Lloyd Ruby
Located in Bellevue Park, across the street from 1458 Ninth Street, 76301.
33-degrees, 54' 23" N, 98-degrees, 29' 59" W |
Richard Lloyd Ruby, "The Gentleman from Wichita Falls," was on the world stage in 1960, racing in his first Indianapolis 500. He went on to compete in the Indy 500 for 18 consecutive years, leading the race in portions of five of six consecutive starts, he scored 11 finishes in the top 11, with a close third finish in the 1964 race. He joined fellow Wichitan George Barringer in the exclusive Champion 100 Mile-an-Hour Club and is enshrined in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame.
Lloyd began racing motorcycles in high school, dominating the flat dirt oval before transitioning to popular midget dirt cars. In 1948-49, Lloyd won 91 midget feature races and three regional championships across the United States. During the 1950s, Lloyd raced sports cars, finishing runner-up in the 1959 United States Auto Club National Road Racing Championship. In 1965, Henry Ford II hired legendary car builder Carroll Shelby to design a car that would beat Ferrari in motorsport endurance races. The now famous Fort GT40 was born. Shelby brought in Lloyd and Ken Miles as drivers. They won the 1965 Daytona Continental and the inaugural 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1966. The Ford GT40, the "Ferrari Killer," became the first American car to win a world class endurance race. The fourth and youngest child of Paul and Roxy (Webb) Ruby, Lloyd always claimed Wichita Falls as his home. Lloyd was honored by the City in 2006 with the official naming of the Interstate 44 overpass as the "Lloyd Ruby Overpass." Remembered fondly by those who knew him around the world, Lloyd is buried in Riverside Cemetery, overlooking the overpass that bears his name. (2021) Marker is Property of the State of Texas |