1950 Indianapolis 500

1950 Indianapolis 500
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Round	3 of 1950
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The Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Race Details
Date	30 May, 1950
Race Number	3
Official Name	34th 500-Mile Race
Location	Indianapolis Motor Speedway Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Course	Permanent racing facility 4.023km (2.5mi)
Scheduled Distance	200 laps, 804.6km (500.062 miles)
Completed Distance	138 laps, 555.174km (345.043 miles)
Pole Position
Driver	Walt Faulkner Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser
Time	4:27.97
Fastest Lap
Driver	Johnnie Parsons Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser
Time	1:09.77
Podium
First	Johnnie Parsons Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser
Second	Bill Holland Deidt-Offenhauser
Third	Mauri Rose Deidt-Offenhauser
Lap Leaders

The 1950 Indianapolis 500 was the third race of the inaugural Formula One World Championship in 1950. The race was held on May 30, 1950 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Originally scheduled for 200 laps (500 mi), it was shortened to 138 laps (345 mi) due to rain. The race, which featured an all-American field, was won by Johnnie Parsons, his first and only Formula One World Championship race win.

Qualifying

Qualifying for the 1950 Indianapolis 500 was held over four laps (10 miles) and over four days. Drivers achieved their grid positions based on the day on which the time was posted, then by order of fastest time. If a driver did not go out on the first day, their first run on their first day was considered. As a result, positions 1-11 were decided on the first run, 12-15 on the second, 16-21 on the third and 22-32 on the fourth. The final, 33rd position was decided by a "bumping" procedure: Once a 33rd driver has qualified, non-qualifiers could aim to "bump" the slowest driver in the field by beating their time. At the end of the final day, the driver in 33rd would qualify for the race, but would start at the back despite the possibility that they may have a better time than drivers ahead of them.

Race	Partly Cloudy

Result

Pos	No.	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap	%	Avg Speed
1	98	Walt Faulkner	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:27.97		100%	134.34
2	28	Fred Agabashian	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:31.10	+3.13	101.2%	132.79
3	31	Mauri Rose	Deidt-Offenhauser	4:32.07	+4.10	101.5%	132.32
4	5	George Connor	Lesovsky-Offenhauser	4:32.39	+4.42	101.6%	132.16
5	1	Johnnie Parsons	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:32.43	+4.46	101.7%	132.14
6	49	Jack McGrath	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:33.00	+5.03	101.9%	131.87
7	69	Duke Dinsmore	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:34.67	+6.70	102.5%	131.07
8	14	Tony Bettenhausen	Deidt-Offenhauser	4:34.92	+6.95	102.6%	130.95
9	17	Joie Chitwood	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:35.32	+7.35	102.7%	130.76
10	3	Bill Holland	Deidt-Offenhauser	4:35.90	+7.93	103%	130.48
11	59	Pat Flaherty	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:37.76	+9.79	103.7%	129.61
12	54	Cecil Green	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:30.86	+2.89	101.1%	132.91
13	18	Duane Carter	Stevens-Offenhauser	4:33.42	+5.45	102%	131.65
14	21	Spider Webb	Maserati-Offenhauser	4:37.46	+9.49	103.5%	129.74
15	81	Jerry Hoyt	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:37.95	+9.98	103.7%	129.51
16	2	Myron Fohr	Marchese-Offenhauser	4:33.32	+5.35	102%	131.70
17	24	Bayliss Levrett	Adams-Offenhauser	4:34.43	+6.46	102.4%	131.17
18	45	Dick Rathmann	Watson-Offenhauser	4:34.96	+6.99	102.6%	130.92
19	7	Paul Russo	Nichels-Offenhauser	4:35.25	+7.28	102.7%	130.78
20	4	Walt Brown	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:35.96	+7.99	103%	130.44
21	12	Henry Banks	Maserati-Offenhauser	4:37.68	+9.71	103.6%	129.63
22	67	Bill Schindler	Snowberger-Offenhauser	4:31.31	+3.34	101.2%	132.68
23	8	Lee Wallard	Moore-Offenhauser	4:31.83	+3.86	101.4%	132.42
24	55	Troy Ruttman	Lesovsky-Offenhauser	4:32.91	+4.94	101.8%	131.90
25	23	Sam Hanks	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:33.57	+5.60	102.1%	131.58
26	15	Mack Hellings	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:35.32	+7.35	102.7%	130.75
27	22	Jimmy Davies	Ewing-Offenhauser	4:36.07	+8.10	103%	130.39
28	76	Jim Rathmann	Wetteroth-Offenhauser	4:37.01	+9.04	103.4%	129.95
29	27	Walt Ader	Rae-Offenhauser	4:37.05	+9.08	103.4%	129.93
30	77	Jackie Holmes	Olson-Offenhauser	4:37.57	+9.60	103.6%	129.69
31	75	Gene Hartley	Langley-Offenhauser	4:38.61	+10.64	104%	129.20
32	61	Jimmy Jackson	Kurtis Kraft-Cummins	4:38.62	+10.65	104%	129.20
33	62	Johnny McDowell	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:37.58	+9.61	103.6%	129.68

