Jack Boison Nethercutt II (born December 22, 1936) is an American businessman, restaurateur, and former

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

with

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello. Founded in 1939 by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988), the company built Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, its first car in 1940, adopted its current name in 1945, and be ...

and Lotus. He is the chairman of

Merle Norman Cosmetics Merle Norman Cosmetics Inc. or simply known as Merle Norman, is an American cosmetics company that manufactures skin care, personal care, and makeup products founded in 1931 by Merle Nethercutt Norman, Merle Norman. The company sells its products ...

and president of the Nethercutt Collection. Nethercutt raced from 1957-1965 and notably used number #102. He competed in the

World Sportscar Championship The World Sportscar Championship was the world Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance racing series run for sports car racing, sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), from 1953 World Sportscar Championship, 1953 t ...

with

from 1960-1961, winning the

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

12 Hours of Sebring The 12 Hours of Sebring is an annual motorsport Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race for Sports car racing, sports cars held at Sebring International Raceway, on the site of the former Hendricks Army Airfield World War II air base in S ...

in class (3rd overall) in a Ferrari 250 TR, and was a part of Ferrari's winning 1960 championship season. Nethercutt also raced in the

USAC Road Racing Championship The USAC Road Racing Championship was a sports car racing series in the United States held from 1958 until 1962. The series was organized by the United States Auto Club as a fully professional alternative to the Sports Car Club of America's SCCA Na ...

and

United States Road Racing Championship The United States Road Racing Championship (USRRC) was a Sports Car Club of America series for professional racing drivers. SCCA Executive Director John Bishop helped to create the series in 1962 to recover races that had been taken by rival USAC R ...

. He became the 2nd president of the Nethercutt Collection in 2004 and holds five Best of Show titles at the

Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance The Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance is an automotive charitable event held each year during the second weekend in March at The Ritz-Carlton Amelia Island in Amelia Island, Florida. A ''New York Times'' article about celebrity car ownership list ...

Early life

Nethercutt was born on December 22, 1936, the son to entrepreneur J.B. Nethercutt and Dorothy Sykes in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. He attended the

Harvard-Westlake School Harvard-Westlake School is an independent, co-educational university preparatory day school in Los Angeles, California, with about 1,600 students in grades seven through twelve. The school has two campuses: the middle school campus in Holmby ...

. Nethercutt graduated from the

Marshall School of Business The USC Marshall School of Business is the business school of the University of Southern California. It is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. In 1997 the school was renamed following a $35 million donation fr ...

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

in 1958.

Racing career

Nethercutt entered professional auto racing in 1956 at the age of 19 while also studying in college, getting his funding primarily from his father. He began racing with the

Lotus Eleven The Lotus Eleven is a sports racing car built in various versions by Lotus from 1956 until 1958. The later versions built in 1958 are sometimes referred to as Lotus 13, although this was not an official designation. In total, about 270 Elevens ...

and notably used the number #102 throughout his career. With the Lotus he was featured on the cover of Road & Track Magazine. He raced the Ferrari 500 TRC from 1958 to 1960. 1960 Sebring Awards

In 1960 he acquired the

Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa The Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa, or 250 TR, is a sports racing car built by Ferrari from 1957 to 1961. It was introduced at the end of the 1957 racing season in response to rule changes that enforced a maximum engine displacement of 3 litres for t ...

and entered the

for the 1960 season. At the

1960 12 Hours of Sebring The Tenth Annual Sebring International Grand Prix of Endurance for the Amoco Trophy took place on 26 March 1960, on the Sebring International Raceway, (Florida, United States). It was the second round of the F.I.A. World Sports Car Championsh ...

, Nethercutt finished in the podium 3rd overall and won the S3.0 class after 186 laps with American co-driver

Pete Lovely Gerard Carlton "Pete" Lovely (April 11, 1926 – May 15, 2011) was a racecar driver and businessman from the United States. He was born in Livingston, Montana. Racing career On November 9, 1957, Lovely won the first ever race held at Laguna Sec ...

, scoring 4 manufacturer's championship points for the eventual 1960 season winners

. During the following 1961 season at the 1961 12 Hours of Sebring his Ferrari's oil pump broke on the first lap and the team was disqualified. Competing with the Ferrari 250 TR at the

1960 USAC Road Racing Championship The 1960 USAC Road Racing Championship season was the third season of the USAC Road Racing Championship. It began April 3, 1960, and ended October 23rd, 1960, after five races. Carroll Shelby won the season championship. Calendar Season resu ...

, he and Lovely finished 2nd in class and 3rd overall behind

Carroll Shelby Carroll Hall Shelby (January 11, 1923 – May 10, 2012) was an American automotive designer, racing driver, and entrepreneur. Shelby was involved with the AC Cobra and Ford Mustang, Mustang for Ford Motor Company. With driver Ken Miles, he dev ...

and

Ken Miles Kenneth Henry Jarvis Miles (1 November 1918 – 17 August 1966) was an English sports car racing engineer and driver best known for his motorsport career in the U.S. and with American teams on the international scene. He is an inductee to ...

