Indianapolis 500 1958
Racing data | ||
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4th of 11 races in the 1958 World Automobile Championship | ||
Surname: | 42th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes | |
Date: | May 30, 1958 | |
Place: | Indianapolis , USA | |
Course: | Indianapolis Motor Speedway | |
Length: | 805 km in 200 laps of 4.025 km
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Weather: | sunny, dry | |
Pole position | ||
Driver: | Dick Rathmann | Watson-Offenhauser |
Time: | min | |
Fastest lap | ||
Driver: | Tony Bettenhausen | Epperly-Offenhauser |
Time: | 1: 02.3 min | |
Podium | ||
First: | Jimmy Bryan | Epperly-Offenhauser |
Second: | George Amick | Epperly-Offenhauser |
Third: | Johnny Boyd | Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser |
The 42nd Indianapolis 500 1958 took place on May 30, 1958 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway near Indianapolis and was the fourth race of the 1958 World Automobile Championship and the second race of the 1958 USAC season .
Reports
background
The Indianapolis 500 was part of the 1958 automobile world championship, but was viewed as a deletion by the European teams. In contrast to the previous year, the race did not take place immediately before another Grand Prix, but this time the Dutch Grand Prix in 1958 was only four days before the Indianapolis 500, which again meant that the teams did not have the time to participate in the race. Only Juan Manuel Fangio tried to qualify, but broke off this attempt after a few training drives because he could not reach the required speed with his car. As in previous years, the race counted for the drivers 'championship, points for the constructors' championship were not awarded.
Many teams continued to rely on Kurti's Kraft Wagen, as well as Kuzma , but also the chassis from Watson and Epperly were used by various teams. Offenhauser aggregates were the preferred engines, only two cars drove with Novi . With Johnnie Parsons , a former winner took part in the race. The winner of the Indianapolis 500 in 1957 , Sam Hanks had retired and took the role of the pace car driver in the Indianapolis 500 in 1958. Among the many debutants in the field was AJ Foyt , who became a multiple winner of the Indianapolis 500 and USAC championships in the decades that followed.
training
To determine the starting grid, four time trial competitions were held on four different days, with the first time trial determining the first 17 positions. The Watson cars dominated and formed the front row with three vehicles. Ed Elisian on Watson set a new lap record and stayed in pole position for a long time during the day before Dick Rathmann outbid him. He did not beat the fastest lap time of Elisian, but the average lap time of four timed laps counted, and Rathmann was slightly better there. Rathmann thus achieved the only Formula 1 pole position of his career, Jimmy Reece completed the front row.
Three Kurtis Kraft Wagen qualified for the second row, Bob Veith qualified ahead of Pat O'Connor and Parsons, and Jimmy Bryan started on row three ahead of Johnny Boyd and Tony Bettenhausen . Bryan and Bettenhausen were the best placed Epperly drivers in the field, Boyd also drove a Kurtis Kraft car. Foyt finished twelfth on the grid in his first Indianapolis 500, while the best driver with a Novimotor was Paul Russo in 14th.
On the second day of the time trial the positions were determined from 18th place, Eddie Sachs was the fastest and achieved a time that would have been enough for seventh place on the first day. On the third day of the time trial, a starting place was still available, which Bill Cheesbourg secured.
run
As in the previous year, the start-up procedure caused a lot of confusion. The vehicles drove out of the pit lane one after the other and should line up behind the pace car within one lap in order to get the speed for the flying start in a further lap. This procedure failed again, the three leaders drove away from the pace car and the field, drove an entire lap at racing speed and caught up again at the end of the field. The pace car came into the pits on schedule after the next lap, Hanks assumed the field was in the right order. But then the race was not released and another lead-in lap followed. Hanks hit the track again, caught the field and the race could finally be released. In order to prevent further confusion from the new start procedure, they returned to the classic introductory round a year later.
The flying start went off without any problems at the beginning, after the first corner Dick Rathmann led ahead of Elisian and Reece, in the same order as the starting grid. At the end of the back straight, just before turn three, Elisian skid in his car and triggered a chain reaction. It hit Rathmann's leading car first, both vehicles hit the boundary wall and then crossed the route. The entire field had to pass the two collided cars, causing a mass crash with 15 cars involved. Jerry Unser , who drove his first Indianapolis 500 race, collided with Paul Goldsmith , got on and flew over the boundary wall. He sustained serious injuries to his shoulder, but survived the accident. Nevertheless, this was his last participation in the Indianapolis 500, a year later he died while training for the Indianapolis 500 in 1959 from the consequences of burn injuries that he sustained in another serious accident.
O'Connor, who was still in pole position last year, collided with Reece's car in the accident on the first lap and flew several meters through the air. The car landed upside down on the track and went up in flames, according to medical experts, O'Connor died immediately of a broken neck and was the first fatally injured Formula 1 driver in the 1958 automobile season. As a result of the accident, various events began To implement urgently needed safety precautions, a year later roll bars were required on the cars, and the drivers had to wear helmets to prevent fatal injuries, as with O'Connor. The audience was informed of O'Connor's death during the race and many left the circuit in shock. Many drivers continued the race later, for Elisian, Unser, Rathmann, Len Sutton , Bob Veith and Art Bisch the race was over. Elisian, who was primarily responsible for the accident, was withdrawn from the racing license after the race, but this decision was reversed a few days later. But Elisian did not survive this very dangerous time in motorsport either, 15 months later he burned himself in an accident. The race was driven by the necessary clean-up and recovery operations for the first 18 laps under yellow flags.
