1955 Indianapolis 500

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The 1955 Indianapolis 500 was held on Monday, May 30, 1955 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The event was part of the 1955 World Drivers' Championship.

[edit] Classification

Pos	Grid	No	Driver	Constructor	Qual	Rank	Laps	Led	Time/Retired	F-1 Points
1	14	6	Bob Sweikert	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	139.99	11	200	86	3:53:59.53	8
2	2	10	Tony Bettenhausen Paul Russo	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	139.98	13	200	0	+2:43.56	3 3
3	10	15	Jimmy Davies	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	140.27	5	200	0	+3:32.36	4
4	33	44	Johnny Thomson	Kuzma-Offenhauser	134.11	33	200	0	+3:38.91	3
5	7	77	Walt Faulkner Bill Homeier	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	139.76	16	200	0	+5:17.17	1 1
6	8	19	Andy Linden	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	139.09	22	200	0	+5:57.94
7	16	71	Al Herman	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	139.81	15	200	0	+6:24.24
8	19	29	Pat O'Connor	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	139.19	21	200	0	+6:41.60
9	17	48	Jimmy Daywalt	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	139.41	18	200	0	+7:09.81
10	12	89	Pat Flaherty	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	140.14	7	200	0	+7:46.54
11	18	98	Duane Carter	Kuzma-Offenhauser	139.33	19	197	0	+3 Laps
12	25	41	Chuck Weyant	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	138.06	25	196	0	+4 Laps
13	32	83	Eddie Johnson	Trevis-Offenhauser	134.44	32	196	0	+4 Laps
14	20	33	Jim Rathmann	Epperly-Offenhauser	138.7	24	191	0	+9 Laps
15	21	12	Don Freeland	Phillips-Offenhauser	139.86	14	178	3	Transmission
16	9	22	Cal Niday	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	140.3	4	170	0	Accident
17	24	99	Art Cross	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	138.75	23	168	24	Engine
18	31	81	Shorty Templeman	Trevis-Offenhauser	135.01	31	142	0	Transmission
19	6	8	Sam Hanks	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	140	10	134	0	Transmission
20	28	31	Keith Andrews	Schroeder-Offenhauser	136.04	28	120	0	Fuel Pump
21	27	16	Johnnie Parsons	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	136.8	27	119	0	Magneto
22	13	37	Eddie Russo	Pawl-Offenhauser	140.11	8	112	0	Ignition
23	23	49	Ray Crawford	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	139.2	20	111	0	Engine
24	11	1	Jimmy Bryan	Kuzma-Offenhauser	140.16	6	90	1	Fuel Pump
25	5	4	Bill Vukovich	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	141.07	3	56	50	Fatal Accident	1
26	3	3	Jack McGrath	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	142.58	1	54	6	Magneto
27	22	42	Al Keller	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	139.55	17	54	0	Accident
28	30	27	Rodger Ward	Kuzma-Offenhauser	135.04	30	53	0	Accident
29	26	39	Johnny Boyd	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	136.98	26	53	0	Accident
30	29	68	Ed Elisian	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	135.33	29	53	0	Retirement
31	1	23	Jerry Hoyt	Stevens-Offenhauser	140.04	9	40	0	Oil Leak
32	4	14	Fred Agabashian	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	141.93	2	39	0	Spun Off
33	15	5	Jimmy Reece	Pankratz-Offenhauser	139.99	12	10	0	Engine

[edit] Notes

Pole position: Jerry Hoyt - 1:04.27 (while Hoyt started on the pole, Jack McGrath set the fastest time but started on the outside of the first row)
Fastest Lead Lap: Bill Vukovich - 1:03.67
Shared Drives:
- Car #10: Tony Bettenhausen (123 laps) and Paul Russo (77 laps). They shared the 6 points for second place.
- Car #77: Walt Faulkner (176 laps)and Bill Homeier (24 laps). They shared the 2 points for fifth place.
At the end of the first qualifying day, Manny Ayulo crashed due to a possible steering fault and died the next day.
While in the lead, Bill Vukovich hit the 3-car pileup of Al Keller, Johnny Boyd, and Rodger Ward. He was killed (by fracture to the skull) when his car became airborne and went out of the course on the back long straightaway, landing upside down and on fire. His death concluded a streak of three straight years leading the most laps in the race (likely to have been four straight, 1955 inclusive), a feat unequaled since.

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