Grid

Pos	Pos	Pos
Driver	Driver	Driver
______________
1	______________
Walt Faulkner	2	______________
	Fred Agabashian	3
		Mauri Rose
______________
4	______________
George Connor	5	______________
	Johnnie Parsons	6
		Jack McGrath
______________
7	______________
Duke Dinsmore	8	______________
	Tony Bettenhausen	9
		Joie Chitwood
______________
10	______________
Bill Holland	11	______________
	Pat Flaherty	12
		Cecil Green
______________
13	______________
Duane Carter	14	______________
	Spider Webb	15
		Jerry Hoyt
______________
16	______________
Myron Fohr	17	______________
	Bayliss Levrett	18
		Dick Rathmann
______________
19	______________
Paul Russo	20	______________
	Walt Brown	21
		Henry Banks
______________
22	______________
Bill Schindler	23	______________
	Lee Wallard	24
		Troy Ruttman
______________
25	______________
Sam Hanks	26	______________
	Mack Hellings	27
		Jimmy Davies
______________
28	______________
Jim Rathmann	29	______________
	Walt Ader	30
		Jackie Holmes
______________
31	______________
Gene Hartley	32	______________
	Jimmy Jackson	33
		Johnny McDowell

Race Results

• Note: American unless stated.

Results

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Avg Speed	Grid	Pts
1	1	Johnnie Parsons	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	138	2:46:55.97	123.99	5	9
2	3	Bill Holland	Deidt-Offenhauser	137	+ 1 lap	122.63	10	6
3	31	Mauri Rose	Deidt-Offenhauser	137	+ 1 lap	121.77	3	4
4	54	Cecil Green	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	137	+ 1 lap	121.76	12	3
5	17	Joie Chitwood	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	136	+ 2 laps	121.74	9	1
		Tony Bettenhausen						1
6	8	Lee Wallard	Moore-Offenhauser	136	+ 2 laps	121.00	23
7	98	Walt Faulkner	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	135	+ 3 laps	120.46	1
8	5	George Connor	Lesovsky-Offenhauser	135	+ 3 laps	120.45	4
9	7	Paul Russo	Nichels-Offenhauser	135	+ 3 laps	119.95	19
10	59	Pat Flaherty	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	135	+ 3 laps	119.94	11
11	2	Myron Fohr	Marchese-Offenhauser	133	+ 5 laps		16
12	18	Duane Carter	Stevens-Offenhauser	133	+ 5 laps		13
13	15	Mack Hellings	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	132	+ 6 laps		26
14	49	Jack McGrath	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	131	Spin		6
15	55	Troy Ruttman	Lesovsky-Offenhauser	130	+ 8 laps		24
16	75	Gene Hartley	Langley-Offenhauser	128	+ 10 laps		31
17	22	Jimmy Davies	Ewing-Offenhauser	128	+ 10 laps		27
18	62	Johnny McDowell	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	128	+ 10 laps		33
19	4	Walt Brown	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	127	+ 11 laps		20
20	21	Spider Webb	Maserati-Offenhauser	126	+ 12 laps		14
21	81	Jerry Hoyt	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	125	+ 13 laps		15
22	27	Walt Ader	Rae-Offenhauser	123	+ 15 laps		29
23	77	Jackie Holmes	Olson-Offenhauser	123	Spin		30
24	76	Jim Rathmann	Wetteroth-Offenhauser	122	+ 16 laps		28
Ret	12	Henry Banks	Maserati-Offenhauser	118	Oil leak		21
		Fred Agabashian
Ret	67	Bill Schindler	Snowberger-Offenhauser	111	Transmission		22
Ret	24	Bayliss Levrett	Adams-Offenhauser	108	Oil pressure		17
		Bill Cantrell
Ret	28	Fred Agabashian	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	64	Oil leak		2
Ret	61	Jimmy Jackson	Kurtis Kraft-Cummins	52	Compressor		32
Ret	23	Sam Hanks	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	42	Oil pressure		25
Ret	14	Tony Bettenhausen	Deidt-Offenhauser	30	Wheel bearing		8
Ret	45	Dick Rathmann	Watson-Offenhauser	25	Engine		18
Ret	69	Duke Dinsmore	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	10	Oil leak		7

