Season 1959 · Round 2

Indianapolis 500

← R1 1959 Season R3 →
1959-05-30 · Indianapolis Motor Speedway · USA · Indianapolis 500 · 200Lap · 804.672km
1 Rodger Ward
Watson 3:40:49.200
Team win 14pt P1 · P2 · P19 · P20 1-2
16 Jim Rathmann
Watson +23.280
3 Johnny Thomson
Lesovsky +50.640
Fastest Lap
—
DNF
17
Eddie Sachs L182 Al Keller L163 Pat Flaherty L162 Dick Rathmann L150 Bill Cheesbourg L147 Don Freeland L136 Ray Crawford L115 Don Branson L112 Bob Christie L109 Bobby Grim L85 +7
Tyre usage Race Control
Storylines · This Grand Prix & circuit
Pole-to-win rate 5/19 26.3%
Most DNFs · all-time P1
Closest finish · all-time P2
Most lead changes · all-time P25
Circuit Info
Indianapolis Motor Speedway Indianapolis, USA
200Lap 804.672km 19 races held (1950–) Lap record 1:10.399 · Rubens Barrichello (2004)
Records Watch · Active drivers ranked at this Grand Prix
Wins
P2 Pat Flaherty 1 wins · → Bill Vukovich -1
P2 Jim Rathmann 1 wins · → Bill Vukovich -1
P2 Rodger Ward 1 wins · → Bill Vukovich -1
Pole Position
P1 Pat Flaherty 1 · GP #1
P1 Dick Rathmann 1 · GP #1
P1 Johnny Thomson 1 · GP #1
Podiums
P1 Jim Rathmann 4 · GP #1
P3 Jimmy Bryan 3 · → Jim Rathmann -1
P4 Rodger Ward 2 · → Jimmy Bryan -1
Starts
P1 Tony Bettenhausen 11 starts · GP #1
P2 Jim Rathmann 10 starts · → Tony Bettenhausen -1
P2 Rodger Ward 10 starts · → Tony Bettenhausen -1
Grid → Finish · places gained and lost
GRID FINISH 25 50 75 100 125 150 175 L200 Ward · P6 → P1 · +5 6 Ward WAR 1 Ward WAR Rathmann · P3 → P2 · +1 3 Rathmann RAT 2 Rathmann RAT Thomson · P1 → P3 · -2 1 Thomson THO 3 Thomson THO Bettenhausen · P15 → P4 · +11 15 Bettenhausen BET 4 Bettenhausen BET Goldsmith · P16 → P5 · +11 16 Goldsmith GOL 5 Goldsmith GOL Boyd · P11 → P6 · +5 11 Boyd BOY 6 Boyd BOY Carter · P12 → P7 · +5 12 Carter CAR 7 Carter CAR Johnson · P8 → P8 8 Johnson JOH 8 Johnson JOH Russo · P27 → P9 · +18 27 Russo RUS 9 Russo RUS Foyt · P17 → P10 · +7 17 Foyt FOY 10 Foyt FOY Hartley · P9 → P11 · -2 9 Hartley HAR 11 Hartley HAR Veith · P7 → P12 · -5 7 Veith VEI 12 Veith VEI Herman · P23 → P13 · +10 23 Herman HER 13 Herman HER Daywalt · P13 → P14 · -1 13 Daywalt DAY 14 Daywalt DAY Arnold · P21 → P15 · +6 21 Arnold ARN 15 Arnold ARN McWithey · P33 → P16 · +17 33 McWithey MCW 16 McWithey MCW Sachs · P2 → retired L182 Sachs · retired L182 2 Sachs SAC R Sachs SAC Keller · P28 → retired L163 Keller · retired L163 28 Keller KEL R Keller KEL Flaherty · P18 → retired L162 Flaherty · retired L162 18 Flaherty FLA R Flaherty FLA Rathmann · P4 → retired L150 Rathmann · retired L150 4 Rathmann RAT R Rathmann RAT Cheesbourg · P30 → retired L147 Cheesbourg · retired L147 30 Cheesbourg CHE R Cheesbourg CHE Freeland · P25 → retired L136 Freeland · retired L136 25 Freeland FRE R Freeland FRE Crawford · P32 → retired L115 Crawford · retired L115 32 Crawford CRA R Crawford CRA Branson · P10 → retired L112 Branson · retired L112 10 Branson BRA R Branson BRA Christie · P24 → retired L109 Christie · retired L109 24 Christie CHR R Christie CHR Grim · P5 → retired L85 Grim · retired L85 5 Grim GRI R Grim GRI Turner · P14 → retired L47 Turner · retired L47 14 Turner TUR R Turner TUR Weyant · P29 → retired L45 Weyant · retired L45 29 Weyant WEY R Weyant WEY Larson · P19 → retired L45 Larson · retired L45 19 Larson LAR R Larson LAR Magill · P31 → retired L45 Magill · retired L45 31 Magill MAG R Magill MAG Amick · P26 → retired L45 Amick · retired L45 26 Amick AMI R Amick AMI Sutton · P22 → retired L34 Sutton · retired L34 22 Sutton SUT R Sutton SUT Bryan · P20 → retired L1 Bryan · retired L1 20 Bryan BRY R Bryan BRY
