# 1949 Indianapolis 500

The 33rd International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was an automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Monday, May 30, 1949.
After two years of failures to his teammate, Bill Holland finally won one for himself. Giving car owner Lou Moore his third consecutive Indy victory. Mauri Rose was fired by the team after the race when he again ignored orders and tried to pass Holland, only to see his car fail with 8 laps to go.
Spider Webb suffered a broken transmission the morning of the race and failed to start. Rather than utilize an alternate starter, officials awarded Webb the 33rd finishing position.
Offenhauser-powered cars locked 28 out of the 33 starting positions, and the top 19 finishing positions.

## Starting grid

| Row | Inside | Inside | Middle | Middle | Outside | Outside |
| 1 | 54 | Duke Nalon | 5 | Rex Mays | 33 | Jack McGrath |
| 2 | 7 | Bill Holland | 17 | Duane Carter | 22 | George Connor |
| 3 | 61 | Jimmy Jackson | 26 | George Lynch R | 98 | Johnny Mantz |
| 4 | 3 | Mauri Rose W | 14 | Hal Cole | 12 | Johnnie Parsons R |
| 5 | 2 | Myron Fohr R | 8 | Mack Hellings | 29 | Duke Dinsmore |
| 6 | 77 | Joie Chitwood | 57 | Jackie Holmes R | 64 | Troy Ruttman R |
| 7 | 19 | Paul Russo | 6 | Lee Wallard | 68 | Jim Rathmann R |
| 8 | 4 | Bill Sheffler | 18 | Sam Hanks | 71 | Norm Houser R |
| 9 | 38 | George Fonder R | 37 | Spider Webb | 10 | Charles Van Acker |
| 10 | 32 | Johnny McDowell R | 69 | Bayliss Levrett R | 74 | Bill Cantrell |
| 11 | 15 | Fred Agabashian | 9 | Emil Andres | 52 | Manny Ayulo R |

### Alternates

* First alternate: Ralph Pratt R (#34)

### Failed to Qualify

* Les Anderson (#74)
* Henry Banks (#35)
* Frank Beardsley R
* Randall Beinke R (#42)
* Tony Bettenhausen (#16, #46)
* Lindley Bothwell R (#66)
* Frank Brisko (#48)
* Walt Brown (#18)
* Jim Brubaker R (#79)
* Frank Burany R (#24)
* Jimmy Daywalt R (#56)
* Billy Devore
* Ted Duncan R (#72)
* Kenny Eaton R (#55)
* Milt Fankhouser (#73)
* Pat Flaherty R (#43)
* Dick Fraizer R (#59)
* Eddie Haddad R (#47)
* Mel Hansen (#44)
* Tommy Hinnershitz (#15, #18)
* Byron Horne R (#39)
* Danny Kladis (#58)
* Tommy Mattson R
* Johnny Mauro (#16)
* George Metzler R (#67) - Fatal accident
* Chet Miller (#65)
* Hal Robson (#23)
* Mike Salay (#49)
* Wally Stokes R (#75)
* Bill Taylor R (#51)
* Joel Thorne (#81)
* Louis Tomei (#42)
* Doc Williams (#65)