Did not qualify: 9 Andy Linden, 9 Bud Rose, 10/87 Bill Vukovich, 10 Hal Cole (accident), 16 Ted Duncan, 19/47 Ralph Pratt, 19/99 Kenny Eaton, 25 Johnny Mauro, 26 George Fonder, 29 Charles Van Acker, 33 Joel Thorne, 34 Johnny Fedricks, 36 George Lynch, 38 Duke Nalon, 39 Danny Kladis, 41 Milt Fankhouser, 43 Chet Miller, 44 Bill Cantrell, 51/52 Mark Light, 52 Dick Fraizer, 58 Billy Devore, 63/82 Joe James, 63 Bob Gregg, 63 Potsy Goacher, 64 Bob Sweikert, 65 Marvin Burke, 65 Norm Houser, 66 Cliff Griffith, 74 Carl Forberg, 78 Cy Marshall, 79 Chuck Leighton, 83 Al Miller, 84 Mike Burch, 84 Billy Earl (did not drive), 85 Manny Ayulo, 85 Jim Rigsby, 98 Johnny Mantz (practiced only), 99 Emil Andres, Carl Scarborough (passed rookie test).

Entry declined: 76 Ben Zukor (failed physical).

Did not appear: 46 Giuseppe Farina, 46 Piero Taruffi, 48 Franco Rol, Joe Adas.

Shared drive contributions:

• Number 12: Henry Banks 71, Fred Agabashian 47.
• Number 17: Joie Chitwood 85, Tony Bettenhausen 51.
• Number 24: Bayliss Levrett 105, Bill Cantrell 3.

Notes:

• Tony Bettenhausen retired on lap 30, and also took part in a shared drive with Joie Chitwood.
• Fred Agabashian retired on lap 64, and also took part in a shared drive with Henry Banks, which led to another retirement.

Milestones

• First World Championship win for Johnnie Parsons, Kurtis Kraft, Offenhauser and Firestone tires, although the latter three had all won at Indianapolis before.
• First World Championship race for all drivers involved in the race.
• First Indianapolis 500 to be part of the FIA Formula One World Championship.
• First F1 race to be red-flagged.

Standings

Pos.	Driver	Pts
1	Juan Manuel Fangio	9
	Giuseppe Farina	9
	Johnnie Parsons	9
4	Luigi Fagioli	6
	Alberto Ascari	6
	Bill Holland	6
7	Louis Chiron	4
	Reg Parnell	4
	Mauri Rose	4
10	Yves Giraud-Cabantous	3
	Raymond Sommer	3
	Cecil Green	3
13	Prince Bira	2
	Louis Rosier	2
15	Tony Bettenhausen	1
	Joie Chitwood	1

Video

Very little video footage exists from the 1950 Indianapolis 500, however the following is one example of this.

Notes

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