1959 Indianapolis 500

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 also race 2 of 9 in the 1959 World Championship of Drivers.

43rd Indianapolis 500

Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Indianapolis 500
Sanctioning body	USAC
Date	May 30, 1959
Winner	Rodger Ward
Winning team	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 ceremonies
Pace car	Buick Electra 225
Pace car driver	Sam Hanks
Starter	Bill Vanderwater[1]
Estimated attendance	180,000[2]
Chronology
Previous Next 1958 1960

Rodger Ward earned 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.^[3]

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.^[4]

On the morning of pole day, Tony Bettenhausen suffered a bad crash during a practice run. His car hit the outside wall and flipped over the inside guardrail. Bettenhausen escaped the crash with only minor injuries, and would qualify on the second weekend of time trials.

After three years of retirement, Duane Carter returned to the cockpit, and qualified for his ninth Indianapolis 500 start.

Time trials were 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

Starting grid

Row	Inside		Middle		Outside
1	3	Johnny Thomson	44	Eddie Sachs	16	Jim Rathmann
2	73	Dick Rathmann	48	Bobby Grim  R	5	Rodger Ward
3	74	Bob Veith	19	Eddie Johnson	88	Gene Hartley
4	9	Don Branson  R	33	Johnny Boyd	37	Duane Carter
5	66	Jimmy Daywalt	24	Jack Turner	1	Tony Bettenhausen
6	99	Paul Goldsmith	10	A. J. Foyt	64	Pat Flaherty  W
7	7	Jud Larson	6	Jimmy Bryan  W	71	Chuck Arnold  R
8	8	Len Sutton	89	Al Herman	65	Bob Christie
9	15	Don Freeland	87	Red Amick  R	45	Paul Russo
10	57	Al Keller	47	Chuck Weyant	53	Bill Cheesbourg
11	77	Mike Magill	49	Ray Crawford	58	Jim McWithey  R

R Indianapolis 500 rookie

W Indianapolis 500 winner

Alternates

• First alternate: Rex Easton  R  (#39, #45)^[5]

Failed to qualify

• Russ Congdon  R  (#72) - Did not finish rookie test
• Bob Cortner  R  (#51) - Fatal accident
• Chuck Daigh  R  (#98)
• Jimmy Davies (#53)
• Don Edmunds (#54, #57, #76)
• Jack Ensley  R  (#92)
• Gene Force (#55, #78)
• Andy Furci  R  (#91)
• Elmer George (#21)
• Bill Homeier (#42, #62)
• Van Johnson  R  (#76, #91)
• Johnny Kay  R  (#17) - Did not finish rookie test
• Ralph Ligouri  R  (#12, #41)
• Johnny Moorhouse  R  (#91)
• Earl Motter  R  (#21)
• Jim Packard  R  (#55)
• Johnnie Parsons  W  (#45)
• Chuck Rodee  R  (#82)
• Eddie Russo (#1, #78, #93, #98)
• Bob Schroeder  R  (#78)
• Shorty Templeman (#69, #76)
• Johnnie Tolan (#43)
• Jerry Unser (#57) - Fatal accident
• Wayne Weiler  R  (#39) - Entry declined, failed physical
• Dempsey Wilson (#34, #82)^[6]

