1959 Indianapolis 500
From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
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| Indianapolis Motor Speedway | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indianapolis 500 | |||||
| Sanctioning body | AAA / World Championship | ||||
| Date | May 30, 1959 | ||||
| Winner | Rodger Ward | ||||
| Winning Entrant | Leader Cards | ||||
| Average speed | 135.857 mph (218.641 km/h) | ||||
| Pole position | Johnny Thomson | ||||
| Pole speed | 145.908 mph (234.816 km/h) | ||||
| Most laps led | Rodger Ward (130) | ||||
| Pre-race | |||||
| Pace car | Buick Electra 225 | ||||
| Pace car driver | Sam Hanks | ||||
| Chronology | |||||
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The 43rd International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday, May 30, 1959. The event was part of the 1959 USAC National Championship Trail, and was included in the 1959 World Drivers Championship.
Rodger Ward won the first of two career Indy 500 victories. A record sixteen cars completed the full 500 miles.
All cars were required to have roll bars for the first time.[1]
Contents
Practice and time trials
Two drivers, Jerry Unser and Bob Cortner, were killed in separate crashes during the month. On May 2, Unser lost control in Turn Four, spun, and flipped down the main stretch. The car caught fire and Unser suffered significant burns; he died from complications of his burns on May 17. On May 19, rookie Cortner crashed in turn three after being pushed by a wind gust. He was killed instantly of head injuries.[2]
Time trials was scheduled for four days:
- Saturday May 16 – Pole Day time trials
- Sunday May 17 – Second day time trials
- Saturday May 23 – Third day time trials
- Sunday May 24 – Fourth day time trials
Classification
| Pos | Grid | No | Driver | Constructor | Qual | Rank | Laps | Led | Time/Retired | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | 5 |  Rodger Ward |
Watson-Offenhauser | 144.03 | 7 | 200 | 130 | 3:40:49.20 | 8 |
| 2 | 3 | 16 | Jim Rathmann |
Watson-Offenhauser | 144.43 | 4 | 200 | 19 | + 0:23.28 | 6 |
| 3 | 1 | 3 | Johnny Thomson |
Lesovsky-Offenhauser | 145.9 | 1 | 200 | 40 | + 0:50.64 | 5 |
| 4 | 15 | 1 | Tony Bettenhausen |
Epperly-Offenhauser | 142.72 | 18 | 200 | 0 | + 1:47.09 | 3 |
| 5 | 16 | 99 | Paul Goldsmith |
Epperly-Offenhauser | 142.67 | 19 | 200 | 0 | + 2:06.44 | 2 |
| 6 | 11 | 33 | Johnny Boyd |
Epperly-Offenhauser | 142.81 | 16 | 200 | 0 | + 3:16.98 | |
| 7 | 12 | 37 | Duane Carter |
Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser | 142.79 | 17 | 200 | 0 | + 4:09.92 | |
| 8 | 8 | 19 | Eddie Johnson |
Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser | 144 | 9 | 200 | 0 | + 4:10.53 | |
| 9 | 27 | 45 | Paul Russo |
Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser | 142.38 | 22 | 200 | 0 | + 4:11.04 | |
| 10 | 17 | 10 | A.J. Foyt |
Kuzma-Offenhauser | 142.64 | 20 | 200 | 0 | + 4:14.48 | |
| 11 | 9 | 88 | Gene Hartley |
Kuzma-Offenhauser | 143.57 | 10 | 200 | 0 | + 5:42.48 | |
| 12 | 7 | 74 | Bob Veith |
Moore-Offenhauser | 144.02 | 8 | 200 | 0 | + 6:09.73 | |
| 13 | 23 | 89 | Al Herman |
Dunn-Offenhauser | 141.93 | 29 | 200 | 0 | + 6:40.40 | |
| 14 | 13 | 66 | Jimmy Daywalt |
Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser | 144.68 | 3 | 200 | 0 | + 6:41.54 | |
| 15 | 21 | 71 | Chuck Arnold (R) |
Curtis-Offenhauser | 142.11 | 24 | 200 | 0 | + 8:19.86 | |
| 16 | 33 | 58 | Jim McWithey (R) |
Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser | 141.21 | 33 | 200 | 0 | + 11:41.69 | |
| 17 | 2 | 44 | Eddie Sachs |
Kuzma-Offenhauser | 145.42 | 2 | 182 | 0 | Spun Off | |
| 18 | 28 | 57 | Al Keller |
