1962 Indianapolis 500

The 46th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Wednesday, May 30, 1962.

46th Indianapolis 500

Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Indianapolis 500
Sanctioning body	USAC
Season	1962 USAC season
Date	May 30, 1962
Winner	Rodger Ward
Winning team	Leader Cards
Average speed	140.293 mph (225.780 km/h)
Pole position	Parnelli Jones
Pole speed	150.370 mph (241.997 km/h)
Fastest qualifier	Parnelli Jones
Rookie of the Year	Jim McElreath
Most laps led	Parnelli Jones (120)
Pre-race ceremonies
National anthem	Purdue Band
"Back Home Again in Indiana"	C. David Cochard
Starting command	Tony Hulman
Pace car	Studebaker Lark Daytona Convertible
Pace car driver	Sam Hanks
Starter	Pat Vidan[1]
Honorary referee	Robert A. Stranahan, Jr.[1]
Estimated attendance	230,000[2]
TV in the United States
Network	N/A
Announcers	N/A
Nielsen ratings	N/A / N/A
Chronology
Previous Next 1961 1963

A historic pole day as Parnelli Jones breaks the 150 mph (240 km/h) barrier in qualifying. Rodger Ward and Len Sutton finish 1st-2nd for Leader Cards Racing.

The 1962 Indy 500 marked the final 500 wherein the entire 33-car field consisted of U.S.-born participants. It was also the first race held with the track surface paved entirely in asphalt, with just the ceremonial single yard of bricks exposed at the start/finish line.

Time trials

Time trials was scheduled for four days.

• Saturday May 12 – Pole Day time trials
  • Len Sutton was the first driver to make an assault on the track record. His fourth lap of 149.900 mph was a new one-lap track record.
  • Parnelli Jones becomes the first driver to break the 150 mph barrier. His first lap was run at 150.729 mph, a new all-time one-lap track record. All four of his laps were over 150 mph, and his four-lap average came in at 150.370 mph. Jones was rewarded by having 150 silver dollars poured into his helmet by Phil Hedback of Bryant Heating & Cooling.[3]
• Sunday May 13 – Second day time trials
  • The 13th proved to be an unlucky day for Norm Hall, whose previous crash in car #25 left him unscathed, but today, he looped out the #41 Forbes Special on the Southwest Turn, hit the wall backwards and was severely injured, including a fractured left leg and possible skull fracture. Jim Rathmann and Troy Ruttman both were flagged off by their crews after they failed to get sufficient speed to qualify. Eddie Sachs could not reach an acceptable speed and a new engine has been ordered for his Dean-Autolite Special machine. Dan Gurney left for Holland to compete in the Holland Grand Prix. Qualifiers this day were Eddie Johnson #32 at 146.592 and Bob Veith #96 at 146.157.
• Saturday May 19 – Third day time trials
• Sunday May 20 – Fourth day time trials

Race recap

First half

Parnelli Jones took the lead at the start, and led the first 59 laps. The first incident on the track occurred on lap 17. A four-car crash in turn four involved Jack Turner, Bob Christie, Allen Crowe, and Chuck Rodee. A lengthy yellow light period was needed to clean up the incident.

Second half

Rodger Ward led the final 31 laps en route to victory. It was his second 500 win, after winning also in 1959. His Leader Cards teammate Len Sutton finished second, accomplishing the first team "sweep" of 1st-2nd since the Blue Crown team did it in 1947 and 1948.

After dominating much of the early race, Parnelli Jones, who started on the pole and led 120 laps, finished 7th. Jones chances for victory faded around the lap 125 mark when he lost his brakes. Unable to easily bring his car to a halt during pit stops, his crew put out tires so he could bump up against them or ride over them in order to help stop the car.

Box score

Finish	Start	No	Name	Qual	Rank	Laps	Led	Status
1	2	3	Rodger Ward  W	149.371	2	200	66	Running
2	4	7	Len Sutton	149.328	4	200	9	Running
3	27	2	Eddie Sachs	146.431	27	200	0	Running
4	12	27	Don Davis	147.209	12	200	0	Running
5	3	54	Bobby Marshman	149.347	3	200	0	Running
6	7	15	Jim McElreath  R	149.025	7	200	0	Running
7	1	98	Parnelli Jones	150.370	1	200	120	Running
8	24	12	Lloyd Ruby	146.520	24	200	0	Running
9	23	44	Jim Rathmann  W	146.610	21	200	0	Running
10	28	38	Johnny Boyd	147.047	14	200	0	Running
11	6	4	Shorty Templeman	149.050	6	200	0	Running
12	11	14	Don Branson	147.312	11	200	0	Running
13	29	91	Jim Hurtubise	146.963	17	200	0	Running
14	32	86	Ebb Rose	146.336	30	200	0	Running
15	10	5	Bud Tingelstad	147.753	10	200	0	Running
16	9	17	Roger McCluskey	147.759	9	168	3	Spun T2
17	17	21	Elmer George (Relieved by Paul Russo; 74 laps) (Relieved by A. J. Foyt; 21 laps)	146.092	33	146	0	Engine
18	30	26	Troy Ruttman  W	146.765	19	140	0	Piston
19	15	18	Bobby Grim	146.604	22	96	0	Oil Leak
20	8	34	Dan Gurney  R	147.886	8	92	0	Rear End
21	16	19	Chuck Hulse  R	146.377	28	91	0	Fuel Pump
22	33	79	Jimmy Daywalt	146.318	31	74	0	Transmission
23	5	1	A. J. Foyt  W	149.074	5	69	2	Lost wheel
24	13	9	Dick Rathmann	147.161	13	51	0	Magneto
25	18	32	Eddie Johnson	146.592	23	38	0	Magneto
26	26	53	Paul Goldsmith	146.437	26	26	0	Magneto
27	20	88	Gene Hartley (Relieved by Bill Cheesbourg; 21 laps)	146.969	15	23	0	Steering
28	14	62	Paul Russo	146.687	20	20	0	Piston
29	25	45	Jack Turner	146.496	25	17	0	Crash FS
30	31	29	Bob Christie	146.341	29	17	0	Crash FS
31	22	83	Allen Crowe  R	146.831	18	17	0	Crash FS
32	21	67	Chuck Rodee  R	146.969	16	17	0	Crash FS
33	19	96	Bob Veith	146.157	32	12	0	Engine

