Douglas "Jimmy" Caruthers (January 18, 1945 – October 26, 1975) was an American racecar driver from

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most ...

. He raced

midget cars Midget (from ''midge'', a tiny biting insect) is a term for a person of unusually short stature that is considered by some to be pejorative due to its etymology. While not a medical term like "dwarfism", a medical condition with a number of c ...

sprint cars Sprint may refer to: Aerospace *Spring WS202 Sprint, a Canadian aircraft design * Sprint (missile), an anti-ballistic missile Automotive and motorcycle * Alfa Romeo Sprint, automobile produced by Alfa Romeo between 1976 and 1989 * Chevrolet Spri ...

, and

IndyCar INDYCAR, LLC, is an American-based auto racing sanctioning body for Indy car racing and other disciplines of open wheel car racing. The organization sanctions five racing series: the premier IndyCar Series with its centerpiece the Indianapo ...

Midget car career

Caruthers won the 1970

USAC National Midget Series The United States Auto Club (USAC) is one of the sanctioning bodies of auto racing in the United States. From 1956 to 1979, USAC sanctioned the United States National Championship, and from 1956 to 1997 the organization sanctioned the Indianapol ...

championship. His championship was the closest in USAC midget history, as he beat

Dave Strickland David McKenzie Strickland (4 December 1877 – 31 December 1963) was an Australian rules footballer who played with St Kilda in the Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in A ...

by 12.48 points. He finished second to his brother

Danny Caruthers Danny is a masculine given name. It is related to the male name Daniel. It may refer to: People *Danny Altmann, British immunologist *Danny Antonucci, Canadian animator, director, producer, and writer * Danny Baker (born 1957), English journali ...

in 1971. Jimmy won 21 USAC

midget car Midget cars, also speedcars in Australia, is a class of racing cars. The cars are very small with a very high power-to-weight ratio and typically use four cylinder engines. They originated in the United States in the 1930s and are raced on mo ...

features between 1967 and 1975.Jimmy Caruther's Biography
at the

National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame The National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame is an American Hall of Fame and museum for midget cars. The Hall of Fame is located at Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin Sun Prairie is a city in Dane County in the U.S. state of Wi ...

Sprint car career

He competed in the ARDC while stationed on the

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during his tour of duty in the armed forces. He was transferred to Phoenix, and race in caged

on weekends. He almost won the championship, but was transferred overseas before the end of the season.

Championship Indy car career

He drove in the USAC

Championship Car American open-wheel car racing, also known as Indy car racing, is a category of professional automobile racing in the United States. As of 2022, the top-level American open-wheel racing championship is sanctioned by IndyCar. Competitive event ...

series, racing in the 1970-1975 seasons with 43 starts, including the 1972-1975

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of India ...

. He finished in the top ten 21 times. His best finish were second-place finishes at the 1974 California 500 at the

Ontario Motor Speedway Ontario Motor Speedway was a motorsport venue located in Ontario, California. It was the first and only automobile racing facility built to accommodate major races sanctioned by all of the four dominant racing sanctioning bodies: United States Aut ...

and 1974 Pocono 500. He drove in four

Silver Crown car career

He won the 1975

USAC Silver Crown Series The United States Auto Club (USAC) is one of the sanctioning bodies of auto racing in the United States. From 1956 to 1979, USAC sanctioned the United States National Championship, and from 1956 to 1997 the organization sanctioned the Indianapol ...

championship while suffering from cancer. He captured the title by finishing third at the

Hoosier 100 The Hoosier Hundred is a USAC Silver Crown Series race scheduled for Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park as of 2023. It is a revival of the original race held from 1953-2020 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Speedway, a one-mile dirt oval in I ...

six weeks before he died. He died of cancer in October 1975 before claiming his championship trophy. USAC has annually awarded the " Jimmy Caruthers Award" in his honor since 1978. Initially given to the Rookie of the Year, it was rededicated to honor his spirit and determination, shown in winning the Silver Crown championship in the year of his death from cancer.

Career Awards

*He was inducted in the

Death

Caruthers died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal bl ...

at the age of 30 only a month after competing in his final

race. He had received cobalt treatment (an early form of

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemothe ...

) in the winter of 1974-1975 in order to return to racing for the 1975 season.

Famous family

His father

Doug Caruthers Doug is a male personal name (or, depending on which definition of "personal name" one uses, part of a personal name). It is sometimes a given name (or "first name"), but more often it is hypocorism (affectionate variation of a personal name) whic ...

and brother

also died before accepting their USAC series championship at the end of the year awards banquet. The Caruthers family is synonymous with midget car racing.Danny Caruthers Biography
at the

Indy 500 results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caruthers, Jimmy 1945 births 1975 deaths Indianapolis 500 drivers Sportspeople from Anaheim, California Racing drivers from California USAC Silver Crown Series drivers