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Winners of Races for Championship Cars, 1960-1969







A. J. Foyt's winning car in the 1961 Indianapolis 500


Driver of the Decade:
A. J. Foyt
42 Victories
Car of the Decade:
Watson/Offy
31 Victories



1960
A. J. Foyt
National Champion
At right, A. J. Foyt, the winner of 67 championship races, more than any other driver, celebrated his first, Sept. 5, 1960, at DuQuoin, Ill. With him was J. C. Agajanian.

C.V. Haschel photo from "That Magic Mile"







Jim Rathmann, winner of the 1960 Indianapolis 500.
Armin Krueger Photo



Milwaukee, Aug. 28, 1960. Rodger Ward leads into the first turn of the 200 miler. Len Sutton won.



Photograph by Bob Sheridan
The rear-engine revolution begins. This is Jack Brabham's Cooper-Climax at the Izod Indy display at Macy's in New York, 2010. The car finished ninth in the 1961 Indianapolis 500.



1961
A. J. Foyt
National Champion





Hugh Baird Photo
Heroes: Herk and Parnelli, Trenton, April 9, 1961.



Milwaukee, August, 1961. Ted Carpenter, press representative for Wisconsin Auto Racing Inc.



Indianapolis, 1962. Parnelli Jones led at the start, but Rodger Ward, behind him, won.



Hugh Baird Photo
Trenton, Sept. 24, 1961. A. J. Foyt and others await the payoff at Trenton. Leaning against the post was Don Davis; next to him Bud Tingelstad, then Foyt, then A. J. Watson. In back, left to right, were Herb Porter, Bill Cheesebourg, uncertain driver, Danny Jones, and Parnelli Jones in the Agajanian driving suit.


Photographs by Bob Sheridan

Milwaukee, Aug. 20, 1961. The pole-sitter is Don Branson, and next to him, Parnelli Jones. Lloyd Ruby, starting 7th, won. Below, Parnelli.



1962
Rodger Ward
National Champion






Sacramento, Oct. 28, 1962. A. J. Foyt led Jim Hurtubise on the way to winning the 100-miler. Hurtubise finished fourth.


Photo courtesy of Jeff Parks
Signatures on a contract for 1963 guaranteeing Ward 40% on any winnings at Indianapolis and 50% of the purse for any races he would win that season (he won five). Among other things, the contract provided Ward with $100 a day in travel expenses and a $2,000 payment for signing.



From the Fall, 1963, issue of Automobile Quarterly
In 1963, Jim Clark finished second at Indianapolis in this Lotus-Ford. Two years later he would win, and engines would move to the rear of championship cars permanently. Clark also put an end to another tradition, the taboo on the green car.

Jim Clark, powered by Ford.


Photos by Bob Sheridan
On display at Macy's in New York as part of the Izod Indy exhibit, May 2009.



Trenton, Sept. 22, 1963. Clark led but failed to finish.



1963
A. J. Foyt
National Champion




Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Parnelli Jones, winner of the 1963 Indianapolis 500.



.U.P.I. Photo
June 9, 1963: Rodger Ward wins the Rex Mays Memorial at Milwaukee.


Sacramento, Oct. 27, 1963. Rodger Ward, the pole-sitter, won.



Trenton, April 19, 1964: Mario Andretti drives in his first of more than 400 championship races. He finished 11th.
Identifiable in this photo are Bob Harkey (74), Mario (28), Bobby Grim (16), Chuck Rodee (87) , Bob Mathouser (82) and (possibly) Johnny White at left rear.



Indianapolis 1964: Teammates and also-rans Jim Clark and Dan Gurney.
Armin Krueger Photo
Another also-ran: Jack Brabham in a Zink/Offy



A. J. Foyt wins the 1964 Indianapolis 500.

1964
A. J. Foyt
National Champion





A. J. Foyt winning at Langhorne, June 21, 1964. Below, ready for a pre-race television interview.


Bobby Unser at Langhorne, June 21, 1964. He finished seventh.


