1949 Indianapolis 500

The 33rd International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was an automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Monday, May 30, 1949.

After two years of failures to his teammate, Bill Holland finally won one for himself. Giving car owner Lou Moore his third consecutive Indy victory. Mauri Rose was fired by the team after the race when he again ignored orders and tried to pass Holland, only to see his car fail with 8 laps to go.

Spider Webb suffered a broken transmission the morning of the race and failed to start. Rather than utilize an alternate starter, officials awarded Webb the 33rd finishing position.

Offenhauser-powered cars locked 28 out of the 33 starting positions, and the top 19 finishing positions.

Starting grid RowInsideMiddleOutside 154 Duke Nalon5 Rex Mays33 Jack McGrath 27 Bill Holland17 Duane Carter22 George Connor 361 Jimmy Jackson26 George Lynch 98 Johnny Mantz 43 Mauri Rose 14 Hal Cole12 Johnnie Parsons 52 Myron Fohr 8 Mack Hellings29 Duke Dinsmore 677 Joie Chitwood57 Jackie Holmes 64 Troy Ruttman 719 Paul Russo6 Lee Wallard68 Jim Rathmann 84 Bill Sheffler18 Sam Hanks71 Norm Houser 938 George Fonder 37 Spider Webb10 Charles Van Acker 1032 Johnny McDowell 69 Bayliss Levrett 74 Bill Cantrell 1115 Fred Agabashian9 Emil Andres52 Manny Ayulo

Alternates First alternate: Ralph Pratt (#34)The Talk of Gasoline Alley – 1070-AM WIBC, May 14, 2004

Failed to Qualify

Les Anderson (#74) Henry Banks (#35) Frank Beardsley Randall Beinke (#42) Tony Bettenhausen (#16, #46) Lindley Bothwell (#66) Frank Brisko (#48) Walt Brown (#18) Jim Brubaker (#79) Frank Burany (#24) Jimmy Daywalt (#56) Billy Devore Ted Duncan (#72) Kenny Eaton (#55) Milt Fankhouser (#73) Pat Flaherty (#43) Dick Fraizer (#59) Eddie Haddad (#47) Mel Hansen (#44) Tommy Hinnershitz (#15, #18) Byron Horne (#39) Danny Kladis (#58) Tommy Mattson Johnny Mauro (#16) George Metzler (#67) - Fatal accident Chet Miller (#65) Hal Robson (#23) Mike Salay (#49) Wally Stokes (#75) Bill Taylor (#51) Joel Thorne (#81) Louis Tomei (#42) Doc Williams (#65)

Box score FinishStartNoNameChassisEngineQualRankLapsStatus147 Bill HollandDiedtOffenhauser128.6739200 121.327 mph21212 Johnnie Parsons Kurtis KraftOffenhauser132.9002200 +3:11.003622 George ConnorLesovskyOffenhauser128.22813200 +3:34.814132 Myron Fohr MarcheseOffenhauser129.7763200 +5:16.6851677 Joie ChitwoodKurtis KraftOffenhauser126.86327200 +5:21.006761 Jimmy JacksonDiedtOffenhauser128.02315200 +7:15.037998 Johnny MantzKurtis KraftOffenhauser127.78618200 +8:50.0481919 Paul RussoSlinesOffenhauser129.4875200 +20:55.319329 Emil Andres(Walt Brown Laps 19–197)SlinesOffenhauser126.04231197Flagged102471 Norm Houser LangleyOffenhauser127.75620181Flagged112168 Jim Rathmann WetterothOffenhauser126.51629175Flagged121864 Troy Ruttman WetterothOffenhauser125.94532151Flagged13103 Mauri Rose DiedtOffenhauser127.75919192Magneto strap14517 Duane CarterStevensOffenhauser128.23312182Spun T3151529 Duke DinsmoreOlsonOffenhauser127.75021174Radius rod16148 Mack HellingsKurtis KraftOffenhauser128.26011172Valve17224 Bill ShefflerBrommeOffenhauser128.52110160Rod182832 Johnny McDowell MeyerOffenhauser126.13930142Magneto191114 Hal ColeKurtis KraftOffenhauser127.16824117Rod bearing202538 George Fonder (Mel Hansen Laps 68–116)AdamsSparks127.28922116Valve213074 Bill CantrellKurtis KraftOffenhauser127.1912395Drive shaft221757 Jackie Holmes Kurtis KraftOffenhauser128.0871465Drive shaft23206 Lee WallardMaseratiMaserati128.912755Gears242969 Bayliss Levrett Kurtis KraftOffenhauser129.236652Drain plug2525 Rex MaysKurtis KraftNovi129.552448Engine26333 Jack McGrathKurtis KraftOffenhauser128.884839Oil pump273115 Fred AgabashianMaseratiMaserati127.0072538Overheating283352 Manny Ayulo BrommeOffenhauser125.7993324Rod29154 Duke NalonKurtis KraftNovi132.939123Crash T3302318 Sam HanksKurtis KraftOffenhauser127.8091720Oil leak312710 Charles Van AckerStevensOffenhauser126.5242810Crash T432826 George Lynch RasseyOffenhauser127.823161Crash T1332637 Spider WebbBrommeOffenhauser127.002260Transmission

Note: Relief drivers in parentheses

Former Indianapolis 500 winner

Indianapolis 500 Rookie

All entrants utilized Firestone tires.

Race statistics

Lap Leaders Laps Leader1–23 Duke Nalon24–35 Rex Mays36–54 Lee Wallard55–200 Bill Holland

Total laps led Driver LapsBill Holland 146Duke Nalon 23Lee Wallard 19Rex Mays 12

Yellow Lights: 8 minutes, 30 seconds Laps* Reason2 George Lynch crash in turn 1 (<1 minute)12–13 Charles Van Acker crash in turn 4 (1:35)24–27 Duke Nalon crash in turn 3 (6:00)* – Approximate lap counts

Broadcasting

Radio The race was carried live on the Mutual Broadcasting System, the precursor to the IMS Radio Network. The broadcast was sponsored by Perfect Circle Piston Rings and Bill Slater served as the anchor. The broadcast featured live coverage of the start, the finish, and live updates throughout the race.

Mutual Broadcasting SystemBooth AnnouncersTurn ReportersRoving reportersBooth Announcer: Bill Slater Analyst: Gordon GrahamSouth turns: Sid Collins Backstretch: Gene Kelly North turns: Jim Shelton Barry Lake

Television The race was carried live for the first time in the history of television on WFBM-TV Channel 6 of Indianapolis. The station signed on for the first time on the morning of May 30, 1949, with a documentary about the race entitled The Crucible of Speed, then coverage of the race itself. The race broadcast used three cameras located along the front stretch. Earl Townsend Jr., who previously worked as a radio reporter, was the first television announcer. Dick Pittenger and Paul Roberts joined Townsend along with engineer Robert Robbins. The telecast reached approximately 3,000 local households. WFBM-TV Television Play-by-playPit reporters Announcer: Earl Townsend Jr. Color: Dick Pittenger Color: Paul Roberts Robert Robbins

1949 Indianapolis 500

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