He was the Armenian heir to a fortune built on pig farming and garbage collection. J.C. was partial to the number "98" and used the number on his Indianapolis, Sprint and Midget cars, a tradition which has continued for generations in the family, including four Indianapolis 500 wins, including the ownership by J.C. in 1952 with driver Troy Ruttman and 1963 with driver Parnelli Jones and co-ownership by son Cary and business partner Mike Curb with Bryan Herta Autosports in 2011 with driver Dan Wheldon and 2016 with driver Alexander Rossi.