1949_Indianapolis_500
1949 Indianapolis 500
33rd running of the Indianapolis 500
The 33rd International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was an automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Monday, May 30, 1949.
| Indianapolis Motor Speedway | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indianapolis 500 | |||||
| Sanctioning body | AAA | ||||
| Date | May 30, 1949 | ||||
| Winner | Bill Holland | ||||
| Winning Entrant | Lou Moore | ||||
| Average speed | 121.327 mph (195.257 km/h) | ||||
| Pole position | Duke Nalon | ||||
| Pole speed | 132.939 mph (213.945 km/h) | ||||
| Most laps led | Bill Holland (146) | ||||
| Pre-race | |||||
| Pace car | Oldsmobile 88 | ||||
| Pace car driver | Wilbur Shaw | ||||
| Starter | Seth Klein[1] | ||||
| Honorary referee | J. Emmett McManamon[1] | ||||
| Estimated attendance | 150,000[2] | ||||
| Chronology | |||||
| |||||
After two years of failures to his teammate, Bill Holland finally won one for himself. Giving car owner Lou Moore his third consecutive Indy victory. Mauri Rose was fired by the team after the race when he again ignored orders and tried to pass Holland, only to see his car fail with 8 laps to go.[3]
Spider Webb suffered a broken transmission the morning of the race and failed to start. Rather than utilize an alternate starter, officials awarded Webb the 33rd finishing position.
Offenhauser-powered cars locked 28 out of the 33 starting positions, and the top 19 finishing positions.
| Row | Inside | Middle | Outside | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 54 |  Duke Nalon |
5 | Rex Mays |
33 | Jack McGrath |
| 2 | 7 | Bill Holland |
17 | Duane Carter |
22 | George Connor |
| 3 | 61 | Jimmy Jackson |
26 | George Lynch R |
98 | Johnny Mantz |
| 4 | 3 | Mauri Rose W |
14 | Hal Cole |
12 | Johnnie Parsons R |
| 5 | 2 | Myron Fohr R |
8 | Mack Hellings |
29 | Duke Dinsmore |
| 6 | 77 | Joie Chitwood |
57 | Jackie Holmes R |
64 | Troy Ruttman R |
| 7 | 19 | Paul Russo |
6 | Lee Wallard |
68 | Jim Rathmann R |
| 8 | 4 | Bill Sheffler |
18 | Sam Hanks |
71 | Norm Houser R |
| 9 | 38 | George Fonder R |
37 | Spider Webb |
10 | Charles Van Acker |
| 10 | 32 | Johnny McDowell R |
69 | Bayliss Levrett R |
74 | Bill Cantrell |
| 11 | 15 | Fred Agabashian |
9 | Emil Andres |
52 | Manny Ayulo R |
Alternates
- First alternate: Ralph Pratt R (#34)[4]
Failed to Qualify
- Les Anderson (#74)
- Henry Banks (#35)
- Frank Beardsley R
- Randall Beinke R (#42)
- Tony Bettenhausen (#16, #46)
- Lindley Bothwell R (#66)
- Frank Brisko (#48)
- Walt Brown (#18)
- Jim Brubaker R (#79)
- Frank Burany R (#24)
- Jimmy Daywalt R (#56)
- Billy Devore
- Ted Duncan R (#72)
- Kenny Eaton R (#55)
- Milt Fankhouser (#73)
- Pat Flaherty R (#43)
- Dick Fraizer R (#59)
- Eddie Haddad R (#47)
- Mel Hansen (#44)
- Tommy Hinnershitz (#15, #18)
- Byron Horne R (#39)
- Danny Kladis (#58)
- Tommy Mattson R
- Johnny Mauro (#16)
- George Metzler R (#67) - Fatal accident
- Chet Miller (#65)
- Hal Robson (#23)
- Mike Salay (#49)
- Wally Stokes R (#75)
- Bill Taylor R (#51)
