1958 Indianapolis 500

The 42nd International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Friday, May 30, 1958. The event was part of the 1958 USAC National Championship Trail, and was also race 4 of 11 in the 1958 World Championship of Drivers.

1958 Indianapolis 500
Winning car of the 1958 Indianapolis 500
Race details
Date 30 May 1958 (1958-05-30)
Official name 42nd International 500-Mile Sweepstakes
Location Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.023 km (2.5 mi)
Distance 200 laps, 804.672 km (500 mi)
Attendance 175,000[1]
Pole position
Driver
McNamara
Time 4:06.62 (4 laps)
Podium
First
Belond A.P. Muffler (George Salih)
Second
Demler
Third
Bowes Seal Fast (George Bignotti)

The race is best known for a massive first-lap, 15-car pileup that resulted in the death of fan-favorite driver Pat O'Connor.

Jimmy Bryan was the race winner. This marked the first time that one car would carry two drivers to separate wins at the race, in back-to-back years, with Sam Hanks winning the previous year's race in the same car.

The race featured young rookie A. J. Foyt's debut at Indy. On lap 148, he spun in an oil slick, blew out the tires, and dropped out of the race.

Juan Manuel Fangio arrived at Indy under much fanfare as he attempted to qualify for the Indy 500 and score points towards the World Championship. He practiced early in the month, but withdrew when he could not get up to speed.

Time trials

Time trials were scheduled for four days.

  • Saturday May 17 – Pole Day time trials
    • Ed Elisian set a new one-lap track record of 146.508 mph to sit tentatively on the pole position. His four-lap average stood at 145.926 mph. Later in the day, Dick Rathmann qualified at 145.974 mph to win the pole position. Rathmann was not able to beat Elisian's single-lap record, but his four-lap record eclipsed Elisian overall by a mere 0.08 seconds.
  • Sunday May 18 – Second day time trials
  • Saturday May 24 – Third day time trials
  • Sunday May 25 – Fourth day time trials

Race summary

Opening lap crash

For the second year in a row, the starting grid was assembled single-file in the pit lane. The cars were instructed to pull away and assemble into the official eleven rows of three after they entered the racing surface. Confusion occurred on the pace lap, however, as the three drivers of the front row (Dick Rathmann, Ed Elisian, and Jimmy Reece) pulled away, and inadvertently escaped the pace car. The three cars were alone, and rather than wait for the grid to catch up, they rushed around to catch up to the back of the field. Sam Hanks pulled the pace car off the track and into the pits, but chief starter Bill Vanderwater displayed the yellow flag to wave off the start. An extra pace lap was allowed, and the front row re-took their position at the front of the pack. By the time Hanks was ready to pull the pace car back out on the track, the field had re-formed, and Vanderwater gave them the green flag.

At the start, Dick Rathmann took the lead in turn 1, Ed Elisian was second, and Jimmy Reece third. As the cars went down the backstretch, they battled into turn three. Elisian spun and took Rathmann to the outside wall, triggering a huge 15-car pileup. Reece braked and was hit from behind by Pat O'Connor. O'Connor's car sailed fifty feet in the air, landed upside down and burst into flames. Several other cars spun to the wall and into the infield. Jerry Unser touched wheels with Paul Goldsmith, and flipped over the outside wall. Unser suffered a dislocated shoulder.

Although O'Connor was incinerated in the accident, medical officials said that he was probably killed instantly from a fractured skull.[2] Widely blamed for the accident, Elisian was suspended by USAC for the accident (reinstated a few days later), and was shunned by many in the racing community.

Following the accident, race officials announced that they would change the starting procedure, abandoning the single-file trip down pit lane that was used in 1957 and 1958. Also, for the 1959 Indy 500, metal roll bars welded to the frame behind the driver's head were mandated, and helmets were required to pass safety certification by Speedway medical officials.

First half

Jimmy Bryan escaped the opening lap crash, and came around to lead the first lap. Eddie Sachs and Tony Bettenhausen also got by unscathed, to run second and third. Due to the crash, the yellow light stayed on for the first 25 minutes (18 laps). Four of the top five starting positions were out of the race from the crash, including polesitter Dick Rathmann, who placed 27th.

When the green flag conditions came out, Bryan, Sachs, Bettenhausen, and George Amick all traded time in the lead. There were 14 lead changes in the first half.

