1959 Indianapolis 500

1959 Indianapolis 500
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Round	2 of 1959
Next→	1959 Dutch Grand Prix
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Race Details
Date	30 May, 1959
Race Number	77
Official Name	43rd International 500-Mile Sweepstakes
Location	Indianapolis Motor Speedway Speedway, Indiana, USA
Course	Permanent racing facility 4.023 km (2.500 mi)
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Distance	200 laps, 804.6 km (499.955 mi)
Pole Position
Driver	Johnny Thomson Lesovsky-Offenhauser
Time	4:06.73 (4 laps)
Fastest Lap
Driver	Johnny Thomson Lesovsky-Offenhauser
Time	1:01.89 on lap 64
Podium
First	Rodger Ward Watson-Offenhauser
Second	Jim Rathmann Watson-Offenhauser
Third	Johnny Thomson Lesovsky-Offenhauser
Lap Leaders

Qualifying

Qualifying Results

The full qualifying results for the 1959 Indianapolis 500 are outlined below:

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time	Ave. Speed
1	3	Johnny Thomson	Lesovsky-Offenhauser	4:06.73	145.908 mi/h
2	44	Eddie Sachs	Kuzma-Offenhauser	4:07.55	145.425 mi/h
3	16	Jim Rathmann	Watson-Offenhauser	4:09.25	144.433 mi/h
4	73	Dick Rathmann	Watson-Offenhauser	4:09.57	144.248 mi/h
5	48	Bobby Grim (R)	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:09.61	144.225 mi/h
6	5	Rodger Ward	Watson-Offenhauser	4:09.94	144.035 mi/h
7	74	Bob Veith	Moore-Offenhauser	4:09.96	144.023 mi/h
8	19	Eddie Johnson	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:10.00	144.000 mi/h
9	88	Gene Hartley	Kuzma-Offenhauser	4:10.74	143.575 mi/h
10	9	Don Branson (R)	Phillips-Offenhauser	4:11.20	143.312 mi/h
11	33	Johnny Boyd	Epperly-Offenhauser	4:12.08	142.812 mi/h
12	37	Duane Carter	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:12.11	142.795 mi/h
13	66	Jimmy Daywalt	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:08.82	144.683 mi/h
14	24	Jack Turner	Christensen-Offenhauser	4:10.91	143.478 mi/h
15	1	Tony Bettenhausen	Epperly-Offenhauser	4:12.24	142.721 mi/h
16	99	Paul Goldsmith	Epperly-Offenhauser	4:12.33	142.670 mi/h
17	10	A. J. Foyt	Kuzma-Offenhauser	4:12.37	142.648 mi/h
18	64	Pat Flaherty (W)	Watson-Offenhauser	4:12.81	142.399 mi/h
19	7	Jud Larson	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:12.99	142.298 mi/h
20	6	Jimmy Bryan (W)	Epperly-Offenhauser	4:13.31	142.118 mi/h
21	71	Chuck Arnold (R)	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:13.31	142.118 mi/h
22	8	Len Sutton	Lesovsky-Offenhauser	4:13.33	142.107 mi/h
23	89	Al Herman	Dunn-Offenhauser	4:13.63	141.939 mi/h
24	65	Bob Christie	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:11.32	143.244 mi/h
25	15	Don Freeland	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:11.65	143.056 mi/h
26	87	Red Amick (R)	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:11.88	142.925 mi/h
27	45	Paul Russo	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:12.84	142.383 mi/h
28	57	Al Keller	Kuzma-Offenhauser	4:13.42	142.057 mi/h
29	47	Chuck Weyant	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:13.61	141.950 mi/h
30	53	Bill Cheesbourg	Kuzma-Offenhauser	4:13.90	141.788 mi/h
31	77	Mike Magill	Sutton-Offenhauser	4:14.45	141.482 mi/h
32	49	Ray Crawford	Elder-Offenhauser	4:14.69	141.348 mi/h
33	58	Jim McWithey (R)	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	4:14.93	141.215 mi/h

• (R) represents as race rookies.
• (W) represents as previous winners.