- Joel Thorne (#81)
- Louis Tomei (#42)
- Doc Williams (#65)[5]
| Finish | Start | No | Name | Chassis | Engine | Qual | Rank | Laps | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 7 | Bill Holland |
Diedt | Offenhauser | 128.673 | 9 | 200 | Running | |
| 2 | 12 | 12 | Johnnie Parsons R |
Kurtis Kraft | Offenhauser | 132.900 | 2 | 200 | Running | |
| 3 | 6 | 22 | George Connor |
Lesovsky | Offenhauser | 128.228 | 13 | 200 | Running | |
| 4 | 13 | 2 | Myron Fohr R |
Marchese | Offenhauser | 129.776 | 3 | 200 | Running | |
| 5 | 16 | 77 | Joie Chitwood |
Kurtis Kraft | Offenhauser | 126.863 | 27 | 200 | Running | |
| 6 | 7 | 61 | Jimmy Jackson |
Diedt | Offenhauser | 128.023 | 15 | 200 | Running | |
| 7 | 9 | 98 | Johnny Mantz |
Kurtis Kraft | Offenhauser | 127.786 | 18 | 200 | Running | |
| 8 | 19 | 19 | Paul Russo |
Slines | Offenhauser | 129.487 | 5 | 200 | Running | |
| 9 | 32 | 9 | Emil Andres (Relieved by Walt Brown Laps 19–197) |
Slines | Offenhauser | 126.042 | 31 | 197 | Flagged | |
| 10 | 24 | 71 | Norm Houser R |
Langley | Offenhauser | 127.756 | 20 | 181 | Flagged | |
| 11 | 21 | 68 | Jim Rathmann R |
Wetteroth | Offenhauser | 126.516 | 29 | 175 | Flagged | |
| 12 | 18 | 64 | Troy Ruttman R |
Wetteroth | Offenhauser | 125.945 | 32 | 151 | Flagged | |
| 13 | 10 | 3 | Mauri Rose W |
Diedt | Offenhauser | 127.759 | 19 | 192 | Magneto strap | |
| 14 | 5 | 17 | Duane Carter |
Stevens | Offenhauser | 128.233 | 12 | 182 | Spun T3 | |
| 15 | 15 | 29 | Duke Dinsmore |
Olson | Offenhauser | 127.750 | 21 | 174 | Radius rod | |
| 16 | 14 | 8 | Mack Hellings |
Kurtis Kraft | Offenhauser | 128.260 | 11 | 172 | Valve | |
| 17 | 22 | 4 | Bill Sheffler |
Bromme | Offenhauser | 128.521 | 10 | 160 | Rod | |
| 18 | 28 | 32 | Johnny McDowell R |
Meyer | Offenhauser | 126.139 | 30 | 142 | Magneto | |
| 19 | 11 | 14 | Hal Cole |
Kurtis Kraft | Offenhauser | 127.168 | 24 | 117 | Rod bearing | |
| 20 | 25 | 38 | George Fonder R (Relieved by Mel Hansen Laps 68–116) |
Adams | Sparks | 127.289 | 22 | 116 | Valve | |
| 21 | 30 | 74 | Bill Cantrell |
Kurtis Kraft | Offenhauser | 127.191 | 23 | 95 | Drive shaft | |
| 22 | 17 | 57 | Jackie Holmes R |
Kurtis Kraft | Offenhauser | 128.087 | 14 | 65 | Drive shaft | |
| 23 | 20 | 6 | Lee Wallard |
Maserati | Maserati | 128.912 | 7 | 55 | Gears | |
| 24 | 29 | 69 | Bayliss Levrett R |
Kurtis Kraft | Offenhauser | 129.236 | 6 | 52 | Drain plug | |
| 25 | 2 | 5 | Rex Mays |
Kurtis Kraft | Novi | 129.552 | 4 | 48 | Engine | |
| 26 | 3 | 33 | Jack McGrath |
Kurtis Kraft | Offenhauser | 128.884 | 8 | 39 | Oil pump | |
| 27 | 31 | 15 | Fred Agabashian |
Maserati | Maserati | 127.007 | 25 | 38 | Overheating | |
| 28 | 33 | 52 | Manny Ayulo R |
Bromme | Offenhauser | 125.799 | 33 | 24 | Rod | |
| 29 | 1 | 54 | Duke Nalon |
Kurtis Kraft | Novi | 132.939 | 1 | 23 | Crash T3 | |
| 30 | 23 | 18 | Sam Hanks |
Kurtis Kraft | Offenhauser | 127.809 | 17 | 20 | Oil leak | |
| 31 | 27 | 10 | Charles Van Acker |
Stevens | Offenhauser | 126.524 | 28 | 10 | Crash T4 | |
| 32 | 8 | 26 | George Lynch R |
