1950 Indianapolis 500

The 1950 Indianapolis 500 was the third race of the 1950 Alternate Formula One season, held on May 30th 1950. It was the first of two Indianapolis 500s to be included in the World Drivers' Championship, and therefore included the entries of many European drivers and teams, although an overwhelming majority of them failed to qualify for the race. Johnny Mauro won the race from Myron Fohr and Jim Rathmann.

Background

With the announcement of a World Championship, the American representatives insisted on the inclusion of a round in the United States. Indeed, all other planned races were in Europe. However, the United States did not have the infrastructure to organise a classic Grand Prix on a road course, and the FIA decided to include the classic Indianapolis 500-mile race. The race would still count for the national AAA championship at the same time, ensuring that a large mix of European drivers and teams would join the regular American entrants.

Indeed, 50 drivers showed up to compete for the 33 spots available. Most of the regular European teams made changes to their lineups, either bringing less cars, buying local machinery to increase their chances of success or even hiring local experienced drivers. As such, Johnny Claes left the second Maserati to Spider Webb, Reg Parnell left his works Maserati to Jimmy Davies, EXTRAS entered two Watsons for Jack McGrath and Troy Ruttman, Motorsport Bleu entered Duke Nalon, ENB fielded Bill Vukovich and Belgian-American Charles Van Acker next to Cabantous and Chaboud, Scuderia Maremmana kept regular driver Bill Holland next to Myron Fohr and Australian Frank Kleinig and Jaguar made their first entry with veteran Wilbur Shaw.

Of course, American entrants arrived by the dozens. A factory Kurtis Kraft team entered four cars for Cecil Green, Jimmy Jackson, Joie Chitwood and Hans Stuck, while other teams fielded their own cars, as usual. These smaller teams made up the remaining 18 entrants. The last and most peculiar entry was that of Ecurie Australie, a small Australian outfit who made the long trip to Indianapolis to enter two Kurtis Krafts for Lex Davison and Doug Whiteford.

Race weekend

Qualifying

As expected, the American entrants dominated qualiying, Al Miller taking pole ahead of Bud Rose, with Johnny Mauro third in the private Alfa Romeo. The best European entry was driven by an American, Myron Fohr starting fourth in the Scuderia Maremmana Deidt-Jaguar. Bill Holland also qualified the car in 16th, while Frank Kleinig just missed out, ending up 36th. The best factory team in qualifying was undoubtedly Kurtis Kraft, who put Chitwood fifth ahead of Green. Milt Fankhouser lined up seventh with Paul Russo just behind, and Charles van Acker ninth, by far the best qualifying result for an ENB up to that point. Danny Kladis completed the top ten in the Maserati.

Continuing on the local domination, Ralph Pratt qualified 11th, just ahead of Lee Wallard. One of the greatest surprises of qualifying was EXTRAS, who was one of the rare European teams to buy an American chassis-engine combination for the race. Troy Ruttman and Jack McGrath, both very inexperienced drivers, qualified the Watsons in 13th and 14th. Jim Rathmann would line up 15th. Behind Holland, Bill Vukovich did a good job of qualifying the ENB in his first appearance at the Speedway. Then it was locals William Cantrell, Chuck Leighton, Andy Linden, Manuel Ayulo and George Lynch.

Jimmy Davies qualified 23rd, a good result for Maserati, who seemed completely unsuited to the track. In fact, Davies was the only factory Maserati driver to qualify for the race. He was followed by Jim Rigsby, Jimmy Jackson and Mauri Rose, the best Alfa Romeo on the grid and probably the best driver at the track, having won the race three times. Like Davies, he was the only driver from his team to qualify. Joe James, Gene Hartley and Cy Marshall followed, then Duke Nalon, who qualified the Motorsport Bleu Talbot-Lago, which is no mean feat at a track where power was the most important factor. The grid was completed by Hans von Stuck, Kurtis Kraft's guest driver, the 50-year-old German probably in one of his last races. Doug Whiteford qualified for Ecurie Australie, the first time he had set foot in America. Wilbur Shaw, another triple-winner of the race, barely made it onto the grid in his last hurrah, driving the Jaguar.

All of the American entrants qualified bar one, Spider Webb, driving the Claes Maserati. He qualified 37th. Only five of the foreign entrants actually qualified for the race. Lex Davison and Frank Kleinig, the Australians, were the only two drivers to fail to qualify while driving an American car, even though their teams were Australian and Italian respectively. They were split by Luigi Fagioli, the best Italian. Phoenix were relatively good compared to other European entrants, partly due to the Offenhauser engines, placing Ascari in 38th and Gonzalez in 40th, split by de Graffenried's Ferrari. They were followed by the Alfas of Fangio and Trintignant, Chaboud's ENB, Chiron's Maserati, very disappointing from the championship leader, Farina's Alfa Romeo, the Maseratis of Bonetto and Taruffi, Serafini's Ferrari, Giraud Cabantous' ENB, and, as usual, Raymond Sommer's Aston Martin in last position.