Grid

Pos	Pos	Pos
Driver	Driver	Driver
______________
1	______________
Johnny Thomson	2	______________
	Eddie Sachs	3
		Jim Rathmann
______________
4	______________
Dick Rathmann	5	______________
	Bobby Grim	6
		Rodger Ward
______________
7	______________
Bob Veith	8	______________
	Eddie Johnson	9
		Gene Hartley
______________
10	______________
Don Branson	11	______________
	Johnny Boyd	12
		Duane Carter
______________
13	______________
Jimmy Daywalt	14	______________
	Jack Turner	15
		Tony Bettenhausen
______________
16	______________
Paul Goldsmith	17	______________
	A. J. Foyt	18
		Pat Flaherty
______________
19	______________
Jud Larsen	20	______________
	Jimmy Bryan	21
		Chuck Arnold
______________
22	______________
Len Sutton	23	______________
	Al Herman	24
		Bob Christie
______________
25	______________
Don Freeland	26	______________
	Red Amick	27
		Paul Russo
______________
28	______________
Al Keller	29	______________
	Chuck Weyant	30
		Bill Cheesbourg
______________
31	______________
Mike Magill	32	______________
	Ray Crawford	33
		Jim McWithey

Non-Qualifiers

The full list of non-qualifiers for the 1959 Indianapolis 500 are outlined below:

No.	Driver	Team
39	Rex Easton (R)	Lesovsky-Offenhauser
45		Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser
72	Russ Congdon (R)	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser
51	Bob Cortner (R)	Cornis-Offenhauser
98	Chuck Daigh (R)	Kuzma-Offenhauser
53	Jimmy Davies	Kuzma-Offenhauser
54	Don Edmunds	Kuzma-Offenhauser
57		Kuzma-Offenhauser
76		Epperly-Offenhauser
92	Jack Ensley (R)	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser

• (R) represents as race rookies.
• (W) represents as previous winners.

Race

Classification

(W) = Previous winner of the race
(R) = Race rookie

Pos	Grid	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Led	Time/Retired	Points
1	6	5	Rodger Ward	Watson-Offenhauser	200	130	3:40:49.20	8
2	3	16	Jim Rathmann	Watson-Offenhauser	200	19	+23.28	6
3	1	3	Johnny Thomson	Lesovsky-Offenhauser	200	40	+50.64	5
4	15	1	Tony Bettenhausen	Epperly-Offenhauser	200	0	+1:47.09	3
5	16	99	Paul Goldsmith	Epperly-Offenhauser	200	0	+2:06.44	2
6	11	33	Johnny Boyd	Epperly-Offenhauser	200	0	+3:16.98
7	12	37	Duane Carter	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	200	0	+4:09.92
8	8	19	Eddie Johnson	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	200	0	+4:10.53
9	27	45	Paul Russo	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	200	0	+4:11.04
10	17	10	A. J. Foyt	Kuzma-Offenhauser	200	0	+4:14.48
11	9	88	Gene Hartley	Kuzma-Offenhauser	200	0	+5:42.48
12	7	74	Bob Veith	Moore-Offenhauser	200	0	+6:09.73
13	23	89	Al Herman	Dunn-Offenhauser	200	0	+6:40.40
14	13	66	Jimmy Daywalt	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	200	0	+6:41.54
15	21	71	Chuck Arnold (R)	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	200	0	+8:19.86
16	33	58	Jim McWithey (R)	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	200	0	+11:41.69
17	2	44	Eddie Sachs	Kuzma-Offenhauser	182	0	Spun Off
18	28	57	Al Keller	Kuzma-Offenhauser	163	0	Engine
19	18	64	Pat Flaherty (W)	Watson-Offenhauser	162	11	Accident
20	4	73	Dick Rathmann	Watson-Offenhauser	150	0	Fire
21	30	53	Bill Cheesbourg	Kuzma-Offenhauser	147	0	Electrics
22	25	15	Don Freeland	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	136	0	Electrics
23	32	49	Ray Crawford	Elder-Offenhauser	115	0	Accident
24	10	9	Don Branson (R)	Phillips-Offenhauser	112	0	Suspension
25	24	65	Bob Christie	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	109	0	Engine
26	5	48	Bobby Grim (R)	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	85	0	Electrics
27	14	24	Jack Turner	Christensen-Offenhauser	47	0	Fuel leak
28	29	47	Chuck Weyant	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	45	0	Accident
29	19	7	Jud Larson	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	45	0	Accident
30	31	77	Mike Magill	Sutton-Offenhauser	45	0	Accident
31	26	87	Red Amick (R)	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	45	0	Accident
32	22	8	Len Sutton	Lesovsky-Offenhauser	34	0	Accident
33	20	6	Jimmy Bryan (W)	Epperly-Offenhauser	1	0	Engine

Standings

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