The 35th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Wednesday, May 30, 1951. The event was part of the 1951 AAA National Championship Trail, and was also race 2 of 8 in the 1951 World Championship of Drivers. For the second year in a row, no European Formula One-based teams entered the race.
Duke Nalon, who had suffered serious burns in a crash in 1949, and who missed the 1950 race, made a comeback at Indy by winning the pole position in a Novi. Heavy attrition saw only eight cars running at the finish. Winner Lee Wallard's car lost its brakes, suffered a damaged exhaust pipe, and broke a shock absorber mounting.Van Camp's Pork & Beans Presents: Great Moments From the Indy 500 – Fleetwood Sounds, 1975The Talk of Gasoline Alley – 1070-AM WIBC/Network Indiana, May 17, 2007 In addition to the unbearably uncomfortable ride, Wallard had worn a fire retardant outfit, created by dipping his uniform in a mixture of borax crystals and water. Due to not wearing an undershirt, Wallard suffered serious chafing, and required treatment at the infield hospital after the victory lane celebration. It was estimated he lost 15 pounds during the race.
Wallard's winning car had the smallest displacement in the field. About a week after winning the race, Wallard suffered severe burns in a crash at Reading, which effectively ended his professional racing career. Three-time winner Mauri Rose, in his 15th Indy start, crashed and flipped on lap 126. It was his final 500, as he retired from driving after the crash.
Wallard's improbable victory helped earn him the nickname "Cinderella Man".
Time trials Time trials were scheduled for six days. Rain, however, pushed qualifying into a seventh day.
Saturday May 12 – Pole Day time trials Sunday May 13 – Second day time trials Saturday May 19 – Third day time trials Sunday May 20 – Fourth day time trials Saturday May 26 – Fifth day time trials Sunday May 27 – Sixth day time trials (rained out) Monday May 28 – Seventh day time trials (rain makeup day)
Starting grid RowInsideMiddleOutside 118 Duke Nalon99 Lee Wallard9 Jack McGrath 227 Duane Carter16 Mauri Rose 98 Troy Ruttman 383 Mike Nazaruk 3 Johnnie Parsons 5 Tony Bettenhausen 44 Cecil Green59 Fred Agabashian25 Sam Hanks 544 Walt Brown2 Walt Faulkner73 Carl Scarborough 610 Bill Schindler1 Henry Banks23 Cliff Griffith 78 Chuck Stevenson 81 Bill Vukovich 22 George Connor 869 Gene Force 19 Mack Hellings68 Carl Forberg 948 Rodger Ward 12 Johnny McDowell76 Jimmy Davies 1032 Chet Miller52 Bobby Ball 26 Joe James 1157 Andy Linden 6 Duke Dinsmore71 Bill Mackey
Alternates First alternate: Bob Sweikert (#37)The Talk of Gasoline Alley – 1070-AM WIBC, May 14, 2004
Failed to qualify All drivers from the United States unless otherwise stated.
Jean Achard (real name – Jean-Jacques Grosman) (R) (#100) — Did not appear Frank Armi (#35, #58, #64) Manny Ayulo (#31) Joe Barzda (#49) Bill Boyd (#42) Jimmy Bryan (#72) Bill Cantrell (#62, #79) Jimmy Daywalt (#33, #47) Kenny Eaton (#66) Myron Fohr (#56) George Fonder (#29, #53, #63) Potsy Goacher (#45) Jackie Holmes (#24, #45) Norm Houser (#61) Jerry Hoyt (#14) Bill Johnson (#15) Danny Kladis (#89) Ray Knepper (#78) Bayliss Levrett (#46) Mark Light (#33) George Lynch (#36) Dick Page (#64) Roscoe Rann (#14) Gordon Reid (#67) Paul Russo (#7) Mike Salay (#41) Bob Scott (#82) Bud Sennett (#51) Doc Shanebrook (#77) Roy Sherman (#57) Joel Thorne (#88) Johnnie Tolan (#34) Leroy Warriner (#75)
Box score FinishGridNo.DriverConstructorQualifyingLapsTime/RetiredPointsSpeedRank 1 2 99 Lee Wallard Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser 135.03 5 200 126.244 mph 1,000 9 2 7 83 Mike Nazaruk Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser 132.18 26 200 +1:47.24 800 6 3 3 9 Jack McGrath (Laps 1–100) Manny Ayulo (Laps 101–200) Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser 134.30 8 200 +2:51.39 350 350 2 2 4 31 57 Andy Linden Sherman-Offenhauser 132.22 25 200 +4:40.12 600 3 5 29 52 Bobby Ball Schroeder-Offenhauser 134.09 9 200 +4:52.23 500 2 6 17 1 Henry Banks Moore-Offenhauser 133.89 12 200 +5:40.02 400 7 24 68 Carl Forberg Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser 132.89 22 193 -7 Laps 300 8 4 27 Duane Carter Diedt-Offenhauser 133.74 15 180 -20 Laps 250 9 9 5 Tony Bettenhausen Diedt-Offenhauser 131.95 29 178 Spun Off 200 10 1 18 Duke Nalon Kurtis Kraft-Novi 136.49 2 151 Retirement 150 11 22 69 Gene Force Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser 133.10 20 142 Engine 100 12 12 25 Sam Hanks Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser 132.99 21 135 Engine 50 13 16 10 Bill Schindler Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser 134.03 11 129 Engine 14 5 16 Mauri Rose Diedt-Offenhauser 133.42 18 126 Accident 15 14 2 Walt Faulkner Kuzma-Offenhauser 136.87 1 123 Engine 16 27 76 Jimmy Davies Pawl-Offenhauser 133.51 17 110 Axle 17 11 59 Fred Agabashian Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser 135.02 6 109 Clutch 18 15 73 Carl Scarborough Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser 135.61 4 100 Fire 19 33 71 Bill Mackey Stevens-Offenhauser 131.47 32 97 Clutch 20 19 8 Chuck Stevenson Marchese-Offenhauser 133.76 14 93 Fire 21 8 3 Johnnie Parsons Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser 132.15 27 87 Magneto 22 10 4 Cecil Green Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser 131.89 31 80 Engine 23 6 98 Troy Ruttman Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser 132.31 24 78 Engine 24 32 6 Duke Dinsmore Schroeder-Offenhauser 131.97 28 73 Overheating 25 28 32 Chet Miller Kurtis Kraft-Novi 135.79 3 56 Ignition 26 13 44 Walt Brown Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser 131.90 30 55 Magneto 27 25 48 Rodger Ward Bromme-Offenhauser 134.86 7 34 Oil Pipe 28 18 23 Cliff Griffith Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser 133.83 13 30 Axle 29 20 81 Bill Vukovich Trevis-Offenhauser 133.72 16 29 Oil leak 30 21 22 George Connor Lesovsky-Offenhauser 133.35 19 29 Transmission 31 23 19 Mack Hellings Diedt-Offenhauser 132.92 33 18 Engine 32 26 12 Johnny McDowell Maserati-Offenhauser 132.47 23 15 Fuel leak 33 30 26 Joe James Watson-Offenhauser 134.09 10 8 Transmission
Former Indianapolis 500 winner
Indianapolis 500 Rookie
All entrants utilized Firestone tires.