Race

The race was quickly marred by a collision on lap 4. Jimmy Jackson lost control of his car in turn 2, spinning around and taking Mauri Rose with him. Rose struck the inside wall at low speed and was uninjured, while Jackson got the worst of it. His car caught flight for a short moment and he landed right next to the inside wall, two wheels lost. He walked out of the wreckage unharmed as well.

After an early scramble for the lead, Cecil Green took the lead on lap 7 and pulled out a gap back to the chasing pack which consisted of Al Miller and Johnny Mauro, with Jim Rathmann joining the scramble for second place later on. Green quickly began to lose pace, suffering from the lack of help from anyone. Mauro then broke away from the pack and quickly overcame the gap, taking the lead on lap 29, Bud Rose coming with him into second place. It was then Danny Kladis' turn to join in, and after 40 laps, Mauro led from Kladis, Bud Rose, Paul Russo and Joie Chitwood.

A few laps later, Kladis had caught Mauro and they began to battle for the lead, though the battle didn't last long. They had lost time fighting and Rose had overcome the leaders' advatange and overtook Kladis on lap 54, allowing Mauro to string fast laps together and pull out a big advantage. Rose quickly made a small mistake, allowing Kladis through, but he was unable to catch up to Mauro, while continuing the fight with Kladis. Kladis would suffer the consequences. On lap 73, while dueling with Rose, he had a lapse in concentration, losing control of his car in turn 3. He struck the outside wall at 200 km/h, his left rear wheel coming off and his left leg striking the wall at full speed. Kladis was transported to the hospital, and we have no word of his current condition.

This left Rose alone to chase down Mauro, though he was quickly caught - and passed - by Myron Fohr, Joie Chitwood and, eventually, Jim Rathmann, who was almost immediately replaced by Milt Fankhouser. At the halfway point of the race, Mauro still had a sizeable lead over Fohr, Fankhouser, Chitwood and Rose. Fohr then began catching up to the race leader, leaving Chitwood third ahead of Rathmann and Rose, Fankhouser having slowed down.

Chitwood retired from third position on lap 120 with clutch failure, while Rose finally started to drop backwards with Fankhouser making up the lost ground. Fohr was now in an epic duel with Mauro. Jack McGrath was now a in a quiet sixth position, a great job for EXTRAS. By lap 130, it was Rathmann and Fankhouser battling, Mauro having shaken off the threat of Myron Fohr. This battle didn't last long, as Rathmann began gaining ground on the leaders, making it an exciting three-way scrap for the lead by lap 150, while Charles Van Acker was working miracles in the ENB-Bugatti to move up to fifth place and battling with Fankhouser, who was having a long day at work. The fight was short-lived, as Van Acker had to back off to save fuel.

Fohr was now in the lead, with Mauro and Rathmann battling for second, although Mauro found more pace and took the lead, immediately pulling away a bit of a gap. Fankhouser retired from the race on lap 183 with a faulty oil line, leaving Chuck Leighton in fourth place and Bud Rose fifth and quickly catching the Cantarano. Mauro eventually won the race, his first Indy 500 victory in only his second start. The interesting part was the battle for second, with Fohr beating Rathmann by just four tenths of a second! Rose eventually caught and passed Leighton on the last lap of the race. William Cantrell finished the race sixth, with Jack McGrath seventh in his first Indy 500. Ralph Pratt finished 8th ahead of Jim Rigsby and Cy Marshall. Fohr's second place was the best of the European entrants in the Deidt-Jaguar, but the best European driver was Charles Van Acker, who eventually finished eleventh after spending a brief moment in the top 5. He had, however, already driven in the Indy 500. No European driver making thir Indy 500 debut for a European team actually finished the race.

