page_title: Truesports
section_title: Early years
hierarchical_section_title: Truesports / Racing team / Early years
caption_attribution_description: English: Bobby Rahal at the 1985 CART Mid-Ohio 200
context_page_description: 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. The team won 19 points-paying Indy car races.
  The word "Truesports" is a portmanteau of the surname "Trueman" and the word "sports" or perhaps the word "motorsports." The primary crew chief of the team was Steve Horne, who would later start Tasman Motorsports.
  In 1993, the team was absorbed into what is now Rahal Letterman Racing.
context_section_description: Jim Trueman himself started racing sports cars in 1962. In the 1970s, Trueman met up with Bobby Rahal, and they entered the Can-Am series. After several seasons in Can-Am, Trueman and Rahal began to look towards the CART series and the Indianapolis 500.
  In 1981, Trueman sponsored the car of owner/driver Vern Schuppan in the Indianapolis 500 through his Red Roof Inn motel business. The car came home third. Starting in 1982, the Truesports CART team was founded with Bobby Rahal driving. Rahal won his first race midway through the season at Cleveland. He followed that up with another win at Michigan, a second-place finish in the season standings, and clinched the CART rookie of the year award.
  In 1983 and 1984, Truesports continued to succeed with Rahal behind the wheel. They won three more races, and placed 7th at the 1984 Indianapolis 500.
  In 1985, Truesports secured the sponsorship of Budweiser. Rahal qualified for the front row at Indy, but early in the race, mechanical problems ended their day. Later in the season, Rahal made a strong charge in the championship points standings. He had a stretch of three wins over a five race span, and placed third in the final points standings.
  Concurrent with their primary CART effort, Truesports ventured into IMSA racing on several occasions in the mid-1980s. In 1982, Trueman and Rahal finished second at the 12 Hours of Sebring. The duo also teamed up to race in the 1982 24 Hours of Le Mans with Garretson Developments, who Rahal won the 1981 24 Hours of Daytona.
caption: Bobby Rahal celebrates victory for Truesports at Mid-Ohio in 1985.
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