## Box score

| Finish | Start | No | Name | Chassis | Engine | Qual | Rank | Laps | Status |
| 1 | 4 | 7 | Bill Holland | Diedt | Offenhauser | 128.673 | 9 | 200 | 121.327 mph |
| 2 | 12 | 12 | Johnnie Parsons R | Kurtis Kraft | Offenhauser | 132.900 | 2 | 200 | +3:11.00 |
| 3 | 6 | 22 | George Connor | Lesovsky | Offenhauser | 128.228 | 13 | 200 | +3:34.81 |
| 4 | 13 | 2 | Myron Fohr R | Marchese | Offenhauser | 129.776 | 3 | 200 | +5:16.68 |
| 5 | 16 | 77 | Joie Chitwood | Kurtis Kraft | Offenhauser | 126.863 | 27 | 200 | +5:21.00 |
| 6 | 7 | 61 | Jimmy Jackson | Diedt | Offenhauser | 128.023 | 15 | 200 | +7:15.03 |
| 7 | 9 | 98 | Johnny Mantz | Kurtis Kraft | Offenhauser | 127.786 | 18 | 200 | +8:50.04 |
| 8 | 19 | 19 | Paul Russo | Slines | Offenhauser | 129.487 | 5 | 200 | +20:55.31 |
| 9 | 32 | 9 | Emil Andres (Walt Brown Laps 19–197) | Slines | Offenhauser | 126.042 | 31 | 197 | Flagged |
| 10 | 24 | 71 | Norm Houser R | Langley | Offenhauser | 127.756 | 20 | 181 | Flagged |
| 11 | 21 | 68 | Jim Rathmann R | Wetteroth | Offenhauser | 126.516 | 29 | 175 | Flagged |
| 12 | 18 | 64 | Troy Ruttman R | Wetteroth | Offenhauser | 125.945 | 32 | 151 | Flagged |
| 13 | 10 | 3 | Mauri Rose W | Diedt | Offenhauser | 127.759 | 19 | 192 | Magneto strap |
| 14 | 5 | 17 | Duane Carter | Stevens | Offenhauser | 128.233 | 12 | 182 | Spun T3 |
| 15 | 15 | 29 | Duke Dinsmore | Olson | Offenhauser | 127.750 | 21 | 174 | Radius rod |
| 16 | 14 | 8 | Mack Hellings | Kurtis Kraft | Offenhauser | 128.260 | 11 | 172 | Valve |
| 17 | 22 | 4 | Bill Sheffler | Bromme | Offenhauser | 128.521 | 10 | 160 | Rod |
| 18 | 28 | 32 | Johnny McDowell R | Meyer | Offenhauser | 126.139 | 30 | 142 | Magneto |
| 19 | 11 | 14 | Hal Cole | Kurtis Kraft | Offenhauser | 127.168 | 24 | 117 | Rod bearing |
| 20 | 25 | 38 | George Fonder R (Mel Hansen Laps 68–116) | Adams | Sparks | 127.289 | 22 | 116 | Valve |
| 21 | 30 | 74 | Bill Cantrell | Kurtis Kraft | Offenhauser | 127.191 | 23 | 95 | Drive shaft |
| 22 | 17 | 57 | Jackie Holmes R | Kurtis Kraft | Offenhauser | 128.087 | 14 | 65 | Drive shaft |
| 23 | 20 | 6 | Lee Wallard | Maserati | Maserati | 128.912 | 7 | 55 | Gears |
| 24 | 29 | 69 | Bayliss Levrett R | Kurtis Kraft | Offenhauser | 129.236 | 6 | 52 | Drain plug |
| 25 | 2 | 5 | Rex Mays | Kurtis Kraft | Novi | 129.552 | 4 | 48 | Engine |
| 26 | 3 | 33 | Jack McGrath | Kurtis Kraft | Offenhauser | 128.884 | 8 | 39 | Oil pump |
| 27 | 31 | 15 | Fred Agabashian | Maserati | Maserati | 127.007 | 25 | 38 | Overheating |
| 28 | 33 | 52 | Manny Ayulo R | Bromme | Offenhauser | 125.799 | 33 | 24 | Rod |
| 29 | 1 | 54 | Duke Nalon | Kurtis Kraft | Novi | 132.939 | 1 | 23 | Crash T3 |
| 30 | 23 | 18 | Sam Hanks | Kurtis Kraft | Offenhauser | 127.809 | 17 | 20 | Oil leak |
| 31 | 27 | 10 | Charles Van Acker | Stevens | Offenhauser | 126.524 | 28 | 10 | Crash T4 |
| 32 | 8 | 26 | George Lynch R | Rassey | Offenhauser | 127.823 | 16 | 1 | Crash T1 |
| 33 | 26 | 37 | Spider Webb | Bromme | Offenhauser | 127.002 | 26 | 0 | Transmission |
Note: Relief drivers in parentheses
W Former Indianapolis 500 winner
R Indianapolis 500 Rookie
All entrants utilized Firestone tires.

### Race statistics

Lap Leaders :
| Laps | Leader |
| 1–23 | Duke Nalon |
| 24–35 | Rex Mays |
| 36–54 | Lee Wallard |
| 55–200 | Bill Holland |
Total laps led :
| Driver | Laps |
| Bill Holland | 146 |
| Duke Nalon | 23 |
| Lee Wallard | 19 |
| Rex Mays | 12 |
Yellow Lights: 8 minutes, 30 seconds :
| Laps* | Reason |
| 2 | George Lynch crash in turn 1 (<1 minute) |
| 12–13 | Charles Van Acker crash in turn 4 (1:35) |
| 24–27 | Duke Nalon crash in turn 3 (6:00) |
| * – Approximate lap counts ||

## Broadcasting
### Radio

The race was carried live on the Mutual Broadcasting System, the precursor to the IMS Radio Network. The broadcast was sponsored by Perfect Circle Piston Rings and Bill Slater served as the anchor. The broadcast featured live coverage of the start, the finish, and live updates throughout the race.
Mutual Broadcasting System :
| Booth Announcers | Turn Reporters | Roving reporters |
| Booth Announcer: Bill Slater Analyst: Gordon Graham | South turns: Sid Collins Backstretch: Gene Kelly North turns: Jim Shelton | Barry Lake |

### Television

The race was carried live for the first time in the history of television on WFBM-TV Channel 6 of Indianapolis. The station signed on for the first time on the morning of May 30, 1949, with a documentary about the race entitled The Crucible of Speed, then coverage of the race itself. The race broadcast used three cameras located along the front stretch. Earl Townsend, Jr. who previously worked as a radio reporter, was the first television announcer. Dick Pittenger and Paul Roberts joined Townsend along with engineer Robert Robbins. The telecast reached approximately 3,000 local households.
WFBM-TV Television :
| Play-by-play | Pit reporters |
| Announcer: Earl Townsend, Jr. Color: Dick Pittenger Color: Paul Roberts | Robert Robbins |