1956 Indianapolis 500

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**XL INDIANAPOLIS INTERNATIONAL MOTOR SWEEPSTAKES**
Date	Wednesday, 30 May 1956
Location	Indianapolis
Course	4.023km
Distance	200 laps, 804.680km
Weather	Warm, dry, overcast
Pole Position	Pat Flaherty, 4:07.26
Fastest Lap	Paul Russo, 1:02.32
Winner	Pat Flaherty, 3:53:28.84
2nd Place	Sam Hanks
3rd Place	Don Freeland
[edit]

The 1956 Indianapolis 500 was held on Wednesday, 30 May 1956 at Indianapolis. As with other Indy 500s of the 50s, it was counted as a round of the Formula One World Championship.

The 1956 race would be the first 500 to be governed by the United States Automobile Club as the American Automobile Association withdrew the previous August. Another change would have a more immediate effect on the current race. The track had been resurfaced with asphalt with only a small line of brinks still remaining on the main stretch. With the new surface, a new track record was expected. Pat Flaherty did not disappoint with a pole speed of 145.596mph, over 4.5mph faster than the 1954 record. 29 drivers qualified opening weekend. The second weekend saw heavy rain that completely canceled Saturday and left only a small window on Sunday for 4 drivers to fill the field. Nino Farina was one of the drivers left out when he didn’t get a chance to qualify his Bardahl-Ferrari.

The early part of the race turned into a three man duel between Russo, O’Connor, and Flaherty. Russo was the first to retire when his tyre failed and his car crashed and caught fire. At quarter distance due to yellows and the pit stops, Parsons took the lead followed by Freeland. By the 200 mile mark Flaherty took over the lead followed by Freeland, Sweikert, and Parsons but Hanks was working his way through the fields after sustaining some damage in the Russo crash, eventually taking second. Flaherty had built up such a lead that he was able to make his last pit stop and remain in front. He crossed the finish line with Hanks the only other car on the lead lap. The only real change in the top cars toward the end was both O’Connor and Jim Rathmann having to drop back with mechanical problems while both drivers were in the top 5.

[edit] Classification

Pos	Grid	No	Driver	Team	Qual	Rank	Laps	Led	Time/Retired	Points
1	1	8	Image:US flag 48 stars.svg Pat Flaherty	Watson-Offenhauser	145.59	1	200	127	3:53:28.84	8
2	13	4	Image:US flag 48 stars.svg Sam Hanks	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	142.05	21	200	0	+0:20.45	6
3	26	16	Image:US flag 48 stars.svg Don Freeland	Phillips-Offenhauser	141.69	22	200	4	+1:30.23	4
4	6	98	Image:US flag 48 stars.svg Johnnie Parsons	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	144.14	7	200	16	+3:25.