1959 Indianapolis 500

1959 Indianapolis 500
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Round	2 of 1959
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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 4.023km (2.5mi)
Distance	200 laps, 804.600km (500.062 miles)
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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