Kuzma-Offenhauser | 142.05 | 27 | 163 | 0 | Engine | |
| 19 | 18 | 64 | Pat Flaherty (W) |
Watson-Offenhauser | 142.39 | 21 | 162 | 11 | Accident | |
| 20 | 4 | 73 | Dick Rathmann |
Watson-Offenhauser | 144.24 | 5 | 150 | 0 | Fire | |
| 21 | 30 | 53 | Bill Cheesbourg |
Kuzma-Offenhauser | 141.78 | 30 | 147 | 0 | Magneto | |
| 22 | 25 | 15 | Don Freeland |
Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser | 143.05 | 14 | 136 | 0 | Magneto | |
| 23 | 32 | 49 | Ray Crawford |
Elder-Offenhauser | 141.34 | 32 | 115 | 0 | Accident | |
| 24 | 10 | 9 | Don Branson (R) |
Phillips-Offenhauser | 143.31 | 12 | 112 | 0 | Suspension | |
| 25 | 24 | 65 | Bob Christie |
Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser | 143.24 | 13 | 109 | 0 | Engine | |
| 26 | 5 | 48 | Bobby Grim (R) |
Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser | 144.22 | 6 | 85 | 0 | Magneto | |
| 27 | 14 | 24 | Jack Turner |
Christensen-Offenhauser | 143.47 | 11 | 47 | 0 | Fuel leak | |
| 28 | 29 | 47 | Chuck Weyant |
Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser | 141.95 | 28 | 45 | 0 | Accident | |
| 29 | 19 | 7 | Jud Larson |
Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser | 142.29 | 23 | 45 | 0 | Accident | |
| 30 | 31 | 77 | Mike Magill |
Sutton-Offenhauser | 141.48 | 31 | 45 | 0 | Accident | |
| 31 | 26 | 87 | Red Amick (R) |
Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser | 142.92 | 15 | 45 | 0 | Accident | |
| 32 | 22 | 8 | Len Sutton |
Lesovsky-Offenhauser | 142.1 | 26 | 34 | 0 | Accident | |
| 33 | 20 | 6 | Jimmy Bryan (W) |
Epperly-Offenhauser | 142.11 | 25 | 1 | 0 | Engine |
Alternates
- First alternate: Rex Easton (R) (#39, #45)[3]
Failed to Qualify
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Race notes
- Fastest Lead Lap: Johnny Thomson – 1:01.89
- Two drivers, Jerry Unser and Bob Cortner, were killed as a result of accidents during practice for this race.
- Bobby Grim qualified 5th and won the Rookie of the Year award despite dropping out of the race before the halfway point. On lap 85, he suffered magneto failure, and began coasting to the pits. As was customary for drivers of the time, he raised his arm to signify to the other drivers he had lost power. However, due to the high speed he was still traveling, he dislocated his arm in the process. Visibly in pain, the crew thought he was coming in for relief, and quickly Jack Turner jumped behind the wheel, but the car would not run.[5]
Championship standings after the race
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- Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Also, points scored in the 500 did not count towards the F1 constructors championship.
Broadcasting
Radio
The race was carried live on the IMS Radio Network. Sid Collins served as chief announcer. Fred Agabashian joined the crew for the first time as "driver expert."
Lou Palmer (turn 3) and Jim Shelton (turn 4) were part of the broadcast team.
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ The Talk of Gasoline Alley – 1070-AM WIBC, May 14, 2004
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ The Talk of Gasoline Alley – 1070-AM WIBC, May 9, 2007
External links
- Indianapolis 500 History: Race & All-Time Stats – Official Site
| Previous race: 1959 Monaco Grand Prix |
FIA Formula One World Championship 1959 season |
Next race: 1959 Dutch Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 1958 Indianapolis 500 Jimmy Bryan |
1959 Indianapolis 500 Rodger Ward |
Next race: 1960 Indianapolis 500 Jim Rathmann |
| Preceded by
135.601 mph
(1957 Indianapolis 500) |
Record for the Indianapolis 500 fastest average speed 135.875 mph |
Succeeded by 138.767 mph (1960 Indianapolis 500) |