– Includes 1 point for fastest lead lap
Race statistics
Lap Leaders Laps Leader1–2 Lee Wallard3–4 Jack McGrath5–6 Lee Wallard7–15 Jack McGrath16–26 Lee Wallard27 Cecil Green28–51 Lee Wallard52–76 Jimmy Davies77–80 Cecil Green81–200 Lee Wallard
Total laps led Driver LapsLee Wallard 159Jimmy Davies 25Jack McGrath 11Cecil Green 5
Yellow Lights: 1 minute, 30 seconds Laps* Reason126 Mauri Rose crash in turn 3* – Approximate lap counts
Notes Pole position: Duke Nalon – 4:23.74 (136.498 mph) Fastest Lead Lap: Lee Wallard – 1:07.26 (133.809 mph) Ayulo (100 laps) and McGrath (100) shared the same car. Points for 3rd position were shared between the drivers. First Indianapolis 500 to be completed in under four hours. Roger Penske stated in a live interview on WRTV on November 4, 2019, when the Penske Corporation was announcing the purchased of all the IMS assets, that 1951 was the first race he attended at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Two months after the race, on July 29, three of the drivers in the 1951 starting lineup were fatally injured in accidents at different tracks. Walt Brown was killed at Williams Grove Speedway, while Cecil Green and Bill Mackey were killed in separate crashes at Funk's Speedway. The day become known in racing circles as "Black Sunday".
World Drivers' Championship
Background The Indianapolis 500 was included in the FIA World Championship of Drivers from 1950 through 1960. The race was sanctioned by AAA through 1955, and then by USAC beginning in 1956. At the time the new world championship was announced and first organized by the CSI, the United States did not yet have a Grand Prix. Indianapolis Motor Speedway vice president and general manager Theodore E. "Pop" Meyers lobbied that the Indianapolis 500 be selected as the race to represent the country and to pay points towards the world championship.
Drivers competing at the Indianapolis 500 in 1950 through 1960 were credited with participation in and earned points towards the World Championship of Drivers. However, the machines competing at Indianapolis were not necessarily run to Formula One specifications and regulations. The drivers also earned separate points (on a different scale) towards the respective AAA or USAC national championships. No points, however, were awarded by the FIA towards the World Constructors' Championship.
Summary The 1951 Indianapolis 500 was round 2 of 8 on the 1951 World Championship. The event, however, failed to attract interest from any of the regular competitors on the Grand Prix circuit, particularly since it was held only three days after the Swiss Grand Prix. Race winner Lee Wallard earned 9 points towards the World Championship (8 points for first place, and 1 point for the fastest lap). Despite not competing in any of the other World Championship events, he finished seventh in the final season standings.
World Drivers' Championship standings after the race Pos Driver Points 1 Juan Manuel Fangio 9 20 2 Lee Wallard 9 1 3 Piero Taruffi 6 18 4 Mike Nazaruk 6 2 5 Nino Farina 4Source:
Broadcasting
Radio The race was carried live on the radio through a network arrangement set up by 1070 WIBC-AM of Indianapolis. Mutual, which had carried the race for several years, had raised its advertising rates for 1951, and lost its primary sponsor for the event, Perfect Circle Piston Rings. As a result, Mutual dropped the coverage altogether. Local station WIBC stepped in to cover the race, and provided its feed to various Mutual affiliates. A total of 26 stations carried the broadcast.
WIBC personality Sid Collins served as the chief announcer in the booth, and the remainder of the crew consisted mostly of WIBC talent. Jim Shelton reported from his familiar turn four location, and Bill Fox was also in the booth. Easy Gwynn was also to be part of the crew. Collins interviewed the winner in victory lane, leaving Fox to call the actual finish of the race. Like the Mutual broadcasts, WIBC featured live coverage of the start (30 minutes), the finish (30 minutes), and 15-minute live updates throughout the race. The on-air crew was smaller than normal. There were not turn and pit reporters stationed around the entire track, instead recorded interviews were played back during later broadcast segments.
References
External links
Indianapolis 500 History: Race & All-Time Stats – Official Site Van Camp's Pork & Beans Presents: Great Moments From the Indy 500 – Fleetwood Sounds, 1975 1951 Indianapolis 500 at RacingReference.info (Relief driver statistics)