Rassey | Offenhauser | 127.823 | 16 | 1 | Crash T1 | |
| 33 | 26 | 37 | Spider Webb |
Bromme | Offenhauser | 127.002 | 26 | 0 | Transmission | |
| [6][7] | ||||||||||
W Former Indianapolis 500 winner
R Indianapolis 500 Rookie
All entrants utilized Firestone tires.
Race statistics
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Radio
The race was carried live on the Mutual Broadcasting System, the precursor to the IMS Radio Network. The broadcast was sponsored by Perfect Circle Piston Rings and Bill Slater served as the anchor. The broadcast featured live coverage of the start, the finish, and live updates throughout the race.
| Mutual Broadcasting System | ||
|---|---|---|
| Booth Announcers | Turn Reporters | Roving reporters |
|
Booth Announcer: Bill Slater |
South turns: Sid Collins |
Barry Lake |
Television
The race was carried live for the first time in the history of local television on WFBM-TV channel 6 of Indianapolis. The station signed on for the first time race in the morning of May 30, 1949, with a documentary about the race entitled The Crucible of Speed, then covered the race itself. The race broadcast utilized three cameras located along the main stretch. Earl Townsend, Jr. who previously worked as a radio reporter, was the first television announcer. Dick Pittenger and Paul Roberts joined Townsend along with engineer Robert Robbins. The telecast reached approximately 3,000 local households.
| WFBM-TV Television | |
|---|---|
| Play-by-play | Pit reporters |
|
Announcer: Earl Townsend, Jr. |
Robert Robbins |
Works cited
References
- Fox, Jack C. (1994). The Illustrated History of the Indianapolis 500 1911-1994 (4th ed.). Carl Hungness Publishing. p. 22. ISBN 0-915088-05-3.
- Stranahan, Bob (May 31, 1949). "Sizzling Pace Sets New Record; Nalon Burned in Crash". The Indianapolis Star. p. 1. Retrieved June 1, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Career Summary:Maurice 'Mauri' Rose". www.snaplap.net. 20 April 2015. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
- The Talk of Gasoline Alley – 1070-AM WIBC, May 14, 2004
- ""1949 International 500 Mile Sweepstakes"". ChampCarStats.com. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
- "Indianapolis 500 1949". Ultimate Racing History. Archived from the original on 17 January 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
- "Indianapolis Motor Speedway". www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com. Retrieved 2023-09-12.
- O'Brien, J.E. (May 31, 1949). "Race Cashier to Greet Old Pals-Blue Crown Boys". Indianapolis News. p. 6. Retrieved April 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- Stewart, Walter (May 31, 1949). "Lou Moore Has The Know-How". The Commercial Appeal. p. 16. Retrieved April 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
| 1948 Indianapolis 500 Mauri Rose |
1949 Indianapolis 500 Bill Holland |
1950 Indianapolis 500 Johnnie Parsons |
| Preceded by 119.814 mph (1948 Indianapolis 500) |
Record for the fastest average speed 121.327 mph |
Succeeded by 124.002 mph (1950 Indianapolis 500) |