One of Indycar racing's legends from the sport's Golden Era has passed away; Wichita Falls, Texas native Lloyd Ruby, winner of seven USAC National Championship Series events and winner of both the 12 Hours of Sebring and 24 Hours of Daytona, succumbed to complications from brain cancer according to friends and family.
Those who knew Ruby throughout the motorsports world marveled at the versatile style of driving he put forth; fellow competitor Bobby Unser remarked that,
1969 Indy 500 winner Mario Andretti echoed those sentiments, remarking that,You always used Rube as your guideline. He never drove for any of the big budget teams like my brother or Mario or Rutherford or myself but he was always fast and you would always look at his times to see how you stacked up. And he drove sooooo hard. He knew where the throttle was and I liked that about him.
Fellow Texan and 4-time 500 winner A.J. Foyt remembered his friend and competitor for several reasons........I don't know of any driver in my lifetime who could get up to speed as fast as Lloyd Ruby. That was always so impressive to me and the fact that he was such a versatile racer.
In reference to bad luck, it was at the Brickyard on several 500's that demon luck struck Ruby. In 1966, Ruby had led 68 laps and had the 500 win in his lap when a cam shaft stud caused his engine to grenade with 34 laps remaining. In 1969, the year Mario Andretti won, Ruby had dominated the first half of the race......only to have a fuel stop go awry when he pulled out of pit road before they could undock the fuel rig.First off, he was a helluva race car driver who should have won a lot more races than he did. He was clean and fair and you could run next to him all day. And he never got mad and he never complained about all his bad luck.
3-time Indy 500 winner Johnny Rutherford remarked that,
But for all his bad luck at Indy, one couldn't say Lloyd Ruby wasn't a great driver. During his career, he notched victories in two of North America's great sports-car endurance events, the 24 Hours of Daytona(1965, 1966) and the 12 Hours of Sebring(1966) alongside Englishman Ken Miles. The two were scheduled to compete in the 1966 24 Hours of LeMans but injuries suffered in a plane crash near Milwaukee prevented Ruby from competing that year.Lloyd should be remembered as the greatest driver never to win the Indianapolis 500. He was like Mario in that he could have won it so many times but something always seemed to happen. I'm not sure if it was his fault in '69 or the crew's fault for waving him out too quick but Rube took the blame. He always accepted his fate and moved on.
Mario Andretti recalled one LeMans moment involving Ruby.........
Lloyd Ruby was, indeed, one of the last of a rare breed of Indycar driver in that he raced both front-engined roadsters and rear-winged cars at Indy; he competed in 18 Indy 500's from 1960-1977 and, in the words of fellow competitor Dan Gurney, was just as adept at turning right as he was turning left, remarking that,We were both driving for Ford and they had just put sand pits in the corners for runoff areas so they put a little shovel in everybody's car so the driver could dig himself out. Well, Rube went off at Indianapolis corner and everytime I came past him, for five or six laps, he was shoveling like hell so I would honk my horn. He's digging and digging and he finally gives up.
But it was Foyt's words about his late friend that struck the most.He was a great oval-track racer and a great road racer. Lloyd was humble, one of those old-fashioned racers who let the results speak for themselves
Vaya con Dios. You were a champion of the sport and you will be sorely missed.He's been suffering for the last couple years but he never complained once. He was honest and fair and never screwed people around. If he liked you, you were friends forever and, if he didn't, he just had nothing to do with you. He didn't say much but when he talked, you'd better listen. I thought the world of Lloyd Ruby. He was a real racer and a true friend
