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Review by Steve Zautke (originally
published on
RacingNation.com/Motorsports News, 1/9/2013)
As was his modus operandi with his award winning
book, Vukovich, author
Bob Gates worked with the
subject's family for his
latest book, California
Gold - The Legendary Life of Troy Ruttman. Mr. Gates digs deep into
Ruttman's life and spices the book with numerous photos from the Ruttman
family photo albums. This book peers into his childhood and tough
decisions the family made by moving west during the depression
California
Gold looks at a very young Ruttman who started racing at a young
age of fifteen in post-war
California. Not unusual today,
however, racing was very different from the clean antiseptic scene at
karting parks and successful paved short
tracks that are so common across America today. Racing in post-war America saw many
war-hardened veterans running at dusty tracks where it wasn't uncommon
to have two or three
fatalities a year.
Ruttman sometimes gets overlooked in a decade
which saw Bill Vukovich, Tony Bettenhausen and Jimmy Bryan dominate the
decade. Reaching the big leagues at age 19 thanks to a altered birth
certificate , Ruttman was a natural-talented fearless driver. He reached
his pinnacle three years later when he won the Indianapolis 500 at the
age of 22 in 1952. However, 60 years later, he's still the youngest
winner at the Brickyard.
California
Gold examines his post-Indy
Cedar Rapids
accident which changed his life. Out of racing for
18 months we peer into a life that spiraled out of control. We also dive
into a career that bounced around AAA, later USAC and even
Europe. We see a resilient man who was able to bounce back
in life, overcoming obstacles in life. It's an inspirational story
which makes the book an off-season must read.
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