Indianapolis 500 Firsts

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[edit] Wins

Year	First	Winner(s)	Notes
1911	Winning driver Winning owner	Ray Harroun Nordyke & Marmon
1913	Rookie winner (excluding first race) Non-American winner European winner French winner	Jules Goux
1916	Multiple-winning owner	Peugeot
1922	Winner from pole position Owner/Driver winner	Jimmy Murphy
1923	Two-time winner	Tommy Milton
1924	Co-winners	Lora L. Corum Joe Boyer	Corum starting, Boyer finishing
1924 1925	Repeat-winning owner	Duesenberg
1936	Three-time winner	Louis Meyer
1939 1940	Repeat-winner and -winning car	Wilbur Shaw	Boyle Maserati
1947	First-and-second finish by teammates	Mauri Rose Bill Holland
1947 1948 1949	Three consecutive-winning owner	Lou Moore
1965	Scottish winner and Rear-engined winning car	Jim Clark Team Lotus	Lotus powered by Ford
1977	Four-time winner	A.J. Foyt
1989	South American winner Brazilian winner	Emerson Fittipaldi
1990	Dutch winner	Arie Luyendyk
1995	Canadian winner	Jacques Villeneuve
1999	Swedish winner	Kenny Bräck
2000	Colombian winner	Juan Pablo Montoya
2001 2002	Rookie and Sophomore winner	Hélio Castroneves

• Female Driver: Janet Guthrie, 1977
• Female Leader: Danica Patrick, 2005

• Race Average: Ray Harroun, 74.602 mph / 129.060 km/h, 1911
• Race Average over 80 mph: René Thomas, 82.47 mph / 132.72 km/h, 1914
• Race Average over 90 mph: Jimmy Murphy, 94.48 mph / 152.05 km/h, 1922
• Race Average over 100 mph: Peter DePaolo, 101.127 mph / 162.748 km/h, 1925
• Race Average over 110 mph: Wilbur Shaw, 113.580 mph / 182.789 km/h, 1937
• Race Average over 120 mph: Johnnie Parsons, 124.002 mph / 199.562 km/h, 1950
• Race Average over 130 mph: Bill Vukovich, 130.840 mph / 210.567 km/h, 1954
• Race Average over 140 mph: Rodger Ward, 140.293 mph / 225.780 km/h, 1962
• Race Average over 150 mph: Jim Clark, 150.686 mph / 242.506 km/h, 1965
• Race Average over 160 mph: Mark Donohue, 162.962 mph / 262.262 km/h, 1972
• Race Average over 170 mph: Bobby Rahal, 170.722 mph / 274.750 km/h, 1986
• Race Average over 180 mph: Arie Luyendyk, 185.981 mph / 299.307 km/h, 1990

• Pole Position: Lewis Strang (first entry), 1911
• Fastest Qualifying Speed: David L. Bruce-Brown, 88.45 mph / 142.35 km/h, 1912
• Qualifying Speed over 90 mph: Georges Boillot, 99.86 mph / 160.71 km/h, 1914 (last year, to date, of starting order being drawn)
• Pole Position over 90 mph: Howdy Wilcox, 98.90 mph / 159.16 km/h, 1915
• Pole Position over 100 mph: René Thomas, 104.780 mph / 168.627 km/h, 1919
• Pole Position over 110 mph: Leon Duray, 113.196 mph / 182.171 km/h, 1925
• Pole Position over 120 mph: Frank Lockhart, 120.100 mph / 193.282 km/h, 1927
• Pole Position over 130 mph: Jimmy Snyder, 130.138 mph / 209.437 km/h, 1939
• Pole Position over 140 mph: Jack McGrath, 141.033 mph / 226.971 km/h, 1954
• Pole Position over 150 mph: Parnelli Jones, 150.370 mph / 241.997 km/h, 1962
• Pole Position over 160 mph: A.J. Foyt, 161.233 mph / 259.479 km/h, 1965
• Pole Position over 170 mph: Joe Leonard, 171.559 mph / 276.097 km/h, 1968
• Pole Position over 180 mph: Bobby Unser, 195.940 mph / 315.335 km/h, 1972
• Pole Position over 190 mph: Bobby Unser, 195.940 mph / 315.335 km/h, 1972
• Pole Position over 200 mph: Tom Sneva, 202.156 mph / 325.339 km/h, 1978
• Pole Position over 210 mph: Tom Sneva, 210.029 mph / 338.009 km/h, 1984
• Pole Position over 220 mph: Rick Mears, 223.885 mph / 360.308 km/h, 1989
• Pole Position over 230 mph: Roberto Guerrero, 232.482 mph / 374.144 km/h, 1992

