same race.

If the 25-car wrecking scene at Talladega wasn’t enough for racing fans, Irwindale Speedway will present Big Foot and monster trucks Saturday night, plus a demolition derby. For the purists, there will be main events for NASCAR late model and legends cars.

Having just won the AMA and world supercross championships, Ricky Carmichael will begin his campaign for a sixth outdoor AMA 250cc motocross title Sunday at Prairie City track, near Sacramento. James “Bubba” Stewart, the 125cc champion, is moving up to challenge Carmichael.

Tyler Evans of Corona won $25,000 as the leading pro privateer in the world supercross. The Suzuki rider had a best finish of third at Seattle. Honda rider Damon Huffman of Valencia was runner-up to Evans.

Perris Auto Speedway will have something for everyone, with more than 100 vehicles anticipated for super stock, street stock, extreme truck, cruiser and hornet races Saturday night.... Ventura Raceway’s 5:30 p.m. Saturday show will feature VRA 360 sprint cars in a 30-lap main event.