|
|
| |
Interested in car racing? Here are a few facts concerning the Indy
500 Race:
The Indianapolis 500 is the original 500-mile auto race, predating
any other existing 500 by nearly fifty years. It's not only the most
famous race in America, but is the most celebrated around the world.
The Indy 500 was first run in 1911.
The distance around one lap of the Indianapolis course is two and
one-half miles per lap.
It takes a driver forty seconds to negotiate one full lap at a speed
of exactly 225 miles per hour.
Traditionally, thirty-three cars start in the 500.
The Speedway was nicknamed "The Brickyard," because the track was
once paved with bricks.
For more than fifty years, the winning driver has pulled into Victory
Lane and taken a drink of milk.
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is not located in Indianapolis. It's
in Speedway, Indiana, a community incorporated in 1926, with its own
town board, police and fire departments, schools systems, and water
company.
An effective Indy pit stop (to pump forty gallons of fuel, change
four wheels, and many any minor adjustment) takes about fifteen
seconds.
Indy cars do not run on gasoline. Since 1964, they've used methanol,
a wood-based alcohol.
If an Indy Car engine were installed in the average riding lawn
mower, it could cut a half-acre lawn in about 5.6 seconds.
The winning time at the 1990 Indy was more than four hours faster
than the 1911 Indy's winning time of six hours, forty-two minutes.
At 200 miles per hour, an Indy driver can cover the length of a
football field in less than one second.
While eight different drivers named Jones have driven in at least one
500 race (none of which are related), no starting field has ever
included a driver named Smith.
Buddy Lazier was eliminated after only one lap in the 1991 Indy and
received $162,690 in prize money. Ernie Ansterberg, on the other
hand, pulled out after two laps in 1924 and was awarded the hefty sum
of $5.25.
At 224 miles per hour, an Indy Car is traveling about 100 miles
faster than an average Air Force fighter jet at takeoff.
Indianapolis 500 Results
YEAR DRIVER ENGINE CYLINDERS MPH AVERAGE
1911 Ray Harroun Marmon Wasp 6 74.69
1912 Joe Dawson National 4 78.72
1913 Jules Goux Peugeot 4 97.933
1914 Rene Thomas Delage 4 82,47
1915 Ralph DePalma Mercedes 4 89.84
1916 Dario Resta Peugeot 4 84.00*(1)
1919 Howard Wilcox Peugeot 4 88.05
1920 Gaston Chevrolet Monroe 4 88.62
1921 Gaston Miltono Frontenac 4 89.62
1922 Jimmy Murphy Miller 8 94.48
1923 Tommy Milton Miller 8 90.95
1924 L.L. Corum Dusenberg 8 98.23
1925 Peter Depaolo Duesenberg 8 101.13
1926 Frank Lockhart Miller 8 95.904*(2)
1927 George Souders Duesenberg 8 97.545
1928 Louis Meyer Miller 8 100.448
1931 Louis Schneider Miller 8 96.629
1932 Fred Frame Miller 8 104.144
1933 Louis Meyer Miller 8 104.162
1934 William Cummings Offenhauser 4 104.863
1935 Kelly Petillo Offenhauser 4 106.240
1936 Louis Meyer Offenhauser 4 109.069
1937 Wilbur Shaw Offenhauser 4 113.580
1938 Floyd Roberts Offenhauser 4 117.200
1939 Wilbur Shaw Masurati 8 115035
1940 Wilbur Shaw Maserati 8 114.277
1941 Floyd Davis Offenhauser 4 115.117
1942-1945 Race not held (due to WWII)
1946 George Robson Thorne/Sparks 6 114.820
1947 Mauri Rose Offenhauser 4 116.338
1948 Mauri Rose Offenhauser 4 119.814
1949 Bill Holland Offenhauser 4 121.320
1950 Johnnie Parsons Offenhauser 4 124.002*(3)
1951 Lee Wallard Offenhauser 4 126.244
1952 Troy Ruttman Offenhauser 4 128.922
1953 Bill Vukovich Offenhauser 4 128.740
1954 Bill Vukovich Offenhauser 4 130.840
1955 Bob Sweikert Offenhauser 4 128.209
1956 Pat Flaherty Offenhauser 4 128.490
1957 Sam Hanks Offenhauser 4 135.601
1958 Jim Bryan Offenhauser 4 133.791
1959 Rodger Ward Offenhauser 4 135.857
1960 Jim Rathmann Offenhauser 4 138.767
1961 A.J. Foyt Offenhauser 4 139.130
1962 Rodger Ward Offenhauser 4 140.293
1963 Parnelli Jones Offenhauser 4 143.137
1964 A.J. Foyt Offenhauser 4 147.350
1965 Jimmy Clark Ford 8 150.686
1966 Graham Hill Ford 8 144.317
1967 A.J. Foyt Ford 8 151.207
1968 Bobby Unser Offenhauser 4 152.882
1969 Mario Andretti Hawk-Ford 8 156.867
1970 Al Unser Colt Ford 8 155.749
1971 Al Unser Colt-Ford 8 157.735
1972 Mark Donahue Offenhauser 4 162.962*(4)
1973 Gordon Johncock Offenhauser 4 159.036
1974 Johnny Rutherford Offenhauser 4 158.589
1975 Bobby Unser Meyer Drake 4 149.213*(5)
1976 Johnny Rutherford Offenhauser 4 148.725*(6)
1977 A.J. Foyt Coyote-Foyt 4 161.331
1978 Al Unser Cosworth 8 161.363
1979 Rick Mears Cosworth 8 158.889
1980 Johnny Rutherford Chaparral 8 142.862
1981 Bobby Unser Offenhauser 4 139.029
1982 Gordon Johncock Cosworth 8 162.029
1983 Tom Sneva Cosworth 8 162.117
1984 Rick Mears Cosworth 8 162.962
1985 Danny Sullivan Cosworth 8 152.982
1986 Bobby Rahal Cosworth 8 170.722
1987 Al Unser Cosworth 8 162.175
1988 Rick Mears Chevy 8 144.809
1989 E. Fittipaldi Chevy 8 144.809
1990 Arie Luyendyk Chevy 8 185.984
1991 Rick Mears Chevy 8 176.457
1992 Al Unser Jr. Chevy 8 134.447
* Due to rain, the race was shortened to:
(1) 300 miles.
(2) 400 miles.
(3) 345 miles.
(1) 332.5 miles.
(4) 435 miles.
(5) 255 miles.
The race record, as of 1992, belongs to Arie Luyendyk. He averaged
185.984 MPH in 1990.
|
|
|
|
|