The second yellow came out on lap 38 when Chuck Weyant crashed in turn 4.

Eddie Sachs, a contender in the first quarter of the race, dropped out on lap 68 with transmission trouble.

Second half

The second half of the race settled down to a battle between Jimmy Bryan and Johnny Boyd, with George Amick also in contention. However, Boyd lost the lead during a pit stop on lap 126. Bryan's team had fast pit stops (three stops for 1 minute and 31 seconds), which allowed him to hold the lead.

Rookie A. J. Foyt spun out on lap 149.

Bryan led the final 75 laps (139 total) en route to victory. Bryan was victorious in the same car in which Sam Hanks won the 500 a year earlier. Amick, a rookie, stayed within striking distance of Bryan for the last part of the race, but Amick's crew chief, George Salih, decided to accept a safe second-place rather than risk pushing his rookie driver into a mistake.

During the race as the news of Pat O'Connor's death spread around the track, the mood among the spectators became somber and glum. Reportedly, some in attendance left the grounds upon hearing the news of the fatality, some never to return.

Classification
Pos Grid No Driver Constructor Qual Rank Laps Led Time/Retired Points
1 7 1 Jimmy Bryan Epperly-Offenhauser 144.18 8 200 139 3:44:13.80 8
2 25 99 George Amick  R  Epperly-Offenhauser 142.71 25 200 18 + 27.63 6
3 8 9 Johnny Boyd Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser 144.02 9 200 18 + 1:09.67 4
4 9 33 Tony Bettenhausen Epperly-Offenhauser 143.91 10 200 24 + 1:34.81 41
5 20 2 Jim Rathmann Epperly-Offenhauser 143.14 15 200 0 + 1:35.62 2
6 3 16 Jimmy Reece Watson-Offenhauser 145.51 3 200 0 + 2:16.95  
7 13 26 Don Freeland Phillips-Offenhauser 143.03 17 200 0 + 2:21.06  
8 19 44 Jud Larson  R  Watson-Offenhauser 143.51 11 200 0 + 5:34.02  
9 26 61 Eddie Johnson Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser 142.67 26 200 0 + 6:15.76  
10 33 54 Bill Cheesbourg Kurtis Kraft-Novi 142.54 30 200 0 + 8:03.59  
11 21 52 Al Keller Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser 142.93 19 200 0 + 9:14.20  
12 6 45 Johnnie Parsons  W  Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser 144.68 6 200 0 + 9:40.85  
13 30 19 Johnnie Tolan Kuzma-Offenhauser 142.3 31 200 0 + 9:52.24  
14 17 65 Bob Christie Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser 142.25 33 189 0 Spun off  
15 32 59 Dempsey Wilson  R  Kuzma-Offenhauser 143.27 13 151 0 Fire  
16 12 29 A. J. Foyt  R  Kuzma-Offenhauser 143.13 16 148 0 Spun off  
17 31 77 Mike Magill Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser 142.27 32 136 0 Disqualified  
18 14 15 Paul Russo Kurtis Kraft-Novi 142.95 18 122 0 Radiator  
19 23 83 Shorty Templeman Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser 142.81 21 116 0 Brakes  
20 11 8 Rodger Ward Lesovsky-Offenhauser 143.26 14 93 0 Magneto  
21 15 43 Billy Garrett Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser 142.77 22 80 0 Magneto  
22 18 88 Eddie Sachs Kuzma-Offenhauser 144.66 7 68 1 Transmission  
23 22 7 Johnny Thomson Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser 142.9 20 52 0 Steering  
24 29 89 Chuck Weyant Dunn-Offenhauser 142.6 29 38 0 accident  
25 10 25 Jack Turner Lesovsky-Offenhauser 143.43 12 21 0 Fuel pump  
26 4 14 Bob Veith Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser 144.88 4 1 0 Accident  
27 1 97 Dick Rathmann Watson-Offenhauser 145.97 1 0 0 Accident  
28 2 5 Ed Elisian Watson-Offenhauser 145.92 2 0 0 Accident  
29 5 4 Pat O'Connor ✝ Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser 144.82 5 0 0 Died in crash  
30 16 31 Paul Goldsmith  R  Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser 142.74 24 0 0 Accident  
31 24 92 Jerry Unser  R  Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser 142.75 23 0 0 Accident  
32 27 68 Len Sutton  R  Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser 142.65 27 0 0 Accident  
33 28 57 Art Bisch  R  Kuzma-Offenhauser 142.63 28 0 0 Accident  
Notes
  • ^1 – Includes 1 point for fastest lead lap

