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 4.023 km (2.500 mi)
Scheduled Distance	200 laps, 804.6 km (499.955 mi)
Completed Distance	138 laps, 555.174 km (344.969 mi)
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
Second	Bill Holland
Third	Mauri Rose
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

Qualifying Results

The full qualifying results for the 1950 Indianapolis 500 are outlined below:

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Time	Ave. Speed
1	98	Walt Faulkner (R)	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:27.97	134.343 mph
2	28	Fred Agabashian	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:31.10	132.792 mph
3	28	Mauri Rose (W)	Deidt-Offenhauser	4:32.07	132.319 mph
4	28	George Connor	Lesovsky-Offenhauser	4:32.39	132.163 mph
5	1	Johnnie Parsons	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:32.64	132.044 mph
6	49	Jack McGrath	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:33.00	131.868 mph
7	69	Duke Dinsmore	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:34.67	131.066 mph
8	14	Tony Bettenhausen	Deidt-Offenhauser	4:34.92	130.947 mph
9	17	Joie Chitwood	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:35.32	130.757 mph
10	3	Bill Holland (W)	Deidt-Offenhauser	4:35.90	130.482 mph
11	59	Pat Flaherty (R)	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:37.76	129.608 mph
12	54	Cecil Green (R)	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:30.86	132.910 mph
13	18	Duane Carter	Stevens-Offenhauser	4:33.42	131.666 mph
14	21	Spider Webb	Maserati-Offenhauser	4:37.46	129.748 mph
15	81	Jerry Hoyt (R)	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:37.95	129.520 mph
16	2	Myron Fohr	Marchese-Offenhauser	4:33.32	131.714 mph
17	24	Bayliss Levrett	Adams-Offenhauser	4:34.43	131.181 mph
18	45	Dick Rathmann (R)	Watson-Offenhauser	4:34.96	130.928 mph
19	7	Paul Russo	Nichels-Offenhauser	4:35.25	130.790 mph
20	4	Walt Brown	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:35.96	130.454 mph
21	12	Henry Banks	Maserati-Offenhauser	4:37.68	129.646 mph
22	67	Bill Schindler (R)	Snowberger-Offenhauser	4:31.31	132.690 mph
23	8	Lee Wallard	Moore-Offenhauser	4:31.83	132.436 mph
24	55	Troy Ruttman	Lesovsky-Offenhauser	4:32.91	131.912 mph
25	23	Sam Hanks	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:33.57	131.593 mph
26	15	Mack Hellings	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:35.47	130.687 mph
27	22	Jimmy Davies (R)	Ewing-Offenhauser	4:36.07	130.402 mph
28	76	Jim Rathmann	Wetteroth-Offenhauser	4:37.01	129.959 mph
29	27	Walt Ader (R)	Rae-Offenhauser	4:37.05	129.940 mph
30	77	Jackie Holmes	Olson-Offenhauser	4:37.57	129.697 mph
31	75	Gene Hartley (R)	Langley-Offenhauser	4:38.61	129.213 mph
32	61	Jimmy Jackson	Kurtis Kraft-Cummins	4:38.62	129.208 mph
33	62	Johnny McDowell	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:37.58	129.692 mph

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

Non-Qualifiers

No.	Driver	Constructor
9	Andy Linden (R)	Bromme-Offenhauser
	Bud Rose (R)
10	Bill Vukovich (R)	Maserati
	Hal Cole	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser
16	Ted Duncan (R)	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser
19	Kenny Eaton (R)	Bardazon-Offenhauser
	Ralph Pratt (R)
25	Johnny Mauro	Alfa Romeo
26	George Fonder	Deidt-Sparks
29	Charles Van Acker	Stevens-Offenhauser
33	Joel Thorne	Kurtis Kraft-Sparks
34	Johnny Fedricks (R)	Kupiec-Offenhauser
36	George Lynch	Snowberger-Offenhauser
38	Duke Nalon	Kurtis Kraft-Novi
39	Danny Kladis	Maserati
41	Milt Fankhouser	Stevens-Offenhauser
43	Chet Miller	Kurtis Kraft-Novi
44	Bill Cantrell	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser
47	Ralph Pratt (R)	Gdula-Offenhauser
51	Mark Light (R)	Stevens-Offenhauser
52	Dick Fraizer (R)	Meyer-Offenhauser
	Mark Light (R)
58	Billy Devore	Scopa-Offenhauser
63	Bob Gregg (R)	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser
	Joe James (R)
64	Bob Sweikert (R)	Wetteroth-Offenhauser
65	Marvin Burke (R)	Kurtis Kraft-Duray
	Norm Houser
66	Cliff Griffith (R)	Miller-Offenhauser
74	Carl Forberg (R)	Miller-Offenhauser
78	Cy Marshall	Miller
79	Chuck Leighton (R)	Cantarano-Wayne
82	Joe James (R)	Weidel-Mercury
83	Al Miller	Miller
84	Mike Burch (R)	Miller-Offenhauser
85	Manny Ayulo	Miller-Offenhauser
	Jim Rigsby (R)
87	Bill Vukovich (R)	Rounds Rocket-Offenhauser
99	Emil Andres	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser
	Kenny Eaton (R)

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

v·d·e

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