1952 Indianapolis 500

The 36th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was a motor race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Friday, May 30, 1952. It was the opening race of the 1952 AAA National Championship Trail and was also race 2 of 8 in the 1952 World Championship of Drivers.

36th Indianapolis 500

Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Indianapolis 500
Sanctioning body	AAA
Date	May 30, 1952
Winner	Troy Ruttman
Winning Entrant	J. C. Agajanian
Average speed	128.922 mph (207.480 km/h)
Pole position	Fred Agabashian
Pole speed	138.010 mph (222.106 km/h)
Most laps led	Bill Vukovich (150)
Pre-race
Pace car	Studebaker Commander
Pace car driver	P.O. Peterson
Starter	Seth Klein[1]
Honorary referee	Raymond Firestone[1]
Estimated attendance	200,000[2]
Chronology
Previous Next 1951 1953

Troy Ruttman won the race for car owner J. C. Agajanian. Ruttman, aged 22 years and 80 days, set the record for the youngest 500 winner in history. It was also the last dirt track car to win at Indy. Ruttman's win also saw him become the youngest winner of a World Drivers' Championship race, a record he would hold for 51 years until the 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix when Spanish driver Fernando Alonso won at the age of 22 years and 26 days.

Bill Vukovich led 150 laps, but with 9 laps to go, he broke a steering linkage while leading.^[3] He nursed his car to a stop against the outside wall, preventing other cars from getting involved in the incident.

In the third year that the 500 was included in the World Championship, Ferrari entered the race with Alberto Ascari driving a Ferrari 375 Indianapolis. The effort gained considerable attention, but Ascari was forced to retire after a few laps when the hub of a wheel on his car collapsed. He was classified 31st. It was the only World Championship race in 1952 that Ascari entered and did not win.

Fifth place finisher Art Cross was voted the Rookie of the Year. Though at least one rookie starter was in the field every year dating back to 1911, this was the first time the now-popular award was officially designated.

Time trials

Time trials was scheduled for four days, but rain pushed qualifying into a fifth day.

• Saturday May 17 – Pole Day time trials
• Sunday May 18 – Second day time trials (rained out)
• Saturday May 24 – Third day time trials
• Sunday May 25 – Fourth day time trials (rained out)
• Monday May 26 – Fifth day time trials (rain make up day)

Starting grid

Row	Inside		Middle		Outside
1	28	Fred Agabashian	9	Andy Linden	4	Jack McGrath
2	36	Duke Nalon	18	Sam Hanks	1	Duane Carter
3	98	Troy Ruttman	26	Bill Vukovich	22	Cliff Griffith
4	59	Jim Rathmann	16	Chuck Stevenson	2	Henry Banks
5	65	George Fonder	54	George Connor	7	Bill Schindler
6	14	Joe James	55	Bobby Ball	67	Gene Hartley
7	12	Alberto Ascari  R	33	Art Cross  R	77	Jimmy Bryan  R
8	34	Rodger Ward	37	Jimmy Reece  R	81	Eddie Johnson  R
9	93	Bob Scott  R	29	Jim Rigsby  R	21	Chet Miller
10	8	Manny Ayulo	48	Spider Webb	27	Tony Bettenhausen
11	5	Johnnie Parsons  W	73	Bob Sweikert  R	31	Johnny McDowell

R Indianapolis 500 rookie

W Indianapolis 500 winner

Failed to qualify

All drivers from the United States unless stated.

• Frank Armi  R  (#39)
• George Armstrong  R  – Did not arrive
• Buzz Barton  R  (#58)
• Joe Barzda  R  (#53)
• Bill Boyd  R  (#92) – Did not arrive
• Bill Cantrell (#52)
• Neal Carter  R  (#25)
• Jimmy Daywalt  R  (#64)
• Duke Dinsmore (#68)
• Giuseppe Farina  R  – Withdrew
• Walt Faulkner (#3)
• Johnny Fedricks  R  (#82)
• Carl Forberg (#53)
• Gene Force (#96)
• Dick Fraizer  R  (#63)
• Potsy Goacher  R  (#93)
• Perry Grimm  R  (#55)
• Peter Hahn  R  (#74)
• Allen Heath  R  (#32, #97)
• Tommy Hinnershitz (#27)
• Jackie Holmes (#41)
• Jimmy Jackson (#61)
• Danny Kladis (#19)
• Jud Larson  R  (#39, #66)
• Bayliss Levrett (#69) – Wrecked practice, retired
• Frank Luptow  R  (#56)
• George Lynch  R  (#74)
• Johnny Mauro (#35)
• Mike Nazaruk (#5, #66)
• Danny Oakes  R  (#39)
• Puffy Puffer  R 
• Paul Russo (#10)
• Carl Scarborough (#33, #44)
• Albert Scully  R  (#62) – Did not arrive
• Doc Shanebrook  R  (#76)
• Ottis Stine  R  (#84)
• Bill Taylor  R  (#47)
• George Tichenor  R  (#88)
• Johnnie Tolan (#51)  R 
• Leroy Warriner (#27)  R 
• Chuck Weyant (#92)  R  – Did not arrive^[4]

