Jim Hurtubise - Indianapolis 500

Indianapolis 500

Hurtubise ran in ten Indianapolis 500 races between 1960 and 1974. His best finish was a 13th in 1962. In 1972 he ran out fuel, but was towed through the infield, which resulted in his disqualification. In the 1968 race, he ran the last front engined car to date in the race. He attempted to qualify a front engined car for the Indy 500 every year from 1975 to 1981 but failed to do so in each of those years. On May 21, 1972, on "bump day", he put his Miller Beer sponsored car in line to make a qualification attempt shortly before the closing deadline of 6:00 PM. The time expired before it was his turn to qualify. He then removed the engine cover to reveal that the car had no engine, but five chilled cases of his sponsor's product, which he shared with the other pit crews and race officials. In 1978, he did not meet the certified speed and was denied an attempt to make the race. He sat in Bob Harkey’s car and locked the brakes. He then ran on the track until he was apprehended by the police. But by 1979, was in USAC's good graces.