1963 Tony Bettenhausen 200

The 1963 Tony Bettenhausen 200 was the seventh round of the 1963 USAC Championship Car season, held on August 18, 1963, at the 1-mile (1.6 km) Milwaukee Mile, in West Allis, Wisconsin.

1963 Tony Bettenhausen 200

Race details
7th round of the 1963 USAC Championship Car season
Date	August 18, 1963
Official name	17th Tony Bettenhausen 200
Location	The Milwaukee Mile West Allis, Wisconsin
Course	Permanent racing facility 1 mi / 1.609 km
Distance	200 laps 200 mi / 321.8 km
Weather	Temperatures reaching up to 73 °F (23 °C); wind speeds approaching 22 mph (35 km/h)[1]
Pole position
Driver	Jim Clark (Team Lotus)
Time	32.93 (109.323 mph / 175.902 km/h)
Podium
First	Jim Clark (Team Lotus)
Second	A. J. Foyt (Sheraton-Thompson)
Third	Dan Gurney (Team Lotus)

The race was the first American Championship Car race won by a rear-engined car. Jim Clark and Team Lotus had finished second at the 1963 Indianapolis 500 after a controversy surrounding the lack of a black flag for winner Parnelli Jones, whose car was leaking oil. Colin Chapman and Team Lotus decided to return to Champ Car competition at Milwaukee and Trenton later in the year. The rear-engined Lotuses dominated practice and qualifying, breaking the track record by over a second. In the race, Clark led all 200 laps and lapped the entire field, save for second place A. J. Foyt. Clark's teammate Dan Gurney finished third, battling a misfire.[2]

Although a rear-engined car would not win the Indianapolis 500 until 1965, the win signaled a shift in Champ Car design. The last win for a front-engined roadster on a paved track was the opening round of the 1965 season at Phoenix,[3] barely a year and a half after Clark's Milwaukee victory.

Qualifying

Clark, Gurney, Foyt, and Jones broke the previous qualifying record set in 1961 by Don Branson at 34.09 sec (105.62 mph / 169.94 km/h).

Race result

Pos	No.	Driver	Team/Sponsor	Car	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Laps Led	Points
1	92	Jim Clark	Lotus Powered by Ford	Lotus-Ford	200	1:54:53.098	1	200	400
2	2	A. J. Foyt	Sheraton-Thompson	Trevis-Offenhauser	200	Finished	3	0	320
3	93	Dan Gurney	Lotus Powered by Ford	Lotus-Ford	199	+ 1 Lap	2	0	280
4	1	Rodger Ward	Kaiser Aluminum	Watson-Offenhauser	199	+ 1 Lap	14	0	240
5	10	Chuck Hulse	Dean Van Lines	Ewing-Offenhauser	197	+ 3 Laps	6	0	200
6	14	Roger McCluskey	Konstant Hot	Watson-Offenhauser	197	+ 3 Laps	15	0	160
7	46	Johnny Rutherford	Racing Associates	Turner-Chevrolet	196	+ 3 Laps	9	0	120
8	38	Jim Hurtubise	Konstant Hot	Philipp-Offenhauser	195	+ 5 Laps	13	0	100
9	29	Bobby Grim	Vita Fresh Orange Juice	Kuzma-Offenhauser	195	+ 5 Laps	16	0	80
10	4	Don Branson	Leader Card 500	Watson-Offenhauser	194	+ 6 Laps	11	0	60
11	8	Jim McElreath	Jim Forbes Racing	Watson-Offenhauser	194	+ 6 Laps	23	0	40
12	20	Len Sutton	Leader Card 500	Watson-Offenhauser	193	+ 7 Laps	20	0	20
13	86	Bob Veith	Racing Associates	Porter-Offenhauser	193	+ 7 Laps	8	0
14	27	Troy Ruttman	Dayton Steel Wheel	Watson-Offenhauser	190	+ 10 Laps	17	0
15	61	Bob Mathouser	Federal Engineering	Kurtis-Offenhauser	189	+ 11 Laps	24	0
16	26	Bob Wente	Morcroft	Trevis-Offenhauser	187	+ 13 Laps	21	0
17	89	Jack Conely	J & E Engineering	Dunn-Offenhauser	174	+ 26 Laps	26	0
18	81	Bud Tingelstad	Gabriel Shocker	Kuzma-Offenhauser	160	Magneto	20	0
19	21	Johnny White	Pfrommer Trucking	Meskowski-Offenhauser	157	Blown engine	10	0
20	53	Chuck Rodee	Spirit of St. Louis	Watson-Offenhauser	67	Oil line	25	0
21	37	Ed Kostenuk	City of Victoria	Kurtis-Offenhauser	64	Water hose	18	0
22	5	Bobby Marshman	Econo Car Rental	Epperly-Offenhauser	56	Differential	12	0
23	98	Parnelli Jones	Agajanian/Willard Battery	Watson-Offenhauser	42	Brakes	4	0
24	9	Eddie Sachs	Bryant Heating & Cooling	Watson-Offenhauser	37	Overheating	22	0
25	45	Al Miller	Bardahl	Watson-Offenhauser	27	Wrecked	7	0
26	35	Lloyd Ruby	Gabriel Shocker	Trevis-Offenhauser	11	Engine	5	0
DNS	33	Ralph Liguori	Concannon	Kurtis-Offenhauser	-	DNS	-	0
DNS	95	Bob MacLean	Mitchell Gallas	Kurtis-Offenhauser	-	DNS	-	0
DNS	66	Mickey Shaw	Lil-Beanie	Meskowski-Chevrolet	-	DNS	-	0
[4]

Standings after the race

National Championship standings

Pos	Driver	Points
1	A. J. Foyt	2000
2	Rodger Ward	1450
3	Parnelli Jones	1330
4	Jim Clark	1200
5	Jim McElreath	975

• Note: Only the top five positions are included.

References

1. "1963 Tony Bettenhausen 200 weather information". Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2013-07-13.
2. Case, Dean. "The Day the Dinosaurs Died". Retrieved 28 February 2011.
3. Crucean, Gene (January 8, 2010). "American Motorsports Timeline". Crucean Auto Racing Photography. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
4. "Tony Bettenhausen 200". Champ Car Stats. Retrieved 28 February 2011.