All cars on Firestone tires

Alternates

Failed to qualify

Broadcasting

Radio

The race was carried live on the IMS Radio Network. Sid Collins served as chief announcer. The broadcast reached 302 affiliates across all 48 states, as well as Armed Forces Network and Voice of America. For the final time, a 15-minute pre-race was used.[5] The following year, the pre-race would be expanded to 30 minutes. The broadcast featured the debut of Lou Palmer, who reported from the normally quiet and remote third turn. However, on the opening lap, Palmer was quickly thrust into duty, as his first words on the network were to describe the massive 15-car pileup and fatal accident of Pat O'Connor.

And we've got an accident here! Car #5! Car #5, the Zink Special, is the first to wreck! Another over the wall! And we've got...one, two, three, four, five...six cars, piled up here, on the northeast turn! The 54 Novi into the infield...car #19 in the infield, 68 now down into the infield...and it's almost impossible to identify the others. Out of car #5, now, is Ed Elisian...and, er, car #91 against the wall...that is all that we can see at the moment. Further down the track, there are still others. ...One car has left this track, Sid, and did go over the retaining wall. That's all of the information we can give you at the moment...we will check each car for you, and report on all of them as soon as we can. Right now, better send it to you Sid, in the tower...

Among the guests that visited the booth was Pete DePaolo.

Recently this entire race's radio broadcast became available as a paid digital download form the Indianapolis Motor Speedway website.[6][7]

Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network
Booth AnnouncersTurn ReportersPit/garage reporters

Chief Announcer: Sid Collins
Statistician: Charlie Brockman

Turn 1: Bill Frosh
Turn 2: Bob Rhodes
Backstretch: Bernie Herman
Turn 3: Lou Palmer
Turn 4: Jim Shelton

 Jack Shapiro (north)
Luke Walton (center)
Greg Smith (south)
Bob Hoover (garages)

Race notes

Formula One Championship standings after the race
  • Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Also, points scored in the 500 did not count towards the F1 constructors championship.

USAC points standings after the race

Note: Only the top 10 are listed

Rank Driver Points Diff Pos Change
1 Jimmy Bryan 1000 0 Previously unranked
2 George Amick 880 -120 +4
3 Tony Bettenhausen 760 -240 -1
4 Johnny Boyd 700 -300 Previously unranked
5 Jim Rathmann 500 -500 Previously unranked
5 Jimmy Reece 500 -500 Previously unranked
7 Jud Larson 350 -650 -2
8 Don Freeland 300 -700 Previously unranked
9 Eddie Johnson 200 -800 Previously unranked
9 Len Sutton 200 -800 -8
gollark: There's stuff on the old CC wiki about some things being "deprecated", i.e. breaking-ly removed.
gollark: Not during you running it, mind.
gollark: It has a few times.
gollark: I will install PHP on your brain.
gollark: And the establishment doesn't want you to know this, but the brackets are optional.

References
  1. Cadou Jr., Jep (May 31, 1958). "National Champ Noses Out Amick; Boyd Finishes 3d". The Indianapolis Star. p. 1. Retrieved June 2, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. "Indianapolis Motor Speedway Fatalities – 1958 INDY 500 – Pat O'Connor – driver". Archived from the original on November 10, 2013. Retrieved January 16, 2016.
  3. The Talk of Gasoline Alley – 1070-AM WIBC, May 14, 2004
  4. "1958 International 500 Mile Sweepstakes". ChampCarStats.com. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  5. "Speedway Network Taps 302 Stations Across Nation". The Indianapolis Star. May 30, 1958. p. 9. Retrieved April 18, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. "Indianapolis Motor Speedway". www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  7. "IMS Museum to Offer Series of 'Lost' Indy 500 Radio Broadcasts for Sale; 1958 Race Available Now in Crisp Digital Quality". December 10, 2018. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  8. "Indianapolis 1958 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
Previous race:
1958 Dutch Grand Prix		 FIA Formula One World Championship
1958 season		 Next race:
1958 Belgian Grand Prix
Previous race:
1957 Indianapolis 500
Sam Hanks		 1958 Indianapolis 500
Jimmy Bryan		 Next race:
1959 Indianapolis 500
Rodger Ward
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