1963 Indianapolis 500

47th Indianapolis 500

Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Indianapolis 500
Sanctioning body	USAC
Season	1963 USAC season
Date	May 30, 1963
Winner	Parnelli Jones
Winning team	J. C. Agajanian
Average speed	143.137 mph (230.357 km/h)
Pole position	Parnelli Jones
Pole speed	151.153 mph (243.257 km/h)
Fastest qualifier	Parnelli Jones
Rookie of the Year	Jim Clark
Most laps led	Parnelli Jones (167)
Pre-race ceremonies
National anthem	Purdue Band
Back Home Again in Indiana	Brian Sullivan
Starting Command	Tony Hulman
Pace car	Chrysler 300
Pace car driver	Sam Hanks
Honorary starter	N/A
Attendance	250,000 (estimated)
TV in the United States
Network	N/A
Announcers	N/A
Nielsen Ratings	N/A / N/A
Chronology
Previous	Next
1962	1964

The 47th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Thursday, May 30, 1963.

Parnelli Jones wins despite his car (nicknamed "Calhoun") spewing oil from a broken tank for many laps. Officials put off black-flagging him until the oil level drops and the trail stops. Colin Chapman, whose English built, rear-engined Lotus Ford finishes second in the hands of Scotsman Jim Clark, accuses the officials of being biased towards the American driver and car.

Time trials

Time trials was scheduled for four days.

• Saturday May 18 - Pole Day time trials
• Sunday May 19 - Second day time trials
• Saturday May 25 - Third day time trials
• Sunday May 26 - Fourth day time trials

Box score

Finish	Start	No	Name	Qual	Rank	Laps	Led	Status
1	1	98	Parnelli Jones	151.153	1	200	167	Running
2	5	92	Jim Clark	149.750	7	200	28	Running
3	8	2	A.J. Foyt	150.615	2	200	0	Running
4	4	1	Rodger Ward	149.800	6	200	0	Running
5	3	4	Don Branson	150.188	4	200	0	Running
6	6	8	Jim McElreath	149.744	8	200	0	Running
7	12	93	Dan Gurney	149.019	17	200	0	Running
8	11	10	Chuck Hulse	149.340	13	200	0	Running
9	31	84	Al Miller II	149.613	9	200	0	Running
10	17	22	Dick Rathmann	149.130	14	200	0	Running
11	30	29	Dempsey Wilson	147.832	33	200	0	Running
12	33	17	Troy Ruttman	148.374	24	200	0	Running
13	18	65	Bob Christie	149.123	15	200	0	Running
14	32	32	Ebb Rose	148.545	21	200	0	Running
15	14	14	Roger McCluskey	148.680	20	198	4	Spun T3
16	7	5	Bobby Marshman	149.458	11	196	0	Rear End
17	10	9	Eddie Sachs	149.570	10	181	0	Crash T3
18	9	99	Paul Goldsmith	150.163	5	149	0	Crankshaft
19	19	52	Lloyd Ruby	149.123	16	126	0	Crash T4
20	21	88	Eddie Johnson	148.509	22	112	0	Crash BS
21	22	45	Chuck Stevenson	148.386	23	110	0	Valve
22	2	56	Jim Hurtubise	150.257	3	102	1	Oil Leak
23	15	83	Duane Carter	148.002	30	100	0	Rod
24	29	16	Jim Rathmann	147.838	32	99	0	Magneto
25	20	26	Bobby Grim	148.717	19	79	0	Oil Leak
26	24	86	Bob Veith	148.289	26	74	0	Valve
27	13	35	Allen Crowe	148.877	18	47	0	Crash T1
28	25	54	Bud Tingelstad	148.227	27	46	0	Crash T2
29	26	37	Johnny Rutherford	148.063	28	43	0	Transmission
30	28	21	Elmer George	147.893	31	21	0	Handling
31	23	75	Art Malone	148.343	25	18	0	Clutch
32	27	23	Johnny Boyd	148.038	29	12	0	Oil Leak
33	16	6	Bobby Unser	149.421	12	2	0	Crash T1

Race notes

• NASCAR driver Junior Johnson practiced, but did not qualify.

Gallery

• 

  1963 winning car

• 

  Jim Clark's 1963 Lotus 29

Notes

References

Works cited

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