Box score

Pos	Grid	No	Driver	Constructor	Qual	Rank	Laps	Time/Retired	Points	WDC Points
1	7	98	Troy Ruttman	Kuzma-Offenhauser	135.36	18	200	3:52:41.88	1000	8
2	10	59	Jim Rathmann	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	136.34	7	200	+4:02.33	800	6
3	5	18	Sam Hanks	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	135.73	14	200	+6:11.61	700	4
4	6	1	Duane Carter	Lesovsky-Offenhauser	135.52	16	200	+6:48.34	600	3
5	20	33	Art Cross  R	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	134.28	26	200	+8:40.15	500	2
6	21	77	Jimmy Bryan  R	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	134.14	27	200	+9:24.32	400
7	23	37	Jimmy Reece  R	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	133.99	29	200	+10:35.24	300
8	14	54	George Connor	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	135.60	15	200	+12:00.61	250
9	9	22	Cliff Griffith	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	136.61	6	200	+12:23.76	200
10	31	5	Johnnie Parsons  W	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	135.32	19	200	+13:37.78	150
11	3	4	Jack McGrath	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	136.66	5	200	+14:21.72	100
12	26	29	Jim Rigsby  R	Watson-Offenhauser	133.90	33	200	+16:05.10	50
13	16	14	Joe James	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	134.95	22	200	+16:55.65
14	15	7	Bill Schindler	Stevens-Offenhauser	134.98	20	200	+18:48.66
15	13	65	George Fonder	Sherman-Offenhauser	135.94	13	197	+3 Laps
16	24	81	Eddie Johnson  R	Trevis-Offenhauser	133.97	30	193	+7 Laps
17	8	26	Bill Vukovich	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	138.21	2	191	Steering		11
18	11	16	Chuck Stevenson	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	136.14	9	187	+13 Laps
19	12	2	Henry Banks	Lesovsky-Offenhauser	135.96	11	184	+16 Laps
20	28	8	Manny Ayulo	Lesovsky-Offenhauser	135.98	10	184	+16 Laps
21	33	31	Johnny McDowell	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	133.93	32	182	+18 Laps
22	29	48	Spider Webb	Bromme-Offenhauser	135.96	12	162	Oil leak
23	22	34	Rodger Ward	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	134.13	28	130	Oil Pressure
24	30	27	Tony Bettenhausen	Diedt-Offenhauser	135.38	17	93	Oil Pressure
25	4	36	Duke Nalon	Kurtis Kraft-Novi	136.18	8	84	Supercharger
26	32	73	Bob Sweikert  R	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	134.98	21	77	Differential
27	1	28	Fred Agabashian	Kurtis Kraft-Cummins diesel	138.01	3	71	Turbocharger
28	18	67	Gene Hartley	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	134.34	24	65	Exhaust
29	25	93	Bob Scott  R	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	133.95	31	49	Transmission
30	27	21	Chet Miller	Kurtis Kraft-Novi	139.03	1	41	Supercharger
31	19	12	Alberto Ascari  R	Ferrari	134.30	25	40	Wheel
32	17	55	Bobby Ball	Stevens-Offenhauser	134.72	23	34	Gearbox
33	2	9	Andy Linden	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	137.00	4	20	Oil Pump
Source:[5]

 W  Former Indianapolis 500 winner

 R  Indianapolis 500 Rookie

All entrants utilized Firestone tires.