• 1911: Winner Ray Harroun develops first known use of rear-view mirror on his # 32 Marmon "Wasp".

• 1913: Jules Goux is the first winner to go the full race distance without a relief driver, and is both the first French and European victor. Goux's Peugeot entry is the first to win using wire wheels instead of wooden-spoke wheels.

• 1915: Ralph DePalma is the first Italian-born victor.

• 1919: Victory by state-native Howdy Wilcox prompts crowd to sing Back Home Again in Indiana for the first time, immediately after conclusion of the race. Wilcox's Peugeot is owned and entered by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the first winning entry to be directly affiliated with the facility itself.

• 1920: Gaston Chevrolet is killed in a race at Beverly Hills and is the first '500' winner to die.

• 1921: Howdy Wilcox is the first driver to finish in first and last place (1919 & 1921).

• 1922: Jimmy Murphy is the first driver to win from pole and lead the first and last lap of the same race in 1922.

• 1923: Jimmy Murphy is the first defending winner to lead the first lap.

• 1929: Cliff Woodbury is the first pole winner to finish last (crash on lap 3).

• 1936: Louis Meyer becomes the first driver to drink milk in victory lane. He also becomes the first driver to receive the pace car for his winning effort. The Borg-Warner Trophy makes its first appearance.

• 1946: George Robson is the first English-born victor.

• 1948: The Speedway institutes its own 'Safety Patrol' to replace the Indiana National Guard as policing force for the event, which had served in such capacity since the inaugural race.

• 1949: Local station WTTV provides television coverage of the race during competition for the first time.

• 1950: Walt Faulkner becomes the first rookie to qualify for the pole position.

• 1952: Art Cross becomes the first Rookie of the Year. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network broadcasts flag-to-flag coverage of the race for the first time.

• 1958: The front row drivers (Dick Rathmann, Ed Elisian and Jimmy Reece) fail to lead a lap, the only time this has occurred to date.

• 1965: Jim Clark is the first former World Driving Champion to win the race, and first Scottish victor.

• 1966: Rookie Graham Hill, the first English-born victor, wins the race but not the Rookie of the Year award (instead awarded to teammate Jackie Stewart), the only time this has occurred to date. Jim Clark is the first driver to spin and recover twice in the same race.

• 1974: The Speedway rescinds its "never on a Sunday" policy, altering a tradition dating to 1911; the race is scheduled to be run, for the first time, on the Sunday before the national observance of Memorial Day, the last Monday of May.

• 1983: Al Unser and son Al Unser, Jr. are the first father and son to compete together in the same race.

• 1984: Michael Andretti becomes the first son of a previous Rookie of the Year award winner (Mario Andretti, 1965) to win the award himself, shared with Colombian Roberto Guerrero.

• 1986: ABC Sports televises flag-to-flag coverage of the race for the first time.

• 2002: Hélio Castroneves becomes the first rookie winner to become a multiple-race winner.

• 2005: Danica Patrick becomes the first female driver to lead the race, for a total of 19 laps.

• 2006: Marco Andretti becomes the first third-generation winner of the Rookie of the Year award (Mario Andretti, 1965; Michael Andretti, co-1984).

[edit] References

Indianapolis 500 Chronicle, John Pope, copyright 1999
2005 Indianapolis 500-Mile Race Program
2006 Indianapolis 500-Mile Race Program

Indianapolis 500-Mile Race

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