Slow-Talking, Fast-Driving 'Hard Luck' Lloyd Ruby

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Lloyd Ruby, a laconic Texan whose slow speech belied his fast and hard driving style, amassed over 150 recorded victories. However the hard luck of his eighteen attempts at the Indianapolis 500 would define him, he was 'the greatest driver never to win the 500'.

Hard Luck Lloyd tells the tale of Texas native, Lloyd Ruby (1928 – 2009), who began racing midgets - the preeminent form of racing in the 40’s and 50’s - in 1946, eventually making such a good living at it that he didn’t see the need to make the move to Indy cars until 1960, where he recorded four top-10 finishes in his first five Indy 500s.  Mechanical issues, from a broken cam bolt in 1966, as Ruby had gained a full lap lead over Jackie Stewart only to have an oil fire plume from the Bardhal Eagle Lloyd was driving end that attempt, to blown tires, blown engines, weather delays, and team communications issues, became a myriad of forces that all combined to create the Hard Luck Lloyd moniker, which though it stuck, never caused him real consternation on a personal level. 

“Lloyd himself was not one to question fate in regard to his racing fortunes chalking it up instead to the nature of the racing game,” his son John Ruby relates in the book. “He never looked back or talked about what-ifs after a race, even at Indy.” His fellow racers however understood Lloyd Ruby’s frustration when it came to winning the greatest prize in the US. “He had some terrible luck in his runs at Indianapolis, no doubt about it,” said three-time Indy 500 champion, fellow Texan and family friend Johnny Rutherford. “I truly feel that Lloyd was the greatest driver never to win the 500.”

Author, John Lingle:  “Everyone has a really good story about him. There was so much more to Lloyd than just hard luck, and I wrote this book to bring the stories, the victories, and the lessons learned to life.  No matter how much you may know about Lloyd Ruby, there will be at least a few stories you haven’t heard before, and will be glad that you did.”  
More info and /or ordering at www.racemaker.com
 

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