1954 Indianapolis 500

The 38th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Monday, May 31, 1954. The event was part of the 1954 AAA National Championship Trail, and was also race 2 of 9 in the 1954 World Championship of Drivers.

1954 Indianapolis 500
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Winning car of the 1954 Indianapolis 500
Race details
Date	31 May 1954 (1954-05-31)
Official name	38th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes
Location	Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	4.023 km (2.5 miles)
Distance	200 laps, 804.672 km (500 miles)
Weather	Very hot and sunny
Attendance	175,000
Pole position
Driver	Jack McGrath	Jack Hinkle
Time	4:15.26 (4 laps)
Podium
First	Bill Vukovich	Howard B. Keck
Second	Jimmy Bryan	Dean Van Lines
Third	Jack McGrath	Jack Hinkle

Time trials

Time trials was scheduled for four days.

• Saturday May 15 – Pole Day time trials
• Sunday May 16 – Second day time trials
• Saturday May 22 – Third day time trials
• Sunday May 23 – Fourth day time trials

Starting grid

 R  = Indianapolis 500 rookie;  W  = Former Indianapolis 500 winner

Row	Inside		Middle		Outside
1	2	Jack McGrath	19	Jimmy Daywalt	9	Jimmy Bryan
2	43	Johnny Thomson	98	Chuck Stevenson	7	Don Freeland
3	25	Jimmy Reece	16	Duane Carter	17	Bob Sweikert
4	1	Sam Hanks	34	Troy Ruttman  W	35	Pat O'Connor  R
5	24	Cal Niday	73	Mike Nazaruk	15	Johnnie Parsons  W
6	12	Rodger Ward	31	Gene Hartley	51	Bill Homeier  R
7	14	Bill Vukovich  W	32	Ernie McCoy	10	Tony Bettenhausen
8	88	Manny Ayulo	74	Andy Linden	77	Fred Agabashian
9	28	Larry Crockett  R	33	Len Duncan  R	45	Art Cross
10	38	Jim Rathmann	65	Spider Webb	99	Jerry Hoyt
11	27	Ed Elisian  R	5	Paul Russo	71	Frank Armi  R

Alternates

• First alternate: Eddie Johnson (#26) — Johnson drove relief during the race

Failed to qualify

• Henry Banks (#26) - Retired
• Joe Barzda  R (#54)
• Bill Boyd  R  (#47)
• Wally Campbell  R  (#66, #81) - Failed rookie test
• Bob Christie  R  (#66)
• George Connor (#27, #32) - Retired
• Ray Crawford  R  (#32) - Entry declined
• Jimmy Davies (#53)
• Billy Devore (#93)
• Duke Dinsmore (#62, #67)
• Walt Faulkner (#44, #97)
• Pat Flaherty (#39, #76, #89)
• Johnny Fedricks  R  (#89)
• George Fonder (#33, #36)
• Potsy Goacher  R  (#67)
• Cliff Griffith (#22)
• Al Herman  R  (#36)
• Bill Holland  W #38)
• Frank Mundy  R  (#41)
• Duke Nalon (#8)
• Danny Oakes  R  (#47, #49)
• Eddie Russo  R  (#37)
• Eddie Sachs  R  (#54)
• Bob Scott (#18, #21)
• Joe Sostilio  R  (#45)
• Marshall Teague (#3)
• George Tichenor  R  (#22)
• Johnnie Tolan  R  (#69)
• Lee Wallard W (#99) - Retired
• Leroy Warriner (#67) - Withdrew, injured
• Chuck Weyant  R  (#52)

Race summary

Bill Vukovich had to work much harder in this race due to his car was now 2 years old and the team had trouble getting it up to speed leading to a 19th place starting spot inside of row 7 for the race. Vukovich did not see the lead until lap 61 when he led 1 lap. He then after losing positions during pitstops worked his way forward, seeing the lead again on lap 92 leading for the next 38 laps until falling back due to another round of pitstops. Then Vukovich took the lead for good on 150 to win his second consecutive 500, setting a record (at the time) 130.840 mph average race speed. The record would stand until the 1957 Indianapolis 500. Sadly Vukovich died the following year attempting to win his third consecutive Indy 500. The race reportedly went 110 laps before the first yellow light.

