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Winners of Races for Championship Cars, 1950-1959
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Jimmy Bryan, with race promoter J. C.
Agajanian, after winning at Sacramento in a Kuzma/Offy on
Oct. 17, 1954. (Ted Manning Photo)
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Driver of the Decade:
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Jimmy Bryan
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23 Victories
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Car of the Decade:
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Kuzma/Offy
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50 Victories
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Johnnie Parsons wins the rain-shortened 1950
Indianapolis 500.
Jimmy Jackson in the Cummins Diesel Special, Indianapolis, 1950. The hope was to run the race nonstop, but a supercharger problem put the car out. Today, the car is in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum.
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Armin Krueger Photo
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Milwaukee, Aug. 27, 1950. Walt Faulkner, winner of the 200-miler, about to pass Tony Bettenhausen.
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| Henry Banks |
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From "The Fabulous Fifties" by Dick Wallen
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Bay Meadows, Calif., Nov. 26, 1950. Tony Bettenhausen (99) won.
Read about the making of the movie.
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They Raced Midgets, Too
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Mike Nazaruk
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Troy Ruttman
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Frank Smith Photos
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Paul Russo
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| 1951 |
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| Tony Bettenhausen |
| National Champion |
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Rookies get no respect. O'Dell-Shields, official photographers for the 1951 Indianapolis 500, called him "Charles" Stevenson on their initial photo release. The reissue, below, made him "Chuck."
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Nearing the End: 1951 was the last year that both of these fromt-wheel drive Deidt chassis cars qualified for the Indianapolis 500. Duane Carter finished 8th in No. 27, and Tony Bettenhausen, 9th in No. 5. The cars were winners of the 500 in 1947, 1948 and 1949.
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From "Speedway
Photos" by Bob Sheldon
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Detroit, Sept. 9,
1951. The pole-sitter was Johnny McDowell. Joe James was on
the outside. Paul Russo won, starting third.
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May 30, 1952: Troy Ruttman and car owner J. C. Agajanian celebrate in Victory Lane at Indianapolis.
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Photo
Courtesy of Tim Coffeen
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Bart Heldman
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California, 1946 or 1947
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Ruttman was 22 when he won the Indianapolis 500 in 1952, the youngest driver ever to win the race. He might have won the national championship that year as well, but he missed the last half of the season because of injuries. Odd coincidence: Ruttman "inherited" the Indianapolis victory when Bill Vukovich crashed while leading with nine laps to go, and Chuck Stevenson "inherited" the 1952 championship when Ruttman could no longer race that year.
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July 4, 1952: Bill Schindler (7) and Cliff Griffith (22) led eventual winner Troy Ruttman (98) at the start of the 200-miler, the only national championship race run in Raleigh, N.C.
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Armin Krueger Photo
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Alberto Ascari, the 1952 world champion, had a mediocre appearance at Indianapolis that year, starting 19th and finishing 31st.
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Fred Agabashian, pole sitter, Indianapolis, 1952.
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| 1952 |
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Chuck Stevenson (16) passes Bobby Ball on the way to winning the 200-miler at Milwaukee, Aug. 24, 1952
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Milwaukee Journal Photo
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Start of the Milwaukee 200-miler. On the pole, Bob Sweikert; next to him, Bobby Ball. Second row, Sam Hanks, inside, and Jim Rigsby. Third row, Bill Schindler, inside, and Jack McGrath. Fourth row, No. 84, Bob Scott.
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Dick Adams Photo
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Springfield, Aug. 16, 1952. Front row, Mike Nazaruk, pole, and Jack McGrath. Row 2: Bill Schindler (the race winner) and Jim Rigsby. Row 3: Troy Ruttman and Gene Hartley. Row 4: Buzz Barton and Neal Carter. Row 5: Henry Banks and Jimmy Reece. Row 6, Ebe Yoder and Bobby Ball. Row 7, Joe James and Walt Faulkner. Row 8, Tommy Hinnershitz and Manuel Ayulo. Row 9, Chuck Stevenson and Sam Hanks.
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Bud Williams Photo
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Detroit, Aug. 30, 1952: Jimmy Reece (44, right) was the pole sitter. Paul Russo drove the Belanger 99 to second place. Behing him is Mike Nazaruk. In the center, Andy Linden.
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Bill Vukovich won
this race, his second of four championship victories.