Alternates

• First alternate: Dempsey Wilson (#31)[4]
• Second alternate: Ronnie Duman  R  (#28)[5]

Failed to qualify

Chuck Arnold (#23, #37, #46, #47, #77) Duane Carter (#72) Bill Cheesbourg (#35, #59, #88) Leon Clum  R  (#6, #23) Jack Conely  R  (#89) Russ Congdon  R  Tommy Copp  R  (#58) Johnny Coy  R  (#68, #92) Chuck Daigh  R  (#35)

Jack Ensley  R  (#95) Jack Fairman  R  (#32, #78) Don Freeland (#36) Roy Graham  R  (#55) Norm Hall (#25, #41) Jim Hemmings  R  (#65, #94) Herb Hill  R  (#69) – Entry declined Bruce Jacobi  R  (#22) Ed Kostenuk  R  (#37)

Ralph Ligouri  R  (#68) Bob Mathouser  R  (#43) Mike McGreevey  R  (#46) Al Miller  R  (#64) Keith Rachwitz  R  (#33) Gig Stephens  R  (#61) Chuck Stevenson (#16) Chuck Weyant[6]

Race statistics

Lap Leaders Laps Leader 1–59 Parnelli Jones 60–61 A. J. Foyt 62–64 Roger McCluskey 65–125 Parnelli Jones 126–160 Rodger Ward 161–169 Len Sutton 170–200 Rodger Ward

Total laps led Laps Leader Parnelli Jones 120 Rodger Ward 66 Len Sutton 9 Roger McCluskey 3 A. J. Foyt 2

Yellows: 38 minutes, 18 seconds Laps* Reason 18 Turner/Christie/Crowe/Rodee crash in turn 4 * – Approximate lap counts

Broadcasting

Radio

The race was carried live on the IMS Radio Network. Sid Collins served as chief announcer. Fred Agabashian served as "driver expert." Newcomer Howdy Bell joined the crew, serving as a turn reporter. It was his first of over 40 years with the network. Turn reporter Mike Ahern, who debuted on the radio crew a year earlier, missed the 1962 race due to being in the Army.[7] He would return in 1963.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network
Booth Announcers	Turn Reporters	Pit/garage reporters
Chief Announcer: Sid Collins Driver expert: Fred Agabashian Statistician: Charlie Brockman	Turn 1: Bill Frosh Turn 2: Howdy Bell Backstretch: Bernie Herman Turn 3: Lou Palmer Turn 4: Jim Shelton	Jack Shapiro (north) Luke Walton (center) John Peterson (south)

Television

A few minutes of highlights were shown on ABC's "Wide World Of Sports".

Gallery

• 
  1962 winning car (Ward)
• 
  1962 pole position winning car (Jones)

Notes

References

1. Fox, Jack C. (1994). The Illustrated History of the Indianapolis 500 1911-1994 (4th ed.). Carl Hungness Publishing. p. 22. ISBN 0-915088-05-3.
2. Campbell, Don G. (May 31, 1962). "500 Crowd is Star Of Own Show". The Indianapolis Star. p. 1. Retrieved June 2, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
3. The Talk of Gasoline Alley. May 19, 2006. Network Indiana.
4. The Talk of Gasoline Alley - 1070-AM WIBC, May 14, 2004
5. The Talk of Gasoline Alley. May 8, 2011. WFNI.
6. "1962 International 500 Mile Sweepstakes". ChampCarStats.com. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
7. The Talk of Gasoline Alley. September 6, 2018. WFNI.

Works cited

• Indianapolis 500 History: Race & All-Time Stats - Official Site
• 1962 Indianapolis 500 at RacingReference.info (Relief driver statistics)
• 1962 Indianapolis 500 Radio Broadcast, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network