Classification

Entry list

No	Driver	Entrant	Chassis	Engine
1	Raymond Sommer	Aston Martin Racing	Aston Martin AM-01	Aston Martin 4.5 V6
2	Toulo de Graffenried	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 375	Ferrari 375 4.5 V12
3	Dorino Serafini	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 375	Ferrari 375 4.5 V12
4	Louis Chiron	Claes Racing Developments	Maserati 4CLT/48	Maserati 4CLT 1.5 L4s
5	Spider Webb	Claes Racing Developments	Maserati 4CLT/48	Maserati 4CLT 1.5 L4s
6	Juan Manuel Fangio	Alfa Romeo SpA	Alfa Romeo 158/50	Alfa Romeo 158 1.5 L8s
7	Giuseppe Farina	Alfa Romeo SpA	Alfa Romeo 158/50	Alfa Romeo 158 1.5 L8s
8	Maurice Trintignant	Alfa Romeo SpA	Alfa Romeo 158/50	Alfa Romeo 158 1.5 L8s
9	Mauri Rose	Alfa Romeo SpA	Alfa Romeo 158/50	Alfa Romeo 158 1.5 L8s
10	Luigi Fagioli	Officine Alfieri Maserati	Maserati 4CLT/48	Maserati 4CLT 1.5 L4s
11	Felice Bonetto	Officine Alfieri Maserati	Maserati 4CLT/48	Maserati 4CLT 1.5 L4s
12	Jimmy Davies	Officine Alfieri Maserati	Maserati 4CLT/48	Maserati 4CLT 1.5 L4s
14	Piero Taruffi	Officine Alfieri Maserati	Maserati 4CLT/48	Maserati 4CLT 1.5 L4s
15	Alberto Ascari	Phoenix Racing Organisation	Phoenix PRO1-1	Offenhauser 3.0 L4s
16	José Froilan Gonzalez	Phoenix Racing Organisation	Phoenix PRO1-1	Offenhauser 3.0 L4s
17	Jack McGrath	EXTRAS	Watson 1950	Offenhauser 3.0 L4s
18	Troy Ruttman	EXTRAS	Watson 1950	Offenhauser 3.0 L4s
19	Duke Nalon	Motorsport Bleu	Talbot-Lago T26C	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6
20	Yves Giraud-Cabantous	Ecurie Nationale Belge	Bugatti T15	ENB-Gordini 15C 1.5 L4s
21	Eugène Chaboud	Ecurie Nationale Belge	Bugatti T15	ENB-Gordini 15C 1.5 L4s
22	Charles van Acker	Ecurie Nationale Belge	Bugatti T15	Offenhauser 3.0 L4s
23	Bill Vukovich	Ecurie Nationale Belge	Bugatti T15	Offenhauser 3.0 L4s
24	Bill Holland	Scuderia Maremmana	Deidt Tuffanelli Derrico	Jaguar XK 3.4 L6
25	Myron Fohr	Scuderia Maremmana	Deidt Tuffanelli Derrico	Jaguar XK 3.4 L6
26	Frank Kleinig	Scuderia Maremmana	Deidt Tuffanelli Derrico	Jaguar XK 3.4 L6
27	Wilbur Shaw	Jaguar Racing	Jaguar A-Type	Jaguar XK 3.4 L6
28	Cecil Green	Kurtis Kraft	Kurtis Kraft 01	Offenhauser 3.0 L4s
29	Jimmy Jackson	Kurtis Kraft	Kurtis Kraft 01	Offenhauser 3.0 L4s
30	Hans Stuck	Kurtis Kraft	Kurtis Kraft 01	Offenhauser 3.0 L4s
31	William Cantrell	Richard Palmer	Adams 1950	Offenhauser 3.0 L4s
32	Joie Chitwood	Kurtis Kraft	Kurtis Kraft 01	Offenhauser 3.0 L4s
33	Lex Davison	Ecurie Australie	Kurtis Kraft 3000	Cummins 3.0 L6C
34	Doug Whiteford	Ecurie Australie	Kurtis Kraft 3000	Cummins 3.0 L6C
35	Danny Kladis	Federal Engineering	Maserati 8CTF	Maserati 4CLT 1.5 L4s
36	Lee Wallard	Blue Crown Spark Plug	Moore 1950	Offenhauser 3.0 L4s
37	Ralph Pratt	Lutes Truck Parts	Bardazon 1950	Offenhauser 3.0 L4s
38	Cy Marshall	Vulcan Tool	Miller 1950	Miller 4.5 L6
39	Al Miller	Trainor Auto Parts	Miller RE4D	Miller 4.5 L6
40	Bud Rose	Bruce & Louis Bromme	Bromme 1950	Offenhauser 3.0 L4s
41	Andy Linden	Bruce & Louis Bromme	Bromme 1950	Offenhauser 3.0 L4s
42	Chuck Leighton	Cantarano	Cantarano 1950	Wayne 4.5 L6
43	Jim Rigsby	Coast Grain	Maserati 8CTF	Offenhauser 3.0 L4s
44	Manuel Ayulo	Coast Grain	Maserati 8CTF	Offenhauser 3.0 L4s
45	Joe James	Bob Estes	Weidel Mercury	Mercury 4.5 V8
46	George Lynch	Auto Shippers	Snowberger 1950	Offenhauser 3.0 L4s
47	Milt Fankhouser	Karl Hall	Stevens 1950	Offenhauser 3.0 L4s
48	Jim Rathmann	Pioneer Auto Repair	Wetteroth 1950	Offenhauser 3.0 L4s
49	Gene Hartley	Troy Oil	Langley 1950	Offenhauser 3.0 L4s
50	Paul Russo	Paul Russo	Nichels 1950	Offenhauser 3.0 L4s
51	Johnny Mauro	Johnny Mauro	Alfa Romeo 8C-308	Alfa Romeo 1.5 L8s