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Photos from film by Charles Klopman
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Indianapolis 1953: Vuky leads at the start, Vuky pits, Vuky wins.
Indianapolis 1953: Johnny Thomson, Duke Nalon, Art Cross pit. Cross finished 2d.
Indianapolis 1953: Chuck Stevenson in an Agajanian car, Cal Niday in the Belanger.
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| 1953 |
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| Sam Hanks |
| National Champion |
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Photo by Thomas Burnside from the Fall 1963 issue of Automobile Quarterly
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The Kurtis-Kraft chassis with its Offenhauser engine offset to allow more weight on the left side of the car, driven to victory by Bill Vukovich in 1953 and 1954. Photographed at the Indianapolis Speedway Museum.
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Vuky's 'office,' now in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum.
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Armin Krueger Photo
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Indianapolis, May 30, 1953. Heading for the start, with Bill Vukovich on the pole, Fred Agabashian next to him, and Jack McGrath on the outside.
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Indianapolis Motor Speedway Photo
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Indianapolis, May 31, 1954. Troy Ruttman (34) was leading at the time.
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| 1954 |
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| Jimmy Bryan |
| National Champion |
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The Dominator: Bill Vukovich after his 1954 Indianapolis victory. He won in 1953, crashed near the end while leading in 1952 and died in a crash while leading in 1955.
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Chuck Stevenson drove for J. C. Agajanian (in cowboy hat) in 1954, winning the Rex Mays Memorial in Milwaukee in June. On Sept. 6, Clay Smith, Stevenson's mechanic and friend, was killed in a pit accident at DuQuoin, Ill., and Stevenson was never the same. In this photo, Smith is standing at the rear of the car, in white trousers.
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Indianapolis Motor Speedway Photo
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May 30, 1955: Pace lap for the Indianapolis 500
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| 1955 |
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| Bob Sweikert |
| National Champion |
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Indianapolis, 1955. Bob Sweikert, winner.
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Indianapolis, 1955. Johnny Thomson, who finished fourth, chasing Cal Niday.
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Armin Krueger Photo
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Milwaukee, Aug. 28, 1955. Pat Flaherty
wins the 250-miler.
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Armin Krueger Photo
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The Brickyard
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Race day morning, May 30, 1956
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| 1956 |
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Jimmy Bryan |
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National Champion |
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May 30, 1956. Pat Flaherty wins the 500 from
the pole.
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Photo courtesy of Peter Scott
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Indianapolis 1956: Johnny Boyd in the Bowes Seal Fast Special
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Indianapolis, May 30, 1957. Sam Hanks, 42, wins the 500 and immediately retires from racing.
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California, 1936: Sam Hanks, 22, in a midget. Below, 1946.
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| 1957 |
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| Jimmy Bryan |
| National Champion |
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Photo by Bobbi Michelle Sheridan
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The Wolcott Special in which Rodger Ward won the June 9, 1957 Rex Mays Memorial race at Milwaukee. The car is on display at the Hulman Museum in Terre Haute, Ind.
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Entries and qualifying
times for the Bobby Ball Memorial race at Phoenix, Nov. 11,
1957. Jimmy Bryan won.
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The Pride of Phoenix. Jimmy Bryan, left, and
Clint Brawner. Al Dean's cars.
The Mess.
Perhaps the most confused start in Indianapolis history occurred in 1958 when the front row of Dick Rathmann, right, the pole-sitter; Ed Elisian, center, and Jimmy Reece took off on the warmup laps ahead of the pace car and had to pass the entire field just before the green flag fell. Three turns later, a huge crash resulted in the death of Pat O'Connor and the elimination of eight cars from the race, including those of Rathmann and Elisian. Reece finished sixth.
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| 1958 |
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| Tony Bettenhausen |
| National Champion |
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Pack Rat Enterprises Photo
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Indianapolis, 1958. The five-time world champion received pointers from Johnnie Parsons, but Fangio did not qualify for the race.
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From "That Magic Mile" by Thomas Nasti
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DuQuoin, Ill., Sept. 7, 1959. Rodger Ward (5) won, Don Branson (9) was second
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| 1959 |
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| Rodger Ward |
| National Champion |
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Hugh Baird Photo
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Eddie Sachs wins at Trenton, Sept.27, 1959.
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Indianapolis, 1959. In the front row were Johnny Thomson on the pole, Eddie Sachs in the middle and Jim Rathmann. Rodger Ward won, from the 6th starting position.
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