Rick Muther (August 13, 1935 in

Alhambra, California Alhambra (, , ; from " Alhambra") is a city located in the western San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, United States, approximately eight miles from the Downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) contains t ...

– March 12, 1995) was an American racing driver.

Biography

He was for the most part The

Indy 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 ...

's first

hippy A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to different countries around ...

race driver. Muther started in

SCCA The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) is a non-profit American automobile club and sanctioning body supporting road racing, rallying, and autocross in the United States. Formed in 1944, it runs many programs for both amateur and professional r ...

sports car racing in Southern California at Riverside winning the prestigious Tim Mayer award. He drove in the USAC and

CART A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by one or a pair of draught animals. A handcart is pulled or pushed by one or more people. It is different from the flatbed tr ...

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, racing in the 1967-1975 USAC and 1980 CART seasons, with 46 combined career starts, including the

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 ...

in 1970-1971 and 1974 and finished in the top ten 13 times. A highlight of Rick's career was racing for four-time Indy winner

A. J. Foyt Anthony Joseph Foyt Jr. (born January 16, 1935) is an American retired auto racing driver who has raced in numerous genres of motorsports. His open wheel racing includes United States Automobile Club Champ cars, sprint cars, and midget cars. H ...

in the 1975 California 500. Eventually, Foyt hired another teammate, fearing he would be beaten by Muther. Muther's best Indy car finishes were in 5th position in 1968 at

Riverside Riverside may refer to: Places Australia * Riverside, Tasmania, a suburb of Launceston, Tasmania Canada * Riverside (electoral district), in the Yukon * Riverside, Calgary, a neighbourhood in Alberta * Riverside, Manitoba, a former rural m ...

and in 1972 at

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. He was considered a very capable racing driver and was respected by his peers even though he was not a front-runner. One of Indy's all-time most colorful drivers, Muther always had the wildest helmet paint jobs by Gary Finoe, a disciple of

Von Dutch Von Dutch is an American multinational fashion brand posthumously named after Kenny Howard, a.k.a. "Von Dutch", an American artist and pinstriper of the Kustom Kulture movement. After Howard's death in 1992, his daughters allowed Ed Boswell to ...

. Muther's attire was wild Kelly Mouse design flying eyeball clothing. Muther had many friends in the California music and art scene. A proud " double Leo", he often incorporated Lions in his helmet designs. Muther died of heart failure in his sleep, in San Juan, Washington.

Complete motorsports results

American Open-Wheel racing results

(

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) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in ''italics'' indicate fastest race lap)

SCCA National Championship Runoffs

Indy 500 results

References

1935 births 1995 deaths American racing drivers Indianapolis 500 drivers Can-Am entrants Champ Car drivers Sportspeople from Alhambra, California Racing drivers from California Racing drivers from Los Angeles SCCA National Championship Runoffs winners USAC Silver Crown Series drivers {{US-autoracing-bio-stub A. J. Foyt Enterprises drivers