1960 Indianapolis 500

  1960 Indianapolis 500

Race details
Race 3 of 10 in the 1960 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	Eddie Sachs	Ewing-Offenhauser
Time	1:02.33
Fastest lap
Driver	Jim Rathmann	Watson-Offenhauser
Time	1:01.59
Podium
First	Jim Rathmann	Watson-Offenhauser
Second	Rodger Ward	Watson-Offenhauser
Third	Paul Goldsmith	Epperly-Offenhauser

The 1960 Indianapolis 500 was an automobile race held at Indianapolis on Monday, May 30, 1960. The event was part of the 1960 World Drivers' Championship; the last Indianapolis 500 to be included in the Championship.

Often regarded as the greatest two-man duel in Indy 500 history, the 1960 race saw a record 29 official lead changes (a record that stood until 2012). However that only includes lead changes scored at the start/finish line, and does not include interim changes at other parts of the course. Jim Rathmann and Rodger Ward battled out nearly the entire second half, with Rathmann sealing the victory when Ward was forced to the pits in the waning laps due to a worn out tire.

Time trials

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

• Saturday May 14 - Pole Day time trials
  • Eddie Sachs set a track record of 146.592 mph to win the pole position.
• Sunday May 15 - Second day time trials
• Saturday May 21 - Third day time trials
  • The third day of time trials was rained out.
• Sunday May 22 - Fourth day time trials
  • Jim Hurtubise nearly broke the elusive and much-anticipated 150 mph barrier. Hurtubise's four-lap qualifying average of 146.529 mph featured a new one-lap record of 149.601 mph (on lap 3), to establish himself as the fastest qualifier in the field.

Classification

Pos	Grid	No	Nat	Driver	Constructor	Qual	Rank	Laps	Led	Time/Retired	Points
1	2	4		Jim Rathmann	Watson-Offenhauser	146.37	4	200	100	3:36:11.36	8
2	3	1		Rodger Ward	Watson-Offenhauser	145.56	5	200	58	+ 0:12.75	6
3	26	99		Paul Goldsmith	Epperly-Offenhauser	142.78	27	200	0	+ 3:07.30	4
4	8	7		Don Branson	Phillips-Offenhauser	144.75	11	200	0	+ 3:07.98	3
5	17	3		Johnny Thomson	Lesovsky-Offenhauser	146.44	3	200	10	+ 3:11.35	2
6	7	22		Eddie Johnson	Trevis-Offenhauser	145	10	200	0	+ 4:10.61	1
7	12	98		Lloyd Ruby	Watson-Offenhauser	144.2	15	200	0	+ 4:25.59
8	25	44		Bob Veith	Meskowski-Offenhauser	143.36	23	200	0	+ 5:17.48
9	28	18		Bud Tingelstad	Trevis-Offenhauser	142.35	29	200	0	+ 8:19.91
10	14	38		Bob Christie	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	143.63	19	200	0	+ 8:40.28
11	22	27		Red Amick	Epperly-Offenhauser	143.08	26	200	0	+ 11:10.58
12	27	17		Duane Carter	Kuzma-Offenhauser	142.63	28	200	0	+ 11:17.20
13	31	39		Bill Homeier	Kuzma-Offenhauser	141.24	32	200	0	+ 12:10.71
14	24	48		Gene Hartley	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	143.89	16	196	0	+ 4 Laps
15	9	65		Chuck Stevenson	Watson-Offenhauser	144.66	12	196	0	+ 4 Laps
16	21	14		Bobby Grim	Meskowski-Offenhauser	143.15	25	194	0	+ 6 Laps
17	19	26		Shorty Templeman	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	143.85	17	191	0	Clutch
18	23	56		Jim Hurtubise	Christensen-Offenhauser	149.05	1	185	0	Engine
19	10	10		Jimmy Bryan	Epperly-Offenhauser	144.53	13	152	0	Fuel System
20	6	28		Troy Ruttman	Watson-Offenhauser	145.36	8	134	11	Axle
21	1	6		Eddie Sachs	Ewing-Offenhauser	146.59	2	132	21	Magneto
22	11	73		Don Freeland	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	144.35	14	129	0	Magneto
23	18	2		Tony Bettenhausen	Watson-Offenhauser	145.21	9	125	0	Engine
24	15	32		Wayne Weiler	Epperly-Offenhauser	143.51	20	103	0	Accident
25	16	5		A.J. Foyt	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	143.46	22	90	0	Clutch
26	29	46		Eddie Russo	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	142.2	30	90	0	Accident
27	13	8		Johnny Boyd	Epperly-Offenhauser	143.77	18	77	0	Engine
28	20	37		Gene Force	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	143.47	21	74	0	Brakes
29	32	16		Jim McWithey	Epperly-Offenhauser	140.37	33	60	0	Brakes
30	5	9		Len Sutton	Watson-Offenhauser	145.44	7	47	0	Engine
31	4	97		Dick Rathmann	Watson-Offenhauser	145.54	6	42	0	Brakes
32	30	76		Al Herman	Ewing-Offenhauser	141.83	31	34	0	Clutch
33	33	23		Dempsey Wilson	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	143.21	24	11	0	Magneto

Race notes

• Fastest Lead Lap: Jim Rathmann 1:01.59
• The 1960 Indianapolis 500 was the final 500 which featured a 33-car field consisting of all front engined cars.
• Despite some published claims that it was Smokey Yunick, the race-winning chief mechanic was for Rathmann was Chickie Hirashima.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Bruce McLaren 14 2 Stirling Moss 8 31 3 Jim Rathmann 8 1 4 Cliff Allison 6 29 5 Rodger Ward 6

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Cooper-Climax 14 2 Ferrari 10 3 Lotus-Climax 9 4 Cooper-Maserati 3 5 BRM 2

• Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Also, points scored in the 500 did not count towards the F1 constructors championship.

Gallery

• 

  1960 winning car

Notes

References

Works cited

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