The field then consisted of those drivers who survived the starting pile-up unscathed. Bryan was leading ahead of Sachs and Bettenhausen when the race was released again. Together with George Amick , the lead changed regularly between these drivers afterwards, 14 changes in leadership were observed in the first half of the race. There were also two more retirements, Jack Turner retired on lap 21 with a defective fuel pump, Chuck Weyant had an accident on lap 38, which triggered a second caution period. On lap 52 Johnny Thomson retired with a defective steering, Sachs, Billy Garrett , Rodger Ward , Shorty Templeman , and Russo followed in the next laps with technical defects.
The lead was decided in the second half of the race between Bryan and Boyd, and Amick was also within striking distance. When Boyd made a pit stop on lap 126, he lost the lead for the rest of the race and dropped several places. Byran had the advantage that his pit crew needed less time for pit stops than other teams and thus gained time. He then retained the lead and won the Indianapolis 500 in 1958, his only Formula 1 victory. He won the race in the same car that Hanks had driven a year earlier. Amick, in his first Indianapolis 500, made up ground on the leader towards the end of the race, but was instructed by his team to secure second place and not take any chances. With this strategy he missed a possible Indianapolis 500 victory in his career, because a year later Amick had a fatal accident in a race in Daytona.
There were still three retirements in the final stages of the race, Dempsey Wilson retired with a defective clutch pedal, Foyt and Bob Christie spun off the track. Previously, Mike Magill was asked by his team to end the race, with only 13 vehicles reaching the finish. Boyd completed the podium, Bettenhausen and Jim Rathmann the point placements. As in the previous year, the Epperly cars scored a one-two, something that rarely happens in the Indianapolis 500. The fastest race lap was set by Bettenhausen.
In the drivers' standings, the winner Bryan was in third place after the race, level with Maurice Trintignant , but none of the drivers in this race took part in any other Grand Prix of the 1958 World Cup.
Registration list
The entry list only shows the vehicles that have passed the qualification.
Classifications
Starting grid
Item | driver | constructor | time | Ø speed | begin |
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1 | Dick Rathmann | Watson-Offenhauser | 1: 01.66 | 235.00 km / h | 1 |
2 | Ed Elisian | Watson-Offenhauser | 1: 01.68 | 234.92 km / h | 2 |
3 | Jimmy Reece | Watson-Offenhauser | 1: 01.85 | 234.28 km / h | 3 |
4th | Bob Veith | Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser | 1: 02.12 | 233.26 km / h | 4th |
5 | Pat O'Connor | Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser | 1: 02.15 | 233.15 km / h | 5 |
6th | Johnnie Parsons | Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser | 1: 02.21 | 232.92 km / h | 6th |
7th | Jimmy Bryan | Epperly-Offenhauser | 1: 02.42 | 232.14 km / h | 7th |
8th | Johnny Boyd | Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser | 1: 02.49 | 231.88 km / h | 8th |
9 | Tony Bettenhausen | Epperly-Offenhauser | 1: 02.54 | 231.69 km / h | 9 |
10 | Jack Turner | Lesovsky-Offenhauser | 1: 02.75 | 230.92 km / h | 10 |
11 | Rodger Ward | Lesovsky-Offenhauser | 1: 02.82 | 230.66 km / h | 11 |
12 | AJ Foyt | Kuzma-Offenhauser | 1: 02.88 | 230.44 km / h | 12 |
13 | Don Freeland | Phillips-Offenhauser | 1: 02.92 | 230.29 km / h | 13 |
14th | Paul Russo | Kurtis Kraft-Novi | 1: 02.96 | 230.15 km / h | 14th |
15th | Billy Garrett | Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser | 1: 03.04 | 229.85 km / h | 15th |
16 | Paul Goldsmith | Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser | 1: 03.05 | 229.82 km / h | 16 |
17th | Bob Christie | Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser | 1: 03.27 | 229.02 km / h | 17th |
18th | Eddie Sachs | Kuzma-Offenhauser | 1: 02.22 | 232.88 km / h | 18th |
19th | Jud Larson | Watson-Offenhauser | 1: 02.71 | 231.06 km / h | 19th |
20th | Jim Rathmann | Epperly-Offenhauser | 1: 02.87 | 230.48 km / h | 20th |
21st | Al basement | Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser | 1: 02.97 | 230.11 km / h | 21st |
22nd | Johnny Thomson | Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser | 1: 02.98 | 230.07 km / h | 22nd |
23 | Shorty Templeman | Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser | 1: 03.02 | 229.93 km / h | 23 |
24 | Jerry Unser | Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser | 1: 03.05 | 229.82 km / h | 24 |
25th | George Amick | Epperly-Offenhauser | 1: 03.07 | 229.74 km / h | 25th |
26th | Eddie Johnson | Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser | 1: 03.08 | 229.71 km / h | 26th |
27 | Len Sutton | Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser | 1: 03.09 | 229.67 km / h | 27 |
28 | Art Bish | Kuzma-Offenhauser | 1: 03.10 | 229.64 km / h | 28 |
29 | Chuck Weyant | Dunn-Offenhauser | 1: 03.11 | 229.60 km / h | 29 |
30th | Johnnie Tolan | Kuzma-Offenhauser | 1: 03.24 | 229.13 km / h | 30th |
31 | Mike Magill | Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser | 1: 03.26 | 229.05 km / h | 31 |
32 | Dempsey Wilson | Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser | 1: 07.03 | 216.17 km / h | 32 |
33 | Bill Cheesbourg | Kurtis Kraft-Novi | 1: 03.14 | 229.49 km / h | 33 |
run
World Cup stand after the race
The first five of the race got 8, 6, 4, 3, 2 points. The driver with the fastest race lap received an additional 1 point. Only the five best results from eight races counted.
Driver ranking
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Constructors' championship
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Web links
- Photos at f1-facts.com
- The 42nd Indianapolis 500-1958 at youtube.com
- O'Connor death overshadows Bryan's win at en.espnf1.com