1954 Indianapolis 500

1954 Indianapolis 500
Previous←	1954 Argentine Grand Prix
Round	2 of 1954
Next→	1954 Belgian Grand Prix
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Race Details
Date	May 31, 1954
Official Name	38th Indianapolis International Motor Sweepstakes
Location	Indianapolis Motor Speedway Speedway, IN, USA
Course	Permanent racing facility 4.0225 km (2.499 mi)
Distance	200 laps, 804.5 km (499.893 mi)
Pole Position
Driver	Jack McGrath Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser
Time	4:15.26 (4 laps)
Fastest Lap
Driver	Jack McGrath Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser
Time	1:04.04 on lap 29
Podium
First	Bill Vukovich
Second	Jimmy Bryan
Third	Jack McGrath
Lap Leaders

The 1954 Indianapolis 500 (officially the 38th Indianapolis International Motor Sweepstakes) was the 38th running of the Indianapolis 500 and was included as the second race of the 1954 FIA Formula One World Championship. The race, held on May 31, was won for the second-consecutive time by Bill Vukovich. It also marked Vukovich's final career victory.

Qualifying

Qualifying Results

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap	%	Avg. speed
1	2	Jack McGrath	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:15.26		100.0%	226.970
2	19	Jimmy Daywalt	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:17.53	+2.27	100.9%	224.969
3	9	Jimmy Bryan	Kuzma-Offenhauser	4:17.76	+2.50	101.0%	224.769
4	43	Johnny Thomson	Nichels-Offenhauser	4:19.39	+4.13	101.6%	223.356
5	98	Chuck Stevenson	Kuzma-Offenhauser	4:19.41	+4.15	101.6%	223.339
6	7	Don Freeland	Phillips-Offenhauser	4:20.23	+4.97	101.9%	222.635
7	25	Jimmy Reece	Pankratz-Offenhauser	4:20.28	+5.02	102.0%	222.593
8	16	Duane Carter	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:20.42	+5.16	102.0%	222.473
9	17	Bob Sweikert	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:20.48	+5.22	102.0%	222.422
10	1	Sam Hanks	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:20.88	+5.62	102.2%	222.081
11	34	Troy Ruttman	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:21.37	+6.11	102.4%	221.664
12	35	Pat O'Connor	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:20.71	+5.45	102.1%	222.225
13	24	Cal Niday	Stevens-Offenhauser	4:17.46	+2.20	100.9%	225.031
14	73	Mike Nazaruk	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:17.90	+2.64	101.0%	224.647
15	15	Johnnie Parsons	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:17.92	+2.66	101.0%	224.629
16	12	Rodger Ward	Pawl-Offenhauser	4:18.44	+3.18	101.2%	224.177
17	31	Gene Hartley	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:18.88	+3.62	101.4%	223.796
18	51	Bill Homeier	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:19.09	+3.83	101.5%	223.615
19	14	Bill Vukovich	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:19.97	+4.71	101.8%	222.858
20	32	Ernie McCoy	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:20.08	+4.82	101.9%	222.764
21	10	Tony Bettenhausen	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:20.35	+5.09	102.0%	222.533
22	88	Manny Ayulo	Kuzma-Offenhauser	4:20.56	+5.30	102.1%	222.353
23	74	Andy Linden	Schroeder-Offenhauser	4:21.21	+5.95	102.3%	221.800
24	77	Fred Agabashian	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:21.35	+6.09	102.4%	221.681
25	38	Larry Crockett	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:17.96	+2.70	101.1%	224.594
26	33	Len Duncan	Schroeder-Offenhauser	4:18.59	+3.33	101.3%	224.047
27	45	Art Cross	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:19.60	+4.34	101.7%	223.176
28	38	Jim Rathmann	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:20.44	+5.18	102.0%	222.456
29	65	Spider Webb	Bromme-Offenhauser	4:20.91	+5.65	102.2%	222.055
30	99	Jerry Hoyt	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:21.20	+5.94	102.3%	221.809
31	27	Ed Elisian	Stevens-Offenhauser	4:21.26	+6.00	102.4%	221.758
32	5	Paul Russo	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:21.48	+6.22	102.4%	221.571
33	71	Frank Armi	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:21.49	+6.23	102.4%	221.562

Grid

Pos	Pos	Pos
Driver	Driver	Driver
______________
1	______________
Jack McGrath	2	______________
	Jimmy Daywalt	3
		Jimmy Bryan
______________
4	______________
Johnny Thomson	5	______________
	Chuck Stevenson	6
		Don Freeland
______________
7	______________
Jimmy Reece	8	______________
	Duane Carter	9
		Bob Sweikert
______________
10	______________
Sam Hanks	11	______________
	Troy Ruttman	12
		Pat O'Connor
______________
13	______________
Cal Niday	14	______________
	Mike Nazaruk	15
		Johnnie Parsons
______________
16	______________
Rodger Ward	17	______________
	Gene Hartley	18
		Bill Homeier
______________
19	______________
Bill Vukovich	20	______________
	Ernie McCoy	21
		Tony Bettenhausen
______________
22	______________
Manny Ayulo	23	______________
	Andy Linden	24
		Fred Agabashian
______________
25	______________
Larry Crockett	26	______________
	Len Duncan	27
		Art Cross
______________
28	______________
Jim Rathmann	29	______________
	Spider Webb	30
		Jerry Hoyt
______________
31	______________
Ed Elisian	32	______________
	Paul Russo	33
		Frank Armi