Box score

Pos	Grid	No	Driver	Constructor	Qual	Rank	Laps	Led	Time/Retired	Points
1	19	14	Bill Vukovich  W	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	138.47	14	200	90	3:49:17.27	8
2	3	9	Jimmy Bryan	Kuzma-Offenhauser	139.66	5	200	46	+ 1:09.95	6
3	1	2	Jack McGrath	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	141.03	1	200	47	+ 1:19.73	5
4	11	34	Troy Ruttman  W  (Relieved by Duane Carter)	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	137.73	31	200	0	+ 2:52.68	1.5 1.5
5	14	73	Mike Nazaruk	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	139.58	6	200	0	+ 3:24.55	2
6	24	77	Fred Agabashian	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	137.74	30	200	0	+ 3:47.55
7	6	7	Don Freeland	Phillips-Offenhauser	138.33	16	200	0	+ 4:13.35
8	32	5	Paul Russo (Relieved by Jerry Hoyt)	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	137.67	32	200	0	+ 5:01.17
9	25	28	Larry Crockett  R	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	139.55	8	200	0	+ 7:07.24
10	13	24	Cal Niday	Stevens-Offenhauser	139.82	3	200	0	+ 7:07.69
11	27	45	Art Cross (Relieved by Johnnie Parsons) (Relieved by Sam Hanks) (Relieved by Andy Linden) (Relieved by Jimmy Davies)	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	138.67	13	200	8	+ 8:22.19
12	5	98	Chuck Stevenson (Relieved by Walt Faulkner)	Kuzma-Offenhauser	138.77	12	199	0	+ 1 Lap
13	22	88	Manny Ayulo	Kuzma-Offenhauser	138.16	22	197	0	+ 3 Laps
14	9	17	Bob Sweikert	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	138.20	21	197	0	+ 3 Laps
15	8	16	Duane Carter (Relieved by Marshall Teague) (Relieved by Jimmy Jackson) (Relieved by Tony Bettenhausen)	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	138.23	19	196	0	+ 4 Laps
16	20	32	Ernie McCoy	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	138.41	15	194	0	+ 6 Laps
17	7	25	Jimmy Reece	Pankratz-Offenhauser	138.31	17	194	0	+ 6 Laps
18	31	27	Ed Elisian  R  (Relieved by Bob Scott)	Stevens-Offenhauser	137.79	29	193	0	+ 7 Laps
19	33	71	Frank Armi  R  (Relieved by George Fonder)	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	137.67	33	193	0	+ 7 Laps
20	10	1	Sam Hanks (Relieved by Jimmy Davies) (Relieved by Jim Rathmann)	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	137.99	25	191	1	Spun Off
21	12	35	Pat O'Connor  R	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	138.08	23	181	0	Spun Off
22	16	12	Rodger Ward (Relieved by Eddie Johnson)	Pawl-Offenhauser	139.92	2	172	0	Retirement
23	17	31	Gene Hartley (Relieved by Marshall Teague)	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	139.06	10	168	0	Clutch
24	4	43	Johnny Thomson (Relieved by Andy Linden) (Relieved by Jimmy Daywalt)	Nichels-Offenhauser	138.78	11	165	0	Retirement
25	23	74	Andy Linden (Relieved by Bob Scott)	Schroeder-Offenhauser	137.82	27	165	0	Suspension
26	30	99	Jerry Hoyt	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	137.82	28	130	0	Engine
27	2	19	Jimmy Daywalt	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	139.78	4	111	8	Accident
28	28	38	Jim Rathmann (Relieved by Pat Flaherty)	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	138.22	20	110	0	Accident
29	21	10	Tony Bettenhausen	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	138.27	18	105	0	Wheel Bearing
30	29	65	Spider Webb (Relieved by Danny Kladis)	Bromme-Offenhauser	137.97	26	104	0	Fuel pump
31	26	33	Len Duncan  R  (Relieved by George Fonder)	Schroeder-Offenhauser	139.21	9	101	0	Brakes
32	15	15	Johnnie Parsons  W	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	139.57	7	79	0	Engine
33	18	51	Bill Homeier  R	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	138.00	24	74	0	Accident

