His “Tamale Wagon” sprint cars (named after one of his most popular products) enjoyed tremendous success around the tracks of California for many years, with their first championship coming in 1959 at the hands of Chuck Hulse.
[3] Sadly Carruthers passed away from Cancer in late 1975, not long after recording the team’s best result of the season, a 4th place at Michigan International Speedway.
[4] As a result of the 1979 USAC/CART split, Morales decided to race in the CART series with Carter running their now aging Lightning Chassis, however he was only able to manage 13th in the standings as the Offenhauser engines were becoming increasingly obsolete.
Rutherford had a successful first two seasons for the team, winning at Sanair in 1985 (albeit under controversial circumstances after Pancho Carter passed him at the line under yellow)[5] and finished 11th in the points.
Rutherford and Morales went their separate ways and the team brought in Howdy Holmes for 1988 to drive their March 88C-Cosworth package but both suppliers were falling behind rival manufacturers such as Lola, Penske and Chevrolet.