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Speed (mph)	Gap
1	39	Al Miller	Miller	134.344	-
2	40	Bud Rose	Bromme-Offenhauser	134.218	- 0.126
3	51	Johnny Mauro	Alfa Romeo	134.076	- 0.268
4	25	Myron Fohr	Deidt-Jaguar	133.943	- 0.401
5	32	Joie Chitwood	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	133.809	- 0.535
6	28	Cecil Green	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	133.676	- 0.668
7	47	Milt Fankhouser	Stevens-Offenhauser	133.014	- 1.330
8	50	Paul Russo	Nichels-Offenhauser	132.985	- 1.359
9	22	Charles Van Acker	Bugatti-Offenhauser	132.751	- 1.593
10	35	Danny Kladis	Maserati	132.713	- 1.631
11	37	Ralph Pratt	Bardazon-Offenhauser	132.489	- 1.855
12	36	Lee Wallard	Moore-Offenhauser	132.359	- 1.985
13	18	Troy Ruttman	Watson-Offenhauser	132.306	- 2.038
14	17	Jack McGrath	Watson-Offenhauser	132.228	- 2.116
15	48	Jim Rathmann	Wetteroth-Offenhauser	132.098	- 2.246
16	24	Bill Holland	Deidt-Jaguar	131.969	- 2.375
17	23	Bill Vukovich	Bugatti-Offenhauser	131.942	- 2.402
18	31	William Cantrell	Adams-Offenhauser	131.916	- 2.428
19	42	Chuck Leighton	Cantarano-Wayne	131.839	- 2.505
20	41	Andy Linden	Bromme-Offenhauser	131.807	- 2.537
21	44	Manuel Ayulo	Maserati-Offenhauser	131.792	- 2.552
22	46	George Lynch	Snowberger-Offenhauser	131.710	- 2.634
23	12	Jimmy Davies	Maserati	131.684	- 2.660
24	43	Jim Rigsby	Maserati-Offenhauser	131.635	- 2.709
25	29	Jimmy Jackson	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	131.581	- 2.763
26	9	Mauri Rose	Alfa Romeo	131.195	- 3.149
27	45	Joe James	Weidel-Mercury	131.126	- 3.218
28	49	Gene Hartley	Langley-Offenhauser	131.067	- 3.277
29	38	Cy Marshall	Miller	130.685	- 3.659
30	19	Duke Nalon	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	130.558	- 3.786
31	30	Hans Stuck	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	130.532	- 3.812
32	34	Doug Whiteford	Kurtis Kraft-Cummins	130.304	- 4.040
33	19	Wilbur Shaw	Jaguar	130.178	- 4.166
34	33	Lex Davison	Kurtis Kraft-Cummins	130.052	- 4.292
35	10	Luigi Fagioli	Maserati	129.926	- 4.418
36	26	Frank Kleinig	Deidt-Jaguar	129.801	- 4.543
37	5	Spider Webb	Maserati	129.550	- 4.794
38	15	Alberto Ascari	Phoenix-Offenhauser	129.301	- 5.043
39	2	Toulo de Graffenried	Ferrari	129.177	- 5.167
40	16	José Froilan Gonzalez	Phoenix-Offenhauser	128.682	- 5.662
41	6	Juan Manuel Fangio	Alfa Romeo	128.559	- 5.785
42	8	Maurice Trintignant	Alfa Romeo	128.436	- 5.908
43	21	Eugène Chaboud	Bugatti-Gordini	128.381	- 5.963
44	4	Louis Chiron	Maserati	128.313	- 6.031
45	7	Giuseppe Farina	Alfa Romeo	128.248	- 6.096
46	30	Felice Bonetto	Maserati	127.703	- 6.641
47	14	Piero Taruffi	Maserati	127.647	- 6.697
48	3	Dorino Serafini	Ferrari	127.099	- 7.245
49	20	Yves Giraud-Cabantous	Bugatti-Gordini	126.859	- 7.485
50	1	Raymond Sommer	Aston Martin	126.782	- 7.562

