1953 Indianapolis 500

The 37th International 500 Mile Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday, May 30, 1953. The event was part of the 1953 AAA National Championship Trail, and was included in the World Drivers Championship.
Bill Vukovich, after falling just short a year before, earned the first of two consecutive Indy 500 victories. He had led 150 laps in 1952, but a steering failure put him into the wall with nine laps remaining. This year, he led 195 of the 200 laps, and had a four-lap lead at the end. But under Indianapolis rules at the time, drivers still on the track were not flagged off until more than 10 minutes after the winner crossed the line.
With the ambient temperature in the high 90s°F (>35°C), and the track temperature exceeding 130°F (54°C), this race is often known as the "Hottest 500." Due to the extreme heat conditions, several drivers in the field required relief drivers, and some relief drivers even required additional relief. However Vukovich, as well as second-place finisher Art Cross and the fifth, sixth and eighth place finishers ran the full 500 miles solo. But driver Carl Scarborough dropped out the race, and later died at the infield hospital due to heat stroke. Scarborough was only the second fatality at a World Championship event.
 
==Background==
==Entry list==
The full entry list for the is outlined below:(All drivers and cars from the United States of America unless stated otherwise)
No.	Driver 	Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Model 	Tyre
2 	Jim Rathmann 	 	 	KK500A 	Offy 	4.2 I4 	
3 	Sam Hanks 	 	 	KK500A 	Offy 	4.2 I4 	
4 	Duane Carter 	 	 	 	Offy 	4.2 I4 	
5 	Jack McGrath 	 	 	KK500A 	Offy 	4.2 I4 	
7 	Paul Russo 	 	 	KK500A 	Offy 	4.2 I4 	
8 	Jimmy Bryan 	 	 	 	Offy 	4.2 I4 	
9 	Duke Nalon 	 	 	KK500A 	Novi 	2.75 V8s	
12 	Ernie McCoy 	 	 	 	Offy 	4.2 I4 	
14 	Bill Vukovich 	 	 	KK500A 	Offy 	4.2 I4 	
16 	Art Cross 	 	 	KK500A 	Offy 	4.2 I4 	
21 	Johnnie Parsons 	 	 	KK500A 	Offy 	4.2 I4 	
22 	Marshall Teague 	 	 	KK500A 	Offy 	4.2 I4 	
23 	Walt Faulkner 	 	 	KK500A 	Offy 	4.2 I4 	
29 	Bob Scott 	 	 	 	Offy 	4.2 I4 	
32 	Andy Linden 	 	 	 	Offy 	4.2 I4 	
38 	Don Freeland 	 	 	 	Offy 	4.2 I4 	
41 	Gene Hartley 	 	 	KK500A 	Offy 	4.2 I4 	
48 	Jimmy Daywalt 	 	 	KK500A 	Offy 	4.2 I4 	
49 	Bill Holland 	 	 	KK500A 	Offy 	4.2 I4 	
51 	Bob Sweikert 	 	 	 	Offy 	4.2 I4 	
53 	Jimmy Davies 	 	 	KK500A 	Offy 	4.2 I4 	
55 	Jerry Hoyt 	 	 	KK500A 	Offy 	4.2 I4 	
56 	Johnny Thomson 	 	 	 	Offy 	4.2 I4 	
59 	Fred Agabashian 	 	 	KK500A 	Offy 	4.2 I4 	
62 	Spider Webb 	 	 	KK500A 	Offy 	4.2 I4 	
73 	Carl Scarborough 	 	 	KK500A 	Offy 	4.2 I4 	
77 	Pat Flaherty 	 	 	 	Offy 	4.2 I4 	
83 	Mike Nazaruk 	 	 	 	Offy 	4.2 I4 	
88 	Manny Ayulo 	 	 	 	Offy 	4.2 I4 	
92 	Rodger Ward 	 	 	KK500A 	Offy 	4.2 I4 	
97 	Chuck Stevenson 	 	 	 	Offy 	4.2 I4 	
98 	Tony Bettenhausen	 	 	 	Offy 	4.2 I4 	
99 	Cal Niday 	 	 	KK500A 	Offy 	4.2 I4 	
* - "s" designates supercharged engine
==Practice Overview==
Practice officially opened on Monday, May 11. On Friday May 15, driver Chet Miller, the fastest qualifier of the 1952 race, lost control of his in turn one. The back end of the car swung around, and then went backwards into the wall. Miller died of a basal skull fracture, and became the first person ever killed at a World Championship event.
==Qualifying==
===Day One===
Day one, Saturday May 16, was completely washed out by rain.
===Day Two===
Sunday May 17 also saw a day influenced by weather, as only seven cars qualified. Fastest was Bill Vukovich, who put together a four lap average of 138.39 mph. This speed would hold up as the fastest recorded in qualifying. The other six drivers to qualify were locked into the top seven spots for the race, due to the rules of the event at the time. But based on time alone, they would have qualified 4th, 13th, 15th, 19th, 20th and 24th.
===Day Three===
Saturday, May 23 was the busiest day of qualifying, when 17 drivers found their way into the field, including the third and the fifth through tenth fastest.
===Day Four===
Sunday, May 24 was "bump day". Nine drivers qualified to fill out the field. Then bumping started, where the slowest driver in the field could be dropped from the grid by a faster qualifier, but that faster qualifier would be slotted behind the remnants of the 'first 33' qualifiers. Six of the first 33 were ultimately bumped, and one of those 'bumpers', Bill Holland, would set the second fastest time of qualifying at 137.87 mph. But by the rules he started the race 28th.
