1954 Indianapolis 500

38th Indianapolis 500

Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Indianapolis 500
Sanctioning body	AAA / World Championship
Date	May 31, 1954
Winner	Bill Vukovich
Winning Entrant	Howard B. Keck
Average speed	130.840 mph (210.567 km/h)
Pole position	Jack McGrath
Pole speed	141.033 mph (226.971 km/h)
Most laps led	Bill Vukovich (90)
Pre-race
Pace car	Dodge Royal 500
Pace car driver	W. C. Newberg
Chronology
Previous Next 1953 1955

The 38th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Monday, May 31, 1954. The event was part of the 1954 AAA National Championship Trail, and was included in the 1954 World Drivers Championship.

Bill Vukovich won his second consecutive 500. Vukovich died the following year attempting to win his third consecutive Indy 500. The race reportedly went 110 laps before the first yellow light.^[1]

Time trials

Time trials was scheduled for four days.

• Saturday May 15 – Pole Day time trials
• Sunday May 16 – Second day time trials
• Saturday May 22 – Third day time trials
• Sunday May 23 – Fourth day time trials

Classification

Pos	Grid	No	Driver	Constructor	Qual	Rank	Laps	Led	Time/Retired	Points
1	19	14	Bill Vukovich (W)	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	138.470	14	200	90	3:49:17.27	8
2	3	9	Jimmy Bryan	Kuzma-Offenhauser	139.660	5	200	46	+ 1:09.95	6
3	1	2	Jack McGrath	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	141.030	1	200	47	+ 1:19.73	5
4	11	34	Troy Ruttman (W) (Relieved by Duane Carter)	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	137.730	31	200	0	+ 2:52.68	1.5 1.5
5	14	73	Mike Nazaruk	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	139.580	6	200	0	+ 3:24.55	2
6	24	77	Fred Agabashian	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	137.740	30	200	0	+ 3:47.55
7	6	7	Don Freeland	Phillips-Offenhauser	138.330	16	200	0	+ 4:13.35
8	32	5	Paul Russo (Relieved by Jerry Hoyt)	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	137.670	32	200	0	+ 5:01.17
9	25	28	Larry Crockett (R)	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	139.550	8	200	0	+ 7:07.24
10	13	24	Cal Niday	Stevens-Offenhauser	139.820	3	200	0	+ 7:07.69
11	27	45	Art Cross (Relieved by Johnnie Parsons) (Relieved by Sam Hanks) (Relieved by Andy Linden) (Relieved by Jimmy Davies)	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	138.670	13	200	8	+ 8:22.19
12	5	98	Chuck Stevenson (Relieved by Walt Faulkner)	Kuzma-Offenhauser	138.770	12	199	0	+ 1 Lap
13	22	88	Manny Ayulo	Kuzma-Offenhauser	138.160	22	197	0	+ 3 Laps
14	9	17	Bob Sweikert	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	138.200	21	197	0	+ 3 Laps
15	8	16	Duane Carter (Relieved by Marshall Teague) (Relieved by Jimmy Jackson) (Relieved by Tony Bettenhausen)	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	138.230	19	196	0	+ 4 Laps
16	20	32	Ernie McCoy	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	138.410	15	194	0	+ 6 Laps
17	7	25	Jimmy Reece	Pankratz-Offenhauser	138.310	17	194	0	+ 6 Laps
18	31	27	Ed Elisian (R) (Relieved by Bob Scott)	Stevens-Offenhauser	137.790	29	193	0	+ 7 Laps
19	33	71	Frank Armi (R) (Relieved by George Fonder)	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	137.670	33	193	0	+ 7 Laps
20	10	1	Sam Hanks (Relieved by Jimmy Davies) (Relieved by Jim Rathmann)	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	137.990	25	191	1	Spun Off
21	12	35	Pat O'Connor (R)	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	138.080	23	181	0	Spun Off
22	16	12	Rodger Ward (Relieved by Eddie Johnson)	Pawl-Offenhauser	139.920	2	172	0	Retirement
23	17	31	Gene Hartley (Relieved by Marshall Teague)	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	139.060	10	168	0	Clutch
24	4	43	Johnny Thomson (Relieved by Andy Linden) (Relieved by Jimmy Daywalt)	Nichels-Offenhauser	138.780	11	165	0	Retirement
25	23	74	Andy Linden (Relieved by Bob Scott)	Schroeder-Offenhauser	137.820	27	165	0	Suspension
26	30	99	Jerry Hoyt	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	137.820	28	130	0	Engine
27	2	19	Jimmy Daywalt	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	139.780	4	111	8	Accident
28	28	38	Jim Rathmann (Relieved by Pat Flaherty)	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	138.220	20	110	0	Accident
29	21	10	Tony Bettenhausen	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	138.270	18	105	0	Wheel Bearing
30	29	65	Spider Webb (Relieved by Danny Kladis)	Bromme-Offenhauser	137.970	26	104	0	Fuel pump
31	26	33	Len Duncan (R) (Relieved by George Fonder)	Schroeder-Offenhauser	139.210	9	101	0	Brakes
32	15	15	Johnnie Parsons (W)	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	139.570	7	79	0	Engine
33	18	51	Bill Homeier (R)	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	138.000	24	74	0	Accident

