1956 Indianapolis 500

  1956 Indianapolis 500

Race details
Race 3 of 8 in the 1956 Formula One season
Location	Indianapolis Motor Speedway Speedway, Indiana
Course	Permanent racing facility 4.023 km (2.500 mi)
Distance	200 laps, 804.672 km (500.000 mi)
Pole position
Driver	Pat Flaherty	Watson-Offenhauser
Time	4:07.26 (4 laps)
Fastest lap
Driver	Paul Russo	Kurtis Kraft-Novi
Time	1:02.32
Podium
First	Pat Flaherty	Watson-Offenhauser
Second	Sam Hanks	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser
Third	Don Freeland	Phillips-Offenhauser

The 1956 Indianapolis 500 was an automobile race held on Wednesday, May 30, 1956 at Indianapolis. It was the third round of the 1956 World Drivers' Championship.

The 1956 race would be the first 500 to be governed by the United States Automobile Club as the American Automobile Association withdrew the previous August. Another change would have a more immediate effect on the current race. The track had been resurfaced with asphalt with only a short segment of bricks still remaining down the main stretch. With the new surface, a new track record was expected. Pat Flaherty did not disappoint with a pole speed of 145.596 mph (234.314 km/h), over 4.5 mph (7.2 km/h) faster than the 1954 record. 29 drivers qualified opening weekend. The second weekend saw heavy rain that completely canceled Saturday and left only a small window on Sunday for 4 drivers to fill the field. Nino Farina was one of the drivers left out when he didn’t get a chance to qualify his Bardahl-Ferrari.

The early part of the race turned into a three man duel between Russo, O’Connor, and Flaherty. Russo was the first to retire when his tyre failed and his car crashed and caught fire. At quarter distance due to yellows and the pit stops, Parsons took the lead followed by Freeland. By the 200-mile (320 km) mark Flaherty took over the lead followed by Freeland, Sweikert, and Parsons but Hanks was working his way through the fields after sustaining some damage in the Russo crash, eventually taking second. Flaherty had built up such a lead that he was able to make his last pit stop and remain in front. He crossed the finish line with Hanks the only other car on the lead lap. The only real change in the top cars toward the end was both O’Connor and Jim Rathmann having to drop back with mechanical problems while both drivers were in the top 5.

Time trials

Time trials was scheduled for four days, but the third day was rained out.

• Saturday May 19 - Pole Day time trials
• Sunday May 20 - Second day time trials
• Saturday May 26 - Third day time trials (rained out)
• Sunday May 27 - Fourth day time trials

Classification

Pos	Grid	No	Driver	Constructor	Qual	Rank	Laps	Led	Time/Retired	Points
1	1	8	Pat Flaherty	Watson-Offenhauser	145.59	1	200	127	3:53:28.84	8
2	13	4	Sam Hanks	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	142.05	21	200	0	+0:20.45	6
3	26	16	Don Freeland	Phillips-Offenhauser	141.69	22	200	4	+1:30.23	4
4	6	98	Johnnie Parsons	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	144.14	7	200	16	+3:25.69	3
5	4	73	Dick Rathmann	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	144.47	6	200	0	+4:21.81	2
6	10	1	Bob Sweikert	Kuzma-Offenhauser	143.03	12	200	0	+5:35.05
7	23	14	Bob Veith	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	142.53	16	200	0	+6:25.63
8	15	19	Rodger Ward	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	141.17	27	200	0	+6:32.31
9	21	26	Jimmy Reece	Lesovsky-Offenhauser	142.88	14	200	0	+6:38.31
10	30	27	Cliff Griffith	Stevens-Offenhauser	141.47	24	199	0	+1 Lap
11	22	82	Gene Hartley	Kuzma-Offenhauser	142.84	15	196	0	+4 Laps
12	7	42	Fred Agabashian	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	144.06	8	196	0	+4 Laps
13	25	57	Bob Christie	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	142.23	20	196	0	+4 Laps
14	28	55	Al Keller	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	141.19	26	195	0	+5 Laps
15	32	81	Eddie Johnson	Kuzma-Offenhauser	139.09	32	195	0	+5 Laps
16	29	41	Billy Garrett	Kuzma-Offenhauser	140.55	30	194	0	+6 laps
17	33	64	Duke Dinsmore	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	138.53	33	191	0	+9 laps
18	3	7	Pat O'Connor	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	144.98	4	187	39	+13 Laps
19	19	2	Jimmy Bryan	Kuzma-Offenhauser	143.74	9	185	0	+15 Laps
20	2	24	Jim Rathmann	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	145.12	3	175	0	Engine
21	31	34	Johnnie Tolan	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	140.06	31	173	0	Engine
22	5	99	Tony Bettenhausen	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	144.6	5	160	0	Accident
23	14	10	Ed Elisian Eddie Russo	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	141.38	25	160	0	Brakes
24	16	48	Jimmy Daywalt	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	140.97	28	134	0	Accident
25	24	54	Jack Turner	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	142.39	18	131	0	Engine
26	20	89	Keith Andrews	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	142.97	13	94	0	Transmission
27	9	5	Andy Linden	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	143.05	11	90	0	Oil Leak
28	27	12	Al Herman	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	141.61	23	74	0	Accident
29	17	49	Ray Crawford	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	140.88	29	49	0	Accident
30	12	15	Johnny Boyd	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	142.33	19	35	0	Oil Leak
31	11	53	Troy Ruttman	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	142.48	17	22	3	Spun Off
32	18	88	Johnny Thomson	Kuzma-Offenhauser	145.54	2	22	0	Spun Off
33	8	29	Paul Russo	Kurtis Kraft-Novi	143.54	10	21	11	Accident	1

Notes

• Pole position: Pat Flaherty - 4:07.26 (time over four laps)
• Fastest Lead Lap: Paul Russo - 1:02.32
• Shared Drive: Car# 10: Ed Elisian 123 laps and Eddie Russo 37 laps

Drivers' Championship standings after the race

	Pos	Driver	Points
	1	Jean Behra	10
	2	Juan Manuel Fangio	9
	3	Stirling Moss	8
22	4	Pat Flaherty	8
21	5	Sam Hanks	6

• Note: Only the top five positions are included.

See also

• 1956 USAC Championship Car season

Gallery

• 

  1956 winning car

• 

  1956 pace car

Notes

References

Works cited

• Indianapolis 500 History: Race & All-Time Stats - Official Site