retired horizontal axis = laps completed · line thickness = places gained or lost
PosDriverTeamGridLapTime / StatusPoints
1 1 Rodger Ward Watson 6 200 3:40:49.200 8
2 16 Jim Rathmann Watson 3 200 +23.280 6
3 3 Johnny Thomson Lesovsky 1 200 +50.640 5
4 1 Tony Bettenhausen Epperly 15 200 +1:47.090 3
5 99 Paul Goldsmith Epperly 16 200 +2:06.440 2
6 33 Johnny Boyd Epperly 11 200 +3:16.980
7 37 Duane Carter Kurtis Kraft 12 200 +4:09.920
8 19 Eddie Johnson Kurtis Kraft 8 200 +4:10.530
9 45 Paul Russo Kurtis Kraft 27 200 +4:11.040
10 10 Anthony Foyt Kuzma 17 200 +4:14.480
11 88 Gene Hartley Kuzma 9 200 +5:42.480
12 74 Bob Veith Moore 7 200 +6:09.730
13 89 Al Herman Dunn 23 200 +6:40.400
14 66 Jimmy Daywalt Kurtis Kraft 13 200 +6:41.540
15 71 Chuck Arnold Kurtis Kraft 21 200 +8:19.860
16 58 Jim McWithey Kurtis Kraft 33 200 +11:41.690
R 44 Eddie Sachs Kuzma 2 182 Spun off
R 57 Al Keller Kuzma 28 163 Engine
R 64 Pat Flaherty Watson 18 162 Accident
R 73 Dick Rathmann Watson 4 150 Heat shield fire
R 53 Bill Cheesbourg Kuzma 30 147 Magneto
R 15 Don Freeland Kurtis Kraft 25 136 Magneto
R 49 Ray Crawford Elder 32 115 Accident
R 9 Don Branson Phillips 10 112 Suspension
R 65 Bob Christie Kurtis Kraft 24 109 Engine
R 48 Bobby Grim Kurtis Kraft 5 85 Magneto
R 24 Jack Turner Christensen 14 47 Fuel leak
R 47 Chuck Weyant Kurtis Kraft 29 45 Accident
R 7 Jud Larson Kurtis Kraft 19 45 Accident
R 77 Mike Magill Sutton 31 45 Accident
R 87 Red Amick Kurtis Kraft 26 45 Accident
R 8 Len Sutton Lesovsky 22 34 Accident
R 6 Jimmy Bryan Epperly 20 1 Engine
Not collected for this era — the source only covers 2003 onwards.
Starting grid
Official
1
3 Johnny Thomson
2
44 Eddie Sachs
3
16 Jim Rathmann
4
73 Dick Rathmann
5
48 Bobby Grim
6
1 Rodger Ward
7
74 Bob Veith
8
19 Eddie Johnson
9
88 Gene Hartley
10
9 Don Branson
11
33 Johnny Boyd
12
37 Duane Carter
13
66 Jimmy Daywalt
14
24 Jack Turner
15
1 Tony Bettenhausen
16
99 Paul Goldsmith
17
10 Anthony Foyt
18
64 Pat Flaherty
19
7 Jud Larson
20
6 Jimmy Bryan
21
71 Chuck Arnold
22
8 Len Sutton
23
89 Al Herman
24
65 Bob Christie
25
15 Don Freeland
26
87 Red Amick
27
45 Paul Russo
28
57 Al Keller
29
47 Chuck Weyant
30
53 Bill Cheesbourg
31
77 Mike Magill
32
49 Ray Crawford
33
58 Jim McWithey
Final grid as classified, including any pit lane starts. Source: Jolpica-F1. The arrow compares the grid slot with the qualifying classification; hover a drop to see the stewards document behind it.
No data for this session.
Not collected for this era — the source only covers 1996 onwards.
Not collected for this era — the source only covers 2012 onwards.
Not collected for this era — the source only covers 2023 onwards.
Not collected for this era — the source only covers 1996 onwards.
Not collected for this era — the source only covers 2023 onwards.
Not collected for this era — the source only covers 2019 onwards.
Record Basis · Calculation basis
Race order is the final classification(post-race penalties applied) · qualifying session data 2003+ · lap times 1996+ · pit stops 2012+ (pit-lane transit, not stationary time) · DNF = Finished(Finished·+N Laps) non-Finished statuses
Data sources: Jolpica-F1 (Ergast compatible API) · weather·Race Control OpenF1 (2023+) · Last fetched: 2026-09-05 14:15