Indiana State Fairgrounds, Sept. 26, 1964. A. J. Foyt wins from the pole. Others starting at the front were Bobby Marshman (17), Parnelli Jones (98) and Rodger Ward (2).


Lloyd Ruby, 5th place finisher at Sacramento, Oct. 25, 1964.



Indianapolis Motor Speedway Photo
Jim Clark, winner of the 1965 Indianapolis 500.



1965
Mario Andretti
National Champion



Al Miller, who finished fourth, pits at Indy, May 31, 1965.






Milwaukee, June 5, 1965. Foyt led Lloyd Ruby at the start, but Parnelli Jones won.



Milwaukee, Aug. 22, 1965. Last gasp. Foyt won the pole with his dirt track car, outqualifying Dan Gurney, Mario Andretti, Lloyd Ruby and everybody else. Gordon Johncock won, with A. J. second.



Indianapolis, May 30, 1966. At left, Graham Hill, who won, escapes the first lap crash that eliminated 11 cars, including those of favorites A. J. Foyt and Dan Gurney.



1966
Mario Andretti
National Champion





MotorSport
Andretti, the winner, chases Foyt at the Indiana fairgrounds, Sept. 10, 1966.

This photo appeared in the October 2009 issue of MotorSport with Mario Andrretti's reminiscences about dirt track racing.

Read the article.



July 4, 1966, Bobby Unser wins the Pikes Peak Hill Climb. Photo from an advertisemnt for Champion Spark Plugs.



Milwaukee, Aug. 20, 1967. Mario Andretti, outside front row, won. Roger McCluskey was the pole-sitter



From "That Magic Mile" by Thomas Nesti
DuQuoin, Ill., Sept. 4, 1967, the annual Ted Horn Memorial race.



1967
A. J. Foyt
National Champion






Photo by John Mahoney
A bad year: Jim Clark and Graham Hill (rear, right), both were victims of broken pistons at Indy, finishing 31st and 32nd respectively.



Photo by Bob Sheridan
Mark Donohue and Bruce McLaren



The Almost Revolution: Parnelli Jones leads the 1967 Indianpolis 500 in Andy Granatelli's turbine-powered car that dominated the race but failed while leading with just four laps to go.




Hanford, Calif., Oct. 22, 1967. Gordon Johncock accepts the winner's trophy from promoter J. C. Agajanian.



Gordon Johncock, maybe 1967.



Dan Gurney. Undated photo from an advertisement in the program for the Rex Mays 300 at Riverside, Calif., Nov. 26, 1967
Photograph by Bob Sheridan
Dan Gurney, 1968



1968
Bobby Unser
National Champion





Photograph by Bob Sheridan
The 1968 Indianpolis winner on display in New York, 2010, as part of the Izod Indy exhibit at Macy's.



From "Offenhauser" by Gordon Eliot White
Hanford, Calif., Nov. 3, 1968. Bobby Unser leads the eventual winner, A. J. Foyt.






Mario Andretti wins the Indianapolis 500, May 30, 1969.
Armin Krueger
Battling with A. J. Foyt.



Photo by Bob Sheridan
The 1969 winner at Grand Central Terminal in a display honoring Mario Andretti as the grand marshal of New York City's Columbus Day parade in 2004.



1969
Mario Andretti
National Champion






Orville Nance at Pikes Peak, 1969, the last year the hill climb counted in the national championship standings.



DuQuoin, Ill., Sept. 1, 1969. A.J. Foyt finishes 3d.
Ray Masser Photo
Dover, Del., Aug. 24, 1969. Gary Bettenhausen leads Al Unser. Bettenhausen finished 5th in the 200-miler. Unser crashed.



From "Riverside Raceway, Palace of Speed" by Dick Wallen
Riverside, Calif., December 7, 1969. Mario Andretti, No. 2, won the 300-miler. In the front row were Mark Donohue (66) and Dan Gurney (48).



Drawings by Ron Burton: Clockwise from upper left: Mario Andretti, Johnny Rutherford, Al Unser and Dan Gurney



All driver champion pictures on this page are from "Roar From the Sixties: American Championship Racing" by Dick Wallen








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