Box score

Pos	Grid	No	Driver	Constructor	Qual	Rank	Laps	Time/Retired	Points	WDC Points
1	6	5	Rodger Ward	Watson-Offenhauser	144.03	7	200	3:40:49.20	1,000	8
2	3	16	Jim Rathmann	Watson-Offenhauser	144.43	4	200	+ 0:23.28	800	6
3	1	3	Johnny Thomson	Lesovsky-Offenhauser	145.90	1	200	+ 0:50.64	700	51
4	15	1	Tony Bettenhausen	Epperly-Offenhauser	142.72	18	200	+ 1:47.09	600	3
5	16	99	Paul Goldsmith	Epperly-Offenhauser	142.67	19	200	+ 2:06.44	500	2
6	11	33	Johnny Boyd	Epperly-Offenhauser	142.81	16	200	+ 3:16.98	400
7	12	37	Duane Carter	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	142.79	17	200	+ 4:09.92	300
8	8	19	Eddie Johnson	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	144.00	9	200	+ 4:10.53	250
9	27	45	Paul Russo	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	142.38	22	200	+ 4:11.04	200
10	17	10	A. J. Foyt	Kuzma-Offenhauser	142.64	20	200	+ 4:14.48	150
11	9	88	Gene Hartley	Kuzma-Offenhauser	143.57	10	200	+ 5:42.48	100
12	7	74	Bob Veith	Moore-Offenhauser	144.02	8	200	+ 6:09.73	50
13	23	89	Al Herman	Dunn-Offenhauser	141.93	29	200	+ 6:40.40
14	13	66	Jimmy Daywalt	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	144.68	3	200	+ 6:41.54
15	21	71	Chuck Arnold  R	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	142.11	24	200	+ 8:19.86
16	33	58	Jim McWithey  R	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	141.21	33	200	+ 11:41.69
17	2	44	Eddie Sachs	Kuzma-Offenhauser	145.42	2	182	Spun off
18	28	57	Al Keller	Kuzma-Offenhauser	142.05	27	163	Engine
19	18	64	Pat Flaherty  W	Watson-Offenhauser	142.39	21	162	Accident
20	4	73	Dick Rathmann	Watson-Offenhauser	144.24	5	150	Fire
21	30	53	Bill Cheesbourg	Kuzma-Offenhauser	141.78	30	147	Magneto
22	25	15	Don Freeland	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	143.05	14	136	Magneto
23	32	49	Ray Crawford	Elder-Offenhauser	141.34	32	115	Accident
24	10	9	Don Branson  R	Phillips-Offenhauser	143.31	12	112	Suspension
25	24	65	Bob Christie	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	143.24	13	109	Engine
26	5	48	Bobby Grim  R	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	144.22	6	85	Magneto
27	14	24	Jack Turner	Christensen-Offenhauser	143.47	11	47	Fuel leak
28	29	47	Chuck Weyant	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	141.95	28	45	Accident
29	19	7	Jud Larson	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	142.29	23	45	Accident
30	31	77	Mike Magill	Sutton-Offenhauser	141.48	31	45	Accident
31	26	87	Red Amick  R	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	142.92	15	45	Accident
32	22	8	Len Sutton	Lesovsky-Offenhauser	142.10	26	34	Accident
33	20	6	Jimmy Bryan  W	Salih-Offenhauser	142.11	25	1	Engine

 W  Former Indianapolis 500 winner

 R  Indianapolis 500 Rookie

All entrants utilized Firestone tires.

Notes

• ^1 – Includes 1 point for fastest lead lap

Race statistics

Lap Leaders Laps Leader 1–4 Johnny Thomson 5–12 Rodger Ward 13 Jim Rathmann 14–16 Rodger Ward 17–30 Jim Rathmann 31 Pat Flaherty 32–33 Jim Rathmann 34–40 Pat Flaherty 41–42 Jim Rathmann 43–45 Pat Flaherty 46–48 Rodger Ward 49–84 Johnny Thomson 85–200 Rodger Ward

Total laps led Driver Laps Rodger Ward 130 Johnny Thomson 40 Jim Rathmann 19 Pat Flaherty 11

Yellow Lights: 43 minutes, 17 seconds Laps* Reason 8–10 Eddie Sachs spin in turn 1 (2:25) 36–40 Len Sutton crash in turn 1 (5:42) 47–56 Weyant, Magil, Amick, Larson crash in turn 4 (11:15) 121–133 Ray Crawford crash in turn 3 (17:30) 167–173 Pat Flaherty crash on mainstretch (6:25) * – Approximate lap counts[7][8][9][10]

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.^[11]
• The first scoring pylon, a famous landmark of the Speedway, was constructed at the south end of the pit area.
• Last year's winner Jimmy Bryan using the same exact car that won the race in 1957 and 1958 fell out of the race being left on the grid with a clutch failure to finish last (33rd).
• Final Indianapolis 500 start for 1956 winner Pat Flaherty. He crashed out after completing 162 laps, finishing 19th.

World Drivers' Championship

1959 Indianapolis 500
Race 2 of 9 in the 1959 Formula One season ← Previous race Next race →
Race details
Date	May 30, 1959 (1959-05-30)
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 1959 Indianapolis 500 was round 2 of 9 on the 1959 World Championship. The event, however, failed to attract interest from any of the regular competitors on the Grand Prix circuit, particularly since it was held only one day prior to the Dutch Grand Prix. Race winner Rodger Ward earned 8 points towards the World Championship. Ward also competed in the U.S. Grand Prix at Sebring. He finished tenth in the final season standings.

World Drivers' Championship standings after the race

	Pos	Driver	Points
	1	Jack Brabham	9
23	2	Rodger Ward	8
1	3	Tony Brooks	6
21	4	Jim Rathmann	6
20	5	Johnny Thomson	5
Source:[16]

• Notes: Only the top five positions are included.

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." The broadcast reached 385 affiliates, including Fairbanks, Alaska.^[17]

Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network
Booth Announcers	Turn Reporters	Pit/garage reporters
Chief Announcer: Sid Collins Driver expert: Fred Agabashian Statistician: Charlie Brockman	Turn 1: Bill Frosh Turn 2: John Peterson Backstretch: Bernie Herman Turn 3: Lou Palmer Turn 4: Jim Shelton	Greg Smith (north) Jack Shapiro (center) Luke Walton (south)