===Results===
Pos	No.	Driver 	Constructor	Time 	Gap 	
1 	14 	Bill Vukovich 	 	4:20.13	— 	138.39
2 	59 	Fred Agabashian 	 	4:21.73	+1.60	137.55
3 	5 	Jack McGrath 	 	4:23.54	+3.41	136.60
4 	88 	Manny Ayulo 	 	4:23.96	+3.83	136.38
5 	32 	Andy Linden 	 	4:24.59	+4.46	136.06
6 	98 	Tony Bettenhausen	 	4:24.66	+4.53	136.02
7 	55 	Jerry Hoyt 	 	4:25.23	+5.10	135.73
8 	21 	Johnnie Parsons 	 	4:21.50	+1.37	137.67
9 	3 	Sam Hanks 	 	4:21.76	+1.63	137.53
10 	92 	Rodger Ward 	 	4:21.88	+1.75	137.47
11 	28 	Bob Scott 	 	4:21.95	+1.82	137.43
12 	16 	Art Cross 	 	4:22.18	+2.05	137.31
13 	41 	Gene Hartley 	 	4:22.27	+2.14	137.26
14 	23 	Walt Faulkner 	 	4:22.55	+2.42	137.12
15 	38 	Don Freeland 	 	4:23.03	+2.90	136.87
16 	97 	Chuck Stevenson 	 	4:23.62	+3.49	136.56
17 	7 	Paul Russo 	 	4:24.28	+4.15	136.22
18 	62 	Spider Webb 	 	4:24.38	+4.25	136.17
19 	73 	Carl Scarborough 	 	4:24.83	+4.70	135.94
20 	12 	Ernie McCoy 	 	4:24.85	+4.72	135.93
21 	48 	Jimmy Daywalt 	 	4:25.20	+5.07	135.75
22 	22 	Marshall Teague 	 	4:25.25	+5.12	135.72
23 	83 	Mike Nazaruk 	 	4:25.28	+5.15	135.71
24 	77 	Pat Flaherty 	 	4:25.35	+5.22	135.67
25 	2 	Jim Rathmann 	 	4:25.36	+5.23	135.67
26 	9 	Duke Nalon 	 	4:25.76	+5.63	135.67
27 	4 	Duane Carter 	 	4:26.14	+6.01	135.67
28 	49 	Bill Holland 	 	4:21.12	+0.99	137.87
29 	51 	Bob Sweikert 	 	4:23.02	+2.89	136.87
30 	99 	Cal Niday 	 	4:24.52	+4.39	136.10
31 	8 	Jimmy Bryan 	 	4:25.67	+5.54	135.61
32 	53 	Jimmy Davies 	 	4:26.07	+5.94	135.30
33 	56 	Johnny Thomson 	 	4:26.15	+6.02	135.26
===Grid===
==Race==
===Results===
Drivers in italics were relief drivers.
Pos.	No.	Driver 	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Pts
1 	14 	Bill Vukovich 	 	200 	3:53:01.69 	1 	9
2 	16 	Art Cross 	 	200 	+3:30.87 	12 	6
3 	3 	Sam Hanks Duane Carter 	 	200 	+4:11.50 	9 	22
4 	59 	Fred Agabashian Paul Russo 	 	200 	+4:39.24 	2 	1.51.5
5 	5 	Jack McGrath 	 	200 	+7:49.64 	3 	2
6 	48 	Jimmy Daywalt 	 	200 	+8:10.21 	21 	
7 	2 	Jim Rathmann Paul Russo 	 	200 	+8:46.02 	25 	
8 	12 	Ernie McCoy 	 	200 	+10:04.55 	20 	
9 	98 	Tony Bettenhausen Chuck Stevenson Gene Hartley	 	196 	Accident 	6 	
10 	53 	Jimmy Davies 	 	193 	+7 Laps 	32 	
11 	9 	Duke Nalon 	 	191 	Accident 	26 	
12 	73 	Carl Scarborough Bob Scott 	 	190 	+10 Laps 	19 	
13 	88 	Manny Ayulo 	 	184 	Engine 	4 	
14 	8 	Jimmy Bryan 	 	183 	+17 Laps 	31 	
15 	49 	Bill Holland Jim Rathmann 	 	177 	Magneto 	28 	
16 	92 	Rodger Ward Andy Linden Duke Dinsmore 	 	177 	Axle 	10 	
17 	23 	Walt Faulkner Johnny Mantz 	 	176 	+24 Laps 	14 	
18 	22 	Marshall Teague 	 	169 	Oil Leak 	22 	
19 	62 	Spider Webb Johnny Thomson Jackie Holmes 	 	166 	Oil Leak 	18 	
20 	51 	Bob Sweikert 	 	151 	Suspension 	29 	
21 	83 	Mike Nazaruk 	 	146 	Transmission	23 	
22 	77 	Pat Flaherty 	 	115 	Accident 	24 	
23 	55 	Jerry Hoyt Chuck Stevenson Andy Linden 	 	107 	Overheating 	7 	
24 	4 	Duane Carter 	 	94 	Ignition 	27 	
25 	7 	Paul Russo 	 	89 	Magneto 	17 	
26 	21 	Johnnie Parsons 	 	86 	Engine 	8 	
27 	38 	Don Freeland 	 	76 	Accident 	15 	
28 	41 	Gene Hartley 	 	53 	Accident 	13 	
29 	97 	Chuck Stevenson 	 	42 	Fuel leak 	16 	
30 	99 	Cal Niday 	 	30 	Magneto 	30 	
31 	29 	Bob Scott 	 	14 	Oil leak 	11 	
32 	56 	Johnny Thomson 	 	6 	Ignition 	33 	
33 	32 	Andy Linden 	 	3 	Accident 	5 	
==Milestones==
==Standings after race==
Category:Grand Prix articles
Category:Indianapolis 500
Category:1953 Grands Prix
Category:Formula One races in the United States