James R. Trueman was an American businessperson

Businessperson

A businessperson is someone involved in a particular undertaking of activities for the purpose of generating revenue from a combination of human, financial, or physical capital. An entrepreneur is an example of a business person...

 and automobile racing team owner. His most successful business ventures were Red Roof Inn

Red Roof Inn

Red Roof Inn is an economy hotel chain in the United States. Red Roof Inn properties are often distinguished by the large dark-red shingle roof that gives them their name. There are over 340 Red Roof Inns, primarily in the Midwest, Southern, and Eastern United States...

 motels and the Truesports

Truesports

Truesports was an automobile racing team founded by Jim Trueman based in Hilliard, Ohio. The team is best known for winning the 1986 Indianapolis 500 and back-to-back CART championships in 1986 and 1987....

 racing team. Bobby Rahal

Bobby Rahal

Robert "Bobby" Woodward Rahal is an American auto racing driver and team owner. As a driver, he won three championships and 24 races in the CART open-wheel series, including the 1986 Indianapolis 500...

 won the 1986 Indianapolis 500

1986 Indianapolis 500

The 70th Indianapolis 500 was held at Indianapolis on Saturday, May 31, 1986. After being rained out on May 25–26, the race was rescheduled for the following weekend...

 for the team. Eleven days after the victory, Trueman succumbed to cancer and died at the age of 51.

Business

One of Jim Trueman's first business interests was Deibel's, a German-style restaurant in Columbus, Ohio

Columbus, Ohio

Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...

. In 1972, Trueman opened his first Red Roof Inn

Red Roof Inn

Red Roof Inn is an economy hotel chain in the United States. Red Roof Inn properties are often distinguished by the large dark-red shingle roof that gives them their name. There are over 340 Red Roof Inns, primarily in the Midwest, Southern, and Eastern United States...

 motel. Soon he had three. The business was very successful, and by 1986, there were at least 155 motels in the chain.

Mid-Ohio

On October 1, 1981, Trueman purchased Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course

Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course

Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is a road course auto racing facility located in Troy Township, Morrow County, Ohio, United States, just outside of the village of Lexington...

, a race track near Lexington, Ohio

Lexington, Ohio

Lexington is a village in Richland County in the U.S. state of Ohio. It is part of the Mansfield, Ohio Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 4,822 at the 2010 census, an increase from 4,165 in 2000....

. Immediately he began improving the facility. He built a new fan-friendly garage area, a control tower, and several spectator mounds. He also installed a state-of-the-art, three-sided scoreboard, at the request of fans, that could be seen from almost every corner of the facility. The Trueman family sold the track to Green Savoree in 2011.

The track welcomed the CART

Champ Car

Champ Car was the name for a class and specification of open wheel cars used in American Championship Car Racing for many decades, primarily for use in the Indianapolis 500 auto race...

 series back in 1983. The facility became one of the most popular road racing tracks in the United States, hosting also IMSA

IMSA

IMSA can refer to:* International Management Systems Association, original name of the International Project Management Association * Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, a residential magnet school located in Aurora, Illinois...

, Grand-Am, IROC, SCCA, motorcycle racing, vintage events, and various other races.

Auto racing

Trueman began driving sports cars in 1962. He entered the Can-Am series and drove through the 1970s. He won 125 races in 23 years. He was the SCCA national championships in 1975 and 1978.

Team owner

Trueman used his riches from the motel business to expand his auto racing interests. He signed on Red Roof Inns to sponsor Vern Schuppan

Vern Schuppan

Vernon "Vern" Schuppan is a racing driver from Whyalla, South Australia. Schuppan drove in various categories, participating in Formula One, the Indianapolis 500 and most successfully in sports car racing.-Formula One:...

 in the 1981 Indianapolis 500

1981 Indianapolis 500

The 65th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 24, 1981. A hectic month of May was interrupted several times by rain. Bobby Unser took the checkered flag as the winner, with Mario Andretti second...

. Schuppan finished a strong third. In 1982, Trueman switched from Can-Am to CART

Champ Car

Champ Car was the name for a class and specification of open wheel cars used in American Championship Car Racing for many decades, primarily for use in the Indianapolis 500 auto race...

 and experienced instant success.

In 1985, Trueman was diagnosed with cancer. He kept his illness secret for many months. At the 1986 Indianapolis 500

1986 Indianapolis 500

The 70th Indianapolis 500 was held at Indianapolis on Saturday, May 31, 1986. After being rained out on May 25–26, the race was rescheduled for the following weekend...

 Trueman spent the entire month of May at the track, but was visibly frail and quiet. The race was originally scheduled on his 51st birthday, but rain delayed the race. Bobby Rahal

Bobby Rahal

Robert "Bobby" Woodward Rahal is an American auto racing driver and team owner. As a driver, he won three championships and 24 races in the CART open-wheel series, including the 1986 Indianapolis 500...

's car was fitted with a "Happy Birthday JRT" decal to celebrate. The following Saturday, May 31, 1986, the race was finally run. With two laps to go Rahal passed Kevin Cogan

Kevin Cogan

Kevin Cogan is a former racecar driver who drove in Formula One from to . Driving a RAM Williams in the 1980 Canadian Grand Prix, he failed to qualify, suffering the same result driving for Tyrrell at the 1981 US GP West...

 an a restart, and held on to win. The emotional Rahal nearly broke down in victory lane.

In victory lane, Trueman stood up and took the traditional milk for winning Indy. Several years later, ABC television reporter Jack Arute

Jack Arute

Jack Arute, Jr. currently covers the NFL and college sports for Sirius XM Radio. He is the president of the Stafford Motor Speedway in Connecticut...

 revealed that Trueman whispered in his ear "I can go now."

On Thursday June 5, 1986, five days after the victory, the city of Columbus

Columbus, Ohio

Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...

 held a victory parade downtown. Trueman was too sick to attend. Six days later he died.

Personal

Jim Trueman was married to his wife Barbara, with whom he had three children. He attended Ohio State University

Ohio State University

The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...

 where he became a Sigma Chi

Sigma Chi

Sigma Chi is the largest and one of the oldest college Greek-letter secret and social fraternities in North America with 244 active chapters and more than . Sigma Chi was founded on June 28, 1855 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio when members split from Delta Kappa Epsilon...

 and also served in the military. His philanthropic efforts included the James R. Trueman Fitness Center at Wheeling Jesuit University

Wheeling Jesuit University

Wheeling Jesuit University is a private, co-educational Roman Catholic university in the United States. Located in Wheeling, West Virginia, it was founded as Wheeling College in 1954 by the Society of Jesus . Today, Wheeling Jesuit University is one of 28 member institutions of the Association of...

.

The rookie of the year award in CART

Champ Car

Champ Car was the name for a class and specification of open wheel cars used in American Championship Car Racing for many decades, primarily for use in the Indianapolis 500 auto race...

was named in his honor.