Herbert E. 'Mickey' Rupp III (born January 17, 1936,

Mansfield, Ohio Mansfield is a city in and the county seat of Richland County, Ohio, United States. Located midway between Columbus and Cleveland via Interstate 71, it is part of Northeast Ohio region in the western foothills of the Allegheny Plateau. The city ...

) is a retired American racecar driver, entrepreneur, founder of

Rupp Industries Rupp Industries was a Mansfield, Ohio-based manufacturer of go-karts, Minibike, minibikes, Snowmobile, snowmobiles and other Off-road vehicle, off-road vehicles founded by Mickey Rupp in 1959. Rupp Industries operated from 1959 until bankruptcy i ...

and Rupp Marine and inductee of the North Central Ohio Entrepreneurial Hall of Fame.

Racing career

Rupp raced 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 events ...

series in the 1964 and 1965 seasons, with 5 career starts, including the 1965

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 Indi ...

. He finished in the top ten 3 times, including 6th position at Indy, with his best finish in 5th position in 1965 at Milwaukee.

Rupp Industries

Rupp opened

in Mansfield, Ohio in the late 1950s. First producing go-karts, Rupp Industries would eventually produce their iconic mini bikes, motorcycles and snowmobiles with unit sales of up to 75,000 minibikes and 35,000 snowmobiles per year respectively. Rupp sold the company in 1973. Rupp Industries would go on to build some of the most advanced snowmobiles of the time, as well as dirt bikes and other recreational vehicles until they had to close their doors in 1978 due to bankruptcy. Rupp vehicles have since become very collectible.

Rupp Marine

After moving to Canada and taking up the sport of fishing, Rupp sought to produce user-friendly and cost effective outriggers in 1979. Rupp founded Rupp Marine a year later in 1980.

Retirement

Rupp turned over Rupp Marine to his son and son-in-law after more than 20 years at the helm of the company. He moved back to Mansfield Ohio where he resides with his wife Jeanie and three black and white springer spaniels.

External links

Mickey Rupp at Champ Car Stats

References and sources

;Notes 1936 births Living people Indianapolis 500 drivers Sportspeople from Mansfield, Ohio Racing drivers from Ohio {{US-autoracing-bio-stub