Hurtubise was born and raised in North Tonawanda, New York, a suburb of Buffalo. He began racing in the early 1950s alongside his brother Pete, driving a number 56 coupe in the Sportsman class at tracks in southeastern Canada and western New York, including Merrittville Speedway in Ontario and Cuba Lake Raceway in Cuba, New York.
After the 1955–56 season he relocated to California, where he initially raced modifieds before making the jump to sprint cars. He found immediate success, becoming a champion on both the International Motor Contest Association circuit and the California Racing Association circuit. This sprint car foundation defined his driving style — aggressive, mechanical, never cautious.
Hurtubise raced in the USAC Championship Car series across the 1959–1968 and 1970–1974 seasons, amassing 97 career starts. He recorded 38 top-ten finishes and four victories: Sacramento in 1959, Langhorne in 1960, and Springfield in both 1961 and 1962.
In 1964, a fire during the Rex Mays Classic at the Milwaukee Mile left him with severe burns to both hands. When doctors asked how he wanted his hands pinned as they healed, Hurtubise told them to position them so he could hold a beer can — reasoning that if he could hold a beer can, he could hold a steering wheel. He returned to racing and was later awarded the Ralph DePalma Award for overcoming his injuries.
Hurtubise ran in ten Indianapolis 500 races between 1960 and 1974. His rookie qualifying run in 1960 was spectacular: he out-qualified pole-sitter Eddie Sachs by three miles per hour, very nearly breaking the 150-mph barrier, and was named the 1960 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year. His best race finish was thirteenth in 1962.
In 1965, Hurtubise qualified with a Novi engine — the last time that storied engine would appear in the race. It failed on the opening lap and he finished last. The following year he switched to a rear-engined car and finished seventeenth, reflecting the broader transition away from the front-engine roadsters that had defined American championship racing.
After failing to qualify in 1967, Hurtubise and his brother Pete designed and built their own front-engine roadster in their garage, naming it the Mallard. They claimed it was lighter than previous roadsters, which they argued would keep it competitive against the rear-engine cars that now dominated the field. Hurtubise ran the Mallard at the 1968 Indianapolis 500 — the last front-engine car to qualify for the race up to that point.
Between 1969 and 1971 he attempted to qualify the Mallard without success, as the field had become entirely rear-engined. His most memorable Mallard appearance came in 1972: he placed the car in line to qualify late on Bump Day, and when time expired before his turn, he dramatically removed the engine cover to reveal not a powerplant but five chilled cases of Miller Beer — his sponsor's product — which he shared with pit crews and race officials.
He continued attempting to qualify the Mallard through 1977, returning again in 1978 until chief steward Tom Binford barred him from attempting, ruling the car had not demonstrated race-capable speed in practice. Hurtubise refused to leave the track and was eventually tackled and detained by police. His final attempt with the Mallard came in 1981 — the last qualifying attempt by any front-engine car at Indianapolis, thirteen years after the Mallard's only successful entry.
Hurtubise made his NASCAR Cup debut in 1957 and entered 36 races across the following two decades. His most significant stock car result was a victory in the 1966 Atlanta 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, which stands as his only major win outside the USAC championship car series. He recorded eleven top-ten finishes in NASCAR competition.
Hurtubise was inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1993 and the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame in 2004. He was an inaugural inductee of the FOAR SCORE Club in 1985, an organization recognizing drivers who connected with fans. The Mallard project became a defining symbol of his character — a refusal to accept that an era had ended, pursued with humor, stubbornness, and genuine mechanical ingenuity.
He died on January 6, 1989, after a heart attack near his home in Port Arthur, Texas, at the age of 56.