Alternates

• First alternate: Eddie Johnson (#26)^[2] — Johnson drove relief during the race

Notes

• Pole position: Jack McGrath – 4:15.26 (4 laps)
• Fastest Lead Lap: Jack McGrath – 1:04.04
• Relief drivers:
  • Troy Ruttman (130 laps) & Duane Carter (70) shared car no 34. Shared points for 4th position.
  • Paul Russo (150) & Jerry Hoyt (50) shared car no 5.
  • Art Cross (120), Jimmie Davies (30), Johnnie Parsons (22), Andy Linden (17) & Sam Hanks (11) shared car no 45.
  • Chuck Stevenson (82), Walt Faulkner (117) shared car no 98.
  • Duane Carter (76), Jimmy Jackson (57), Tony Bettenhausen (34) & Marshall Teague (29) shared car no 16.
  • Ed Elisian (148) & Bob Scott (45) shared car no 27.
  • Frank Armi (179) & George Fonder (14) shared car no 71.
  • Sam Hanks (112), Jimmie Davies (36) & Jim Rathmann (43) shared car no 1.
  • Rodger Ward (105) & Eddie Johnson (67) shared car no 12.
  • Gene Hartley (151) & Marshall Teague (17) shared car no 31.
  • Andy Linden (113) & Bob Scott (52) shared car no 74.
  • Johnny Thomson (113), Andy Linden (27) & Jimmy Daywalt (25) shared car no 43.
  • Jim Rathmann (95) & Pat Flaherty (15) shared car no 38.
  • Spider Webb (54) & Danny Kladis (50) shared car no 65.
  • Len Duncan (43) & George Fonder (58) shared car no 33.

Broadcasting

Radio

The race was carried live flag-to-flag on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network. It was the second time the race was carried in its entirety. The broadcast was anchored by Sid Collins, his third as chief announcer, and seventh year overall with the crew. Charlie Brockman served as booth analyst and statistician, and also reported from victory lane.^[1]

Of note, the network expanded its coverage to include four qualifying wrap-up shows during time trials weekends.

The network expanded to include four qualifying wrap-up shows, and the number of affiliate stations increased to 210. All five major radio stations in Indianapolis carried the broadcast. The 1954 broadcast is notable in that it featured for the first time the famous phrase "Stayed tuned for the Greatest Spectacle in Racing." Due to the increased number of affiliates at the time, the network needed a scripted "out-cue" to alert producers when to manually insert local commercials. A young WIBC marketing staff member named Alice Greene (née Bunger) is credited with inventing the phrase, and chief announcer Sid Collins coined it on-air. It has been used ever since, with all of the chief announcers proudly reciting it during their respective tenures.

Drivers' Championship standings after the race

	Pos	Driver	Points
	1	Juan Manuel Fangio	8
16	2	Bill Vukovich	8
1	3	Nino Farina	6
14	4	Jimmy Bryan	6
2	5	José Froilán González	5

• Note: Only the top five positions are included.

Gallery

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1954 Indianapolis 500.

• 

  1954 winning car

Notes

References

Works cited

• Indianapolis 500 History: Race & All-Time Stats – Official Site
• 1954 Indianapolis 500 at RacingReference.info (Relief driver statistics)