Lloyd Ruby: The Greatest Man Never to Win the Indy 500

From boyhood through adulthood Lloyd Ruby has liked to drive fast, and he's done it so well that his nerve and skill have become as legendary as his dry, mischievous wit to his friends. The story of his racing life-with motorcycles, sports cars, midgets, or high-dollar Indy 500 thunder-wagons-covers the textures of a changing America. Chronicling those years, Ted Buss takes us cross-country to race tracks, honkytonks, and homes, and in all of them it's common for his protagonist, Lloyd Ruby, to be moving at angles and speeds that are different from those of most of the people around him.

Surprises in Ruby's story startle us time and again. One moment we see a grown man responding to defeat with restraint; the next we're just as likely to see him tossing a handful of firecrackers at someone's feet. We even see him performing an impromptu burlesque dance routine on a makeshift stage. Showing us the curious ranges of the man, Mr. Buss keeps his focus sharp. More and more, though, we realize that what we are witnessing in this story are the rhythms of America itself. Lines between child and adult blur, and so do the points of separation between seriousness and play, luck and skill, victory and defeat.

Lloyd Ruby: The Greatest Driver Never to Win the Indy 500 sings with the spirit of vitality that has characterized life on the Rolling Plains where the country's frontier spirit shifts back and forth between wickedly variable levels of restraint and an antic daredevilry that's openly celebrative.

The author, Ted Buss, is the Business Editor and a columnist for the Wichita Falls Times Record News, as well as the 1999 Headliners Award-winner for journalism in Texas. Throughout his career in journalism he has also written numerous articles about auto racing and other sports. Lloyd Ruby: The Greatest Driver Never to Win the Indy 500 is his first book.