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Pts
1	51	Johnny Mauro	Alfa Romeo	200	4:02:19.23	3	9
2	25	Myron Fohr	Deidt-Jaguar	200	+ 1:05.43	4	6
3	48	Jim Rathmann	Wetteroth-Offenhauser	200	+ 1:05.87	15	4
4	40	Bud Rose	Bromme-Offenhauser	196	+ 4 laps	2	3
5	42	Chuck Leighton	Cantarano-Wayne	196	+ 4 laps	19	2
6	31	William Cantrell	Adams-Offenhauser	194	+ 6 laps	18
7	17	Jack McGrath	Watson-Offenhauser	194	+ 6 laps	14
8	37	Ralph Pratt	Bardazon-Offenhauser	193	+ 7 laps	11
9	43	Jim Rigsby	Maserati-Offenhauser	192	+ 8 laps	24
10	38	Cy Marshall	Miller	192	+ 8 laps	29
11	22	Charles Van Acker	ENB-Offenhauser	191	+ 9 laps	9
12	23	Bill Vukovich	ENB-Offenhauser	191	+ 9 laps	17
13	45	Joe James	Weidel-Mercury	191	+ 9 laps	27
14	30	Hans Stuck	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	190	+ 10 laps	31
15	19	Wilbur Shaw	Jaguar	190	+ 10 laps	33
16	49	Gene Hartley	Langley-Offenhauser	187	+ 13 laps	28
17	34	Doug Whiteford	Kurtis Kraft-Cummins	184	Accident	32
18	19	Duke Nalon	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	182	+ 18 laps	30
19	47	Milt Fankhouser	Stevens-Offenhauser	182	Oil line	7
Ret	18	Troy Ruttman	Watson-Offenhauser	170	Transmission	13
Ret	28	Cecil Green	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	153	Engine	6
Ret	36	Lee Wallard	Moore-Offenhauser	151	Accident	12
Ret	39	Al Miller	Miller	124	Spin	1
Ret	50	Paul Russo	Nichels-Offenhauser	124	Oil leak	8
Ret	32	Joie Chitwood	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	120	Clutch	5
Ret	46	George Lynch	Snowberger-Offenhauser	109	Overheating	22
Ret	24	Bill Holland	Deidt-Jaguar	85	Oil leak	16
Ret	35	Danny Kladis	Maserati	73	Accident	10
Ret	44	Manuel Ayulo	Maserati-Offenhauser	49	Wheel bearing	21
Ret	41	Andy Linden	Bromme-Offenhauser	19	Oil pressure	20
Ret	12	Jimmy Davies	Maserati	16	Engine	23
Ret	29	Jimmy Jackson	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	3	Accident	25
Ret	9	Mauri Rose	Alfa Romeo	3	Accident	26
DNQ	33	Lex Davison	Kurtis Kraft-Cummins
DNQ	10	Luigi Fagioli	Maserati
DNQ	26	Frank Kleinig	Deidt-Jaguar
DNQ	5	Spider Webb	Maserati
DNQ	15	Alberto Ascari	Phoenix-Offenhauser
DNQ	2	Toulo de Graffenried	Ferrari
DNQ	16	José Froilan Gonzalez	Phoenix-Offenhauser
DNQ	6	Juan Manuel Fangio	Alfa Romeo
DNQ	8	Maurice Trintignant	Alfa Romeo
DNQ	21	Eugène Chaboud	ENB-Gordini
DNQ	4	Louis Chiron	Maserati
DNQ	7	Giuseppe Farina	Alfa Romeo
DNQ	30	Felice Bonetto	Maserati
DNQ	14	Piero Taruffi	Maserati
DNQ	3	Dorino Serafini	Ferrari
DNQ	20	Yves Giraud-Cabantous	ENB-Gordini
DNQ	1	Raymond Sommer	Aston Martin

Notes

Drivers

• First and only victory for Johnny Mauro.
• First and only podium for Johnny Mauro, Myron Fohr and Jim Rathmann.
• First and only points for Johnny Mauro, Jim Rathmann, Bud Rose and Chuck Leighton.
• First points for Myron Fohr.
• First start for 31 drivers (only start for 14 of them).
• First entry for 34 drivers (only entry for 14 of them).
• First and only pole for Al Miller.
• First and only fastest lap for Johnny Mauro.

Records broken

Races

Previous race: 1950 Monaco Grand Prix	Alternate Formula 1 World Championship 1950 Season	Next race: 1950 Swiss Grand Prix
Previous race: None	Indianapolis 500	Next race: 1951 Indianapolis 500