Rathmann was born Royal Richard Rathmann in Alhambra, California. As a sixteen-year-old wishing to begin racing under the name Dick Rathmann, he borrowed his older brother's identification and assumed the identity of "Jim Rathmann." The name change stuck permanently in public life. His brother also raced professionally, creating an enduring confusion between the two siblings' careers.
Rathmann competed in the AAA and USAC Championship Car series across the 1949–1950 and 1952–1963 seasons, making 38 starts. His career yielded three victories: the 1957 Milwaukee 200, the 1959 Daytona 100, and the 1960 Indianapolis 500. He accumulated seven podium finishes and one pole position. His best championship season was 1957, when he finished second in the overall standings.
At the Indianapolis 500, Rathmann started fourteen times. He finished on the podium three times before his win — second in 1952, second in 1957, and second in 1959 — building a reputation as a consistent front-runner at the Brickyard.
The 1960 race defined Rathmann's legacy. Starting from the middle of the first row, he ran at the front throughout. From the halfway point, he and Rodger Ward engaged in a sustained duel for the lead that produced the most recorded lead changes in Indianapolis 500 history. Tire wear became the decisive factor in the closing laps; Rathmann managed his tyres well enough to hold Ward off and take the victory. The 1960 race has repeatedly been cited by historians as the finest running of the 500, affirmed most recently in a 2023 poll of fans and historians.
Rathmann also competed in the Race of Two Worlds, a non-championship event run at Autodromo Nazionale Monza pitting American Championship Car machinery against European Formula One cars. He won the 1958 edition.
Because the Indianapolis 500 was included in the FIA Formula One World Drivers' Championship from 1950 through 1960, Rathmann's Indy appearances count as World Championship entries. Across ten WDC-eligible starts he recorded one win, four podium finishes, two fastest laps, and 29 World Drivers' Championship points — the largest points total accumulated by any driver who competed solely at Indianapolis without entering any other World Championship rounds.
Rathmann made three NASCAR Cup Series starts between 1949 and 1951. He debuted at Langhorne in 1949 but retired with mechanical issues. At the 1950 Daytona Beach Road Course he started seventeenth and finished twelfth. His final NASCAR outing came at Detroit in 1951, where he again retired with mechanical problems.
After retiring from competition, Rathmann owned a Chevrolet-Cadillac dealership in Melbourne, Florida. Through this business he befriended astronauts Alan Shepard, Gus Grissom, and Gordon Cooper, who were based at nearby NASA facilities. Rathmann persuaded General Motors president Ed Cole to establish a programme supplying each Mercury and Gemini astronaut with a pair of new cars annually; most chose a family car for their wives and a Corvette for themselves. Alan Bean later recalled rows of Corvettes in the parking lot outside the astronaut offices at Johnson Space Center, and impromptu races between Shepard and Grissom along Florida beach roads.
After selling the dealership, Rathmann lived in Indialantic, Florida with his wife, Mary Kay. He remained a regular visitor to Indianapolis Motor Speedway each May for decades, and drove the pace car on several occasions. He missed the 100th-anniversary race in 2011 due to failing health. Rathmann died on November 23, 2011, at a hospice centre in Melbourne, Florida, following a seizure at his home.
Rathmann was inducted into the Florida Sports Hall of Fame, the Auto Racing Hall of Fame, and the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America.
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