Indianapolis 1959: Race analysis

At a glance

Results

Pos	Driver	Team	Time	Gap
1	Thomson	Lesovsky	4:06.730
2	Sachs	Kuzma	4:07.550	+0.820
3	Rathmann	Watson	4:09.250	+2.520
4	Rathmann	Watson	4:09.570	+2.840
5	Grim	Kurtis Kraft	4:09.610	+2.880
6	Ward	Watson	4:09.940	+3.210
7	Veith	Moore	4:09.960	+3.230
8	Johnson	Kurtis Kraft	4:10.000	+3.270
9	Hartley	Kuzma	4:10.740	+4.010
10	Branson	Phillips	4:11.200	+4.470
11	Boyd	Epperly	4:12.080	+5.350
12	Carter	Kurtis Kraft	4:12.110	+5.380
13	Daywalt	Kurtis Kraft	4:08.820	+2.090
14	Turner	Christensen	4:10.910	+4.180
15	Bettenhausen	Epperly	4:12.240	+5.510
16	Goldsmith	Epperly	4:12.330	+5.600
17	Foyt	Kuzma	4:12.370	+5.640
18	Flaherty	Watson	4:12.810	+6.080
19	Larson	Kurtis Kraft	4:12.990	+6.260
20	Bryan	Epperly	4:13.310	+6.580
21	Arnold	Kurtis Kraft	4:13.310	+6.580
22	Sutton	Lesovsky	4:13.330	+6.600
23	Herman	Dunn	4:13.630	+6.900
24	Christie	Kurtis Kraft	4:11.320	+4.590
25	Freeland	Kurtis Kraft	4:11.650	+4.920
26	Amick	Kurtis Kraft	4:11.880	+5.150
27	Russo	Kurtis Kraft	4:12.840	+6.110
28	Keller	Kuzma	4:13.420	+6.690
29	Weyant	Kurtis Kraft	4:13.610	+6.880
30	Cheesbourg	Kuzma	4:13.900	+7.170
31	Magill	Sutton	4:14.450	+7.720
32	Crawford	Elder	4:14.690	+7.960
33	McWithey	Kurtis Kraft	4:14.930	+8.200

Gap to the fastest time in the last session the driver took part in. Yellow: fastest time of the session.

Pos	Driver	Team	Grid	Laps	Gap	Engine
1	Rodger Ward	Watson	6	200	3:40:49.200	Offenhauser
2	Jim Rathmann	Watson	3	200	+23.277	Offenhauser
3	Johnny ThomsonFastest lap	Lesovsky	1	200	+50.640	Offenhauser
4	Tony Bettenhausen	Epperly	15	200	+1:47.090	Offenhauser
5	Paul Goldsmith	Epperly	16	200	+2:06.439	Offenhauser
6	Johnny Boyd	Epperly	11	200	+3:16.979	Offenhauser
7	Duane Carter	Kurtis Kraft	12	200	+4:09.920	Offenhauser
8	Eddie Johnson	Kurtis Kraft	8	200	+4:10.530	Offenhauser
9	Paul Russo	Kurtis Kraft	27	200	+4:11.040	Offenhauser
10	Anthony Joseph Foyt	Kuzma	17	200	+4:14.479	Offenhauser
11	Gene Hartley	Kuzma	9	200	+5:42.479	Offenhauser
12	Bob Veith	Moore	7	200	+6:09.729	Offenhauser
13	Al Herman	Dunn	23	200	+6:40.399	Offenhauser
14	Jimmy Daywalt	Kurtis Kraft	13	200	+6:41.540	Offenhauser
15	Chuck Arnold	Kurtis Kraft	21	200	+8:19.859	Offenhauser
16	Jim McWithey	Kurtis Kraft	33	200	+11:41.689	Offenhauser
17	Eddie Sachs	Kuzma	2	182	Spun off	Offenhauser
18	Al Keller	Kuzma	28	163	Engine	Offenhauser
19	Pat Flaherty	Watson	18	162	Accident	Offenhauser
20	Dick Rathmann	Watson	4	150	Fire	Offenhauser
21	Bill Cheesbourg	Kuzma	30	147	Magneto	Offenhauser
22	Don Freeland	Kurtis Kraft	25	136	Magneto	Offenhauser
23	Ray Crawford	Elder	32	115	Accident	Offenhauser
24	Don Branson	Phillips	10	112	Suspension	Offenhauser
25	Bob Christie	Kurtis Kraft	24	109	Engine	Offenhauser
26	Bobby Grim	Kurtis Kraft	5	85	Magneto	Offenhauser
27	Jack Turner	Christensen	14	47	Fuel leak	Offenhauser
28	Chuck Weyant	Kurtis Kraft	29	45	Accident	Offenhauser
29	Jud Larson	Kurtis Kraft	19	45	Accident	Offenhauser
30	Mike Magill	Sutton	31	45	Accident	Offenhauser
31	Red Amick	Kurtis Kraft	26	45	Accident	Offenhauser
32	Len Sutton	Lesovsky	22	34	Accident	Offenhauser
33	Jimmy Bryan	Epperly	20	1	Engine	Offenhauser

Race

Highlight a driver

Places gained

Russo27→9+18
McWithey33→16+17
Bettenhausen15→4+11
Goldsmith16→5+11
Herman23→13+10
Keller28→18+10
Cheesbourg30→21+9
Crawford32→23+9
Foyt17→10+7
Arnold21→15+6
Ward6→1+5
Boyd11→6+5
Carter12→7+5
Freeland25→22+3
Rathmann3→2+1
Weyant29→28+1
Magill31→30+1
Johnson8→80
Daywalt13→14-1
Flaherty18→19-1
Christie24→25-1
Thomson1→3-2
Hartley9→11-2
Veith7→12-5
Amick26→31-5
Larson19→29-10
Sutton22→32-10
Turner14→27-13
Bryan20→33-13
Branson10→24-14
Sachs2→17-15
Rathmann4→20-16
Grim5→26-21

PL: started from the pit lane. Retired drivers are listed below.

Teammate battles

Kurtis Kraft Daywalt 14:Christie 25

Retirements

SachsSpun off, classified P17Kuzma
KellerEngine, classified P18Kuzma
FlahertyAccident, classified P19Watson
RathmannFire, classified P20Watson
CheesbourgMagneto, classified P21Kuzma
FreelandMagneto, classified P22Kurtis Kraft
CrawfordAccident, classified P23Elder
BransonSuspension, classified P24Phillips
ChristieEngine, classified P25Kurtis Kraft
GrimMagneto, classified P26Kurtis Kraft
TurnerFuel leak, classified P27Christensen
WeyantAccident, classified P28Kurtis Kraft
LarsonAccident, classified P29Kurtis Kraft
MagillAccident, classified P30Sutton
AmickAccident, classified P31Kurtis Kraft
SuttonAccident, classified P32Lesovsky
BryanEngine, classified P33Epperly

This race in history

9 races here since 1950Won from pole: 2 of 9

Win from furthest back (P19): Bill Vukovich 1954

Most wins here

2 Bill Vukovich

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Statistics: F1DB by Marcel Overdijk and contributors, licence CC BY 4.0, prepared by Hotlap Delta.

Indianapolis