. He won the 1960 3 Hours of Westwood. In 1961 he sold his Ferrari for $25,000 because it was "last years racecar" and according in a 2023 interview

Jay Leno James Douglas Muir Leno ( ; born April 28, 1950) is an American television host, comedian, and writer. After doing stand-up comedy for years, he became the host of NBC's ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Tonight Show'' from 1992 until 200 ...

, it was now worth over $30 million. From 1961 to 1963 he switched to a

Lotus 19 The Lotus 19 or Monte Carlo is a mid-engine sports-racing car designed by Colin Chapman of Lotus and built from 1960 until 1962. Lotus 19 The 19 is a mid-engine, rear wheel drive sports racer with a fiberglass body over a space frame, original ...

, competing in the

Sports Car Club of America The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) is a non-profit American automobile club and sanctioning body supporting Autocross, Rallycross, HPDE, Time Trial, Road Racing, RoadRally, and Hill Climbs in the United States. Formed in 1944, it runs ...

and achieved several podiums, including a victory at the 1962 SCCA Divisional. Nethercutt competed in the

United States Grand Prix The United States Grand Prix is a motor racing event that has been held on and off since 1908, when it was known as the American Grand Prize. The Grand Prix later became part of the Formula One World Championship. , the Grand Prix has been held ...

with the vehicle for one season in

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...

Mirage racecar

In 1965, Nethercutt would build his custom racecar called the Mirage, which was envisioned as the pinnacle

Can-Am The Canadian-American Challenge Cup, or Can-Am, was an SCCA/ CASC sports car racing series from 1966 to 1974, and again from 1977 to 1987. The Can-Am rules were deliberately simple and placed few limits on the entries. This led to a wide variet ...

design''.'' The Mirage was supposed to debut two years earlier, but his father J.B. was against the vehicle's construction and would not fund it, which caused Nethercutt to experience financial constraints leading to its delay. Racing experts claim that if the Mirage was completed on time a couple of years earlier, it would have been internationally competitive because of its revolutionary design from its low drag aerodynamics. It was also one of the first racecars with a

monocoque Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell". First used for boats, ...

chassis and wheels, powered by a lightweight

Oldsmobile Oldsmobile (formally the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors) was a brand of American automobiles, produced for most of its existence by General Motors. Originally established as "Olds Motor Vehicle Company" by Ransom E. Olds in 1897, it produc ...

V8 engine.'''' The Mirage was test driven by

. Nethercutt and the Mirage were featured on the cover of the Sports Car Graphic Magazine. The Mirage was later destroyed by J.B. in a dispute.

Racing results

World Sportscar Championship

12 Hours of Sebring results

Career results

Nethercutt Collection

In 2004 he took over The Nethercutt Collection from his father. He restored the 1931 Bugatti Type 51 Dubos in 2011. In 2020 Nethercutt bought back and restored his

racecar, which was completed in 2023. He competed in several

Concours d'Elegance Concours d'Elegance ( French: ''concours d'élégance'') is a term of French origin that means a "competition of elegance" and refers to an event where prestigious vehicles are displayed and judged. It dates back to 17th-century France, where a ...

competitions throughout the United States, notably achieving five Best of Show victories at the

in 2005, 2007, 2011, 2013, and 2016. He also won the Palos Verdes Concours d'Elegance in 2007, 2009, and 2012, Kirkland in 2007, Dana Point in 2011, and

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

in 2019 and 2022.

Personal life

Nethercutt had two children and later had a divorce. He married Helen Richards for his second marriage and later had three grandchildren from his step-son, Travis Richards. In the later 1980s to 90s, the couple owned a luxury restaurant named Boison's near the

Las Vegas Strip The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada, that is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip, as it is known, is about long, and is immediately south of the Las Vegas city limits ...

which won a ''Best of Las Vegas'' award from the

Las Vegas Review-Journal The ''Las Vegas Review-Journal'' is a daily subscription newspaper published in Las Vegas, Nevada, since 1909. It is the largest circulating daily newspaper in Nevada and one of two daily newspapers in the Las Vegas area. The ''Review-Journal' ...

. He became chairman and president of

in 2004. He has donated millions to his alma mater, the

, including for Merle Norman Stadium, USC beach volleyball,

USC Trojans football The USC Trojans football program represents the University of Southern California in the sport of American football. The Trojans compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate ...

USC Trojans men's basketball The USC Trojans men's basketball program is a college basketball team that competes in the Pac-12 Conference men's basketball, Big Ten Conference of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I, representing the ...

, and the

USC Trojan Marching Band The USC Trojan Marching Band, nicknamed The Greatest Marching Band in the History of the Universe (TGMBITHOTU), represents the University of Southern California (USC) at various collegiate sports, broadcast, popular music recording, and nat ...

. He is a fan of fishing.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nethercutt, Jack II 1936 births Living people American businesspeople Racing drivers from Los Angeles 12 Hours of Sebring drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers University of Southern California alumni Nethercutt–Richards family