Notes

• ^1 – Includes 1 point for fastest lead lap

Additional stats

• Pole position: Jack McGrath – 4:15.26 (4 laps)
• Pole Speed: 141.033 mph (average for 4 laps)
• Fastest Lead Lap: Jack McGrath – 1:04.04 (140.540 mph)
• Relief drivers:
  • Troy Ruttman (130 laps) & Duane Carter (70) shared car no 34. Shared points for 4th position.
  • Paul Russo (150) & Jerry Hoyt (50) shared car no 5.
  • Art Cross (120), Jimmie Davies (30), Johnnie Parsons (22), Andy Linden (17) & Sam Hanks (11) shared car no 45.
  • Chuck Stevenson (82), Walt Faulkner (117) shared car no 98.
  • Duane Carter (76), Jimmy Jackson (57), Tony Bettenhausen (34) & Marshall Teague (29) shared car no 16.
  • Ed Elisian (148) & Bob Scott (45) shared car no 27.
  • Frank Armi (179) & George Fonder (14) shared car no 71.
  • Sam Hanks (112), Jimmie Davies (36) & Jim Rathmann (43) shared car no 1.
  • Rodger Ward (105) & Eddie Johnson (67) shared car no 12.
  • Gene Hartley (151) & Marshall Teague (17) shared car no 31.
  • Andy Linden (113) & Bob Scott (52) shared car no 74.
  • Johnny Thomson (113), Andy Linden (27) & Jimmy Daywalt (25) shared car no 43.
  • Jim Rathmann (95) & Pat Flaherty (15) shared car no 38.
  • Spider Webb (54) & Danny Kladis (50) shared car no 65.
  • Len Duncan (43) & George Fonder (58) shared car no 33.

Broadcasting

Radio

The race was carried live flag-to-flag on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network. It was the second time the race was carried in its entirety. The broadcast was anchored by Sid Collins, his third as chief announcer, and seventh year overall with the crew. Charlie Brockman served as booth analyst and statistician, and also reported from victory lane. For the first time ever, a female reporter was part of the radio crew. Paula Carr of WIRE served as a roving reporter, interviewing celebrities and other special guests.

Of note, the network expanded its coverage to include four qualifying wrap-up shows during time trials weekends.

The network expanded to include four qualifying wrap-up shows, and the number of affiliate stations increased to 210. All five major radio stations in Indianapolis carried the broadcast. The 1954 broadcast is notable in that it featured for the first time the famous phrase "Stay tuned for the Greatest Spectacle in Racing." Due to the increased number of affiliates at the time, the network needed a scripted "out-cue" to alert producers when to manually insert local commercials. A young WIBC marketing staff member named Alice Greene (née Bunger) is credited with inventing the phrase, and chief announcer Sid Collins coined it on-air. It has been used ever since, with all of the chief announcers proudly reciting it during their respective tenures.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network
Booth Announcers	Turn Reporters	Pit/garage reporters
Chief Announcer: Sid Collins Color: Charlie Brockman	South Turns: Bill Frosch Backstretch: Jack Shapiro North Turns: Easy Gwynn	Luke Walton (north pits) Greg Smith (south pits) Dick Lingle Paula Carr

Championship standings after the race

World Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
	1	Juan Manuel Fangio	8
16	2	Bill Vukovich	8
1	3	Nino Farina	6
14	4	Jimmy Bryan	6
2	5	José Froilán González	5
Source:

• Note: Only the top five positions are included.

Gallery

• 

  1954 winning car

External links

• Indianapolis 500 History: Race & All-Time Stats – Official Site
• 1954 Indianapolis 500 at RacingReference.info (Relief driver statistics)