^1 – 1 point for fastest lead lap

Race statistics

Lap Leaders Laps Leader 1–6 Jack McGrath 7–11 Bill Vukovich 12 Troy Ruttman 13–61 Bill Vukovich 62–82 Troy Ruttman 83–134 Bill Vukovich 135–147 Troy Ruttman 148–191 Bill Vukovich 192–200 Troy Ruttman

Total laps led Driver Laps Bill Vukovich 150 Troy Ruttman 44 Jack McGrath 6

Yellow Lights: 2 minutes Laps* Reason 40 Alberto Ascari spin in turn 3 (50 seconds) 191 Bill Vukovich against the wall in turn 2 (1:10) * – Approximate lap counts[6][7]

Notes

• Pole position: Fred Agabashian – 4:20.85 (4 laps)
• Agabashian's Cummins Diesel Special was the first entry in the Indianapolis 500 to be powered by a turbocharged engine (then described as "turbosupercharged"). Gear-driven centrifugal blowers known as "superchargers" had been used since the 1920s to increase the volumetric efficiency and power output of racing engines, but the Cummins Diesel was the first to make use of the "free" energy contained in the engine exhaust stream to drive a turbine wheel connected to a centrifugal blower (thus, "turbo-supercharging").
• Fastest Lead Lap: Bill Vukovich – 1:06.60 (135.135 mph)
• As of 2022, Troy Ruttman remains the youngest driver to win the Indianapolis 500, at 22 years and 80 days.^[8]
• Ruttman also became the youngest driver to win a race counting for the World Championship of Drivers. His record was broken by Fernando Alonso at the 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix.
• 1952 was the only occasion when the fastest (Chet Miller) and slowest (Jim Rigsby) qualifiers for the race started next to each other.^[9]
• 1952 was the first Indy 500 in which not a single relief driver was utilized during the race.^[10]

Broadcasting

Radio

The race was carried live on the radio on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network. During the offseason, the Speedway management created the network to handle broadcasting duties in-house. The arrangement was under the flagship of 1070 WIBC-AM of Indianapolis, and featured a crew that consisted mostly of WIBC talent. WIBC landed exclusive rights of the broadcast in the Indianapolis market, which eventually would draw the ire of the other major stations in the area. In later years, the broadcast would be carried on all five stations inside the city, and they would utilize talent and crew representing each station.

Sid Collins served as booth announcer. Jim Shelton was among the turn reporters, reporting from turn 4. Gordon Graham reported from the pits and from victory lane. Like previous years, the broadcast featured live coverage of the start, the finish, and 15-minute live updates throughout the race. At least twenty stations around the county picked up the broadcast.^[11]

World Drivers' Championship

1952 Indianapolis 500
Race 2 of 8 in the 1952 Formula One season ← Previous race Next race →
Race details
Date	May 30, 1952 (1952-05-30)
Location	Indianapolis Motor Speedway Speedway, Indiana
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	4.023 km (2.500 miles)
Distance	200 laps, 804.672 km (500.000 miles)

Background

The Indianapolis 500 was included in the FIA World Championship of Drivers from 1950 through 1960. The race was sanctioned by AAA through 1955, and then by USAC beginning in 1956. At the time the new world championship was announced and first organized by the CSI, the United States did not yet have a Grand Prix. Indianapolis Motor Speedway vice president and general manager Theodore E. "Pop" Meyers lobbied that the Indianapolis 500 be selected as the race to represent the country and to pay points towards the world championship.^[12][13]

Drivers competing at the Indianapolis 500 in 1950 through 1960 were credited with participation in and earned points towards the World Championship of Drivers.^[14] However, the machines competing at Indianapolis were not necessarily run to Formula One specifications and regulations.^[15] The drivers also earned separate points (on a different scale) towards the respective AAA or USAC national championships. No points, however, were awarded by the FIA towards the World Constructors' Championship.

Summary

The 1952 Indianapolis 500 was round 2 of 8 of the 1952 World Championship. Alberto Ascari, driving for Ferrari, competed in the race. He became the first European-based driver who was seriously competing for the World Championship to come to Indianapolis to race in the 500. In doing so, Ascari skipped the Swiss Grand Prix. He dropped out early and finished 31st. He failed to score any points, but he would go on to win the remaining seven races and won the world title. Race winner Troy Ruttman earned 8 points towards the World Championship and finished seventh in the final season standings.

World Drivers' Championship standings after the race

	Pos	Driver	Points
	1	Piero Taruffi	9
20	2	Troy Ruttman	8
1	3	Rudi Fischer	6
18	4	Jim Rathmann	6
2	5	Jean Behra	4
Source:[16]

• Note: Only the top five positions are included. Only the best 4 results counted towards the Championship.