Non-Qualifiers

No.	Driver	Constructor
3	Marshall Teague	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser
6	Art Cross	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser
8	Duke Nalon	Kurtis Kraft-Novi
18	Bob Scott	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser
21		Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser
22	Cliff Griffith	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser
	George Tichenor
23	Jerry Hoyt	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser
26	Henry Banks	Lesovsky-Offenhauser
36	George Fonder	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser
	Al Herman
37	Eddie Russo	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser
38	Bill Holland	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser
39	Pat Flaherty	Kurtis Kraft-Chrysler
89		Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser
41	Frank Mundy	Schroeder-Offenhauser
44	Walt Faulkner	Kuzma-Offenhauser
97		Lesovsky-Offenhauser
47	Danny Oakes	Ferrari
49		Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser
52	Chuck Weyant	Silnes-Offenhauser
53	Jimmy Davies	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser
54	Eddie Sachs	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser
59	Jim Rathmann	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser
62	Duke Dinsmore	Ewing-Offenhauser
67		Ewing-Offenhauser
66	Bob Christie	Lesovsky-Offenhauser
67	Potsy Goacher	Moore-Offenhauser
68	Ed Elisian	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser
69	Johnnie Tolan	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser
83	Eddie Johnson	Turner-Offenhauser
93	Billy Devore	Lesovsky-Offenhauser
99	Lee Wallard	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser

Race

Classification

Pos.	Grid	No.	Driver	Constructor	Qual	Rank	Laps	Led	Time/Retired	Points
1	19	14	Bill Vukovich	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	138.470	14	200	90	3:49:17.27	8
2	3	9	Jimmy Bryan	Kuzma-Offenhauser	139.660	5	200	46	+1:09.95	6
3	1	2	Jack McGrath	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	141.030	1	200	47	+1:19.73	5
4	11	34	Troy Ruttman Duane Carter	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	137.730	31	200	0	+2:52.68	1.5 1.5
5	14	73	Mike Nazaruk	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	139.580	6	200	0	+3:24.55	2
6	24	77	Fred Agabashian	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	137.740	30	200	0	+3:47.55
7	6	7	Don Freeland	Phillips-Offenhauser	138.330	16	200	0	+4:13.35
8	32	5	Paul Russo Jerry Hoyt	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	137.670	32	200	0	+5:01.17
9	25	38	Larry Crockett	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	139.550	8	200	0	+7:07.24
10	13	24	Cal Niday	Stevens-Offenhauser	139.820	3	200	0	+7:07.69
11	27	45	Art Cross Johnnie Parsons Sam Hanks Andy Linden Jimmy Davies	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	138.670	13	200	8	+8:22.19
12	5	98	Chuck Stevenson Walt Faulkner	Kuzma-Offenhauser	138.770	12	199	0	+1 lap
13	22	88	Manny Ayulo	Kuzma-Offenhauser	138.160	22	197	0	+3 laps
14	9	17	Bob Sweikert	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	138.200	21	197	0	+3 laps
15	8	16	Duane Carter Marshall Teague Jimmy Jackson Tony Bettenhausen	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	138.230	19	196	0	+4 laps
16	20	32	Ernie McCoy	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	138.230	15	194	0	+6 laps
17	7	25	Jimmy Reece	Pankratz-Offenhauser	138.410	17	194	0	+6 laps
18	31	27	Ed Elisian Bob Scott	Stevens-Offenhauser	137.790	29	193	0	+7 laps
19	33	71	Frank Armi George Fonder	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	137.670	17	193	0	+7 laps
20	10	1	Sam Hanks Jimmy Davies Tony Bettenhausen	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	137.990	25	191	1	Spun off
21	12	35	Pat O'Connor	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	138.080	23	181	0	Spun off
22	16	12	Rodger Ward Eddie Johnson	Pawl-Offenhauser	139.920	2	172	0	Retirement
23	17	31	Gene Hartley Marshall Teague	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	139.060	10	168	0	Clutch
24	4	43	Johnny Thomson Andy Linden Jimmy Daywalt	Nichels-Offenhauser	138.780	11	165	0	Retirement
25	23	74	Andy Linden Bob Scott	Schroeder-Offenhauser	137.820	27	165	0	Suspension
26	30	99	Jerry Hoyt	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	137.820	28	130	0	Engine
27	2	19	Jimmy Daywalt	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	139.780	4	111	8	Accident
28	28	38	Jim Rathmann Pat Flaherty	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	138.220	20	110	0	Accident
29	21	10	Tony Bettenhausen	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	138.270	18	105	0	Wheel bearing
30	29	65	Spider Webb Danny Kladis	Bromme-Offenhauser	137.970	26	104	0	Fuel pump
31	26	33	Len Duncan George Fonder	Schroeder-Offenhauser	139.210	9	101	0	Brakes
32	15	15	Johnnie Parsons	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	139.570	7	79	0	Engine
33	18	51	Bill Homeier	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	138.000	24	74	0	Accident

Standings

v·d·e

Nominate this page for Featured Article