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 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]

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)	Kurtis Kraft-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

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 (#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)^[4]

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

Formula One Drivers' Championship standings

	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

Formula One Constructors' Championship standings

	Pos	Constructor	Points
	1	Cooper-Climax	8
	2	Ferrari	6

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

↑ The Talk of Gasoline Alley. May 3, 2010. WFNI.
↑ "Fatalities - May 1959". The Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Archived from the original on February 4, 2012. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
↑ The Talk of Gasoline Alley – 1070-AM WIBC, May 14, 2004
↑ "1959 International 500 Mile Sweepstakes". ChampCarStats.com. Retrieved June 26, 2015.
↑ 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)

Indianapolis 500-Mile Race

Track and race information

Track

Statistics

Drivers

Sanctioning bodies

AAA Contest Board (1909–1955)
FIA (1950–1960)
USAC (1956–1997)
INDYCAR (1998–present)

Ownership

Officials

Broadcasting

Radio	Bill Slater Sid Collins Paul Page Lou Palmer Bob Jenkins Mike King Donald Davidson

Television	Jim McKay Jackie Stewart Chris Schenkel Chris Economaki Sam Posey Jack Arute Jim Lampley Paul Page Bob Jenkins Todd Harris Marty Reid Allen Bestwick

Other	Tom Carnegie Robin Miller Ron McQueeney

Related events

Month of May	Mini-Marathon Angie's List Grand Prix of Indianapolis Indy Lights road course Freedom 100 (Indy Lights oval)

Crown Royal 400	Crown Royal presents the Your Hero's Name Here 400 Lilly Diabetes 250

Other	U.S. Grand Prix Red Bull Grand Prix Triple Crown of Motorsport Brickyard Grand Prix Brickyard Sports Car Challenge IROC at Indy

Non-racing	Comfort Classic 500 Festival Open 500 Ladies Classic

Related area

Lore

Notable races

Indianapolis 500 race summaries and box scores

1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929

1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 ~~1942~~ 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949

1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969

1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029

There were no races in 1917 & 1918 due to WWI and from 1942 to 1945 due to WWII.

Formula One Grands Prix (1950–59) next »

1959	MON 500 NED FRA GBR GER POR ITA USA

1958	ARG MON NED 500 BEL FRA GBR GER POR ITA MOR

1957	ARG MON 500 FRA GBR GER PES ITA

1956	ARG MON 500 BEL FRA GBR GER ITA

1955	ARG MON 500 BEL NED GBR ITA

1954	ARG 500 BEL FRA GBR GER SUI ITA ESP

1953	ARG 500 NED BEL FRA GBR GER SUI ITA

1952	SUI 500 BEL FRA GBR GER NED ITA

1951	SUI 500 BEL FRA GBR GER ITA ESP

1950	GBR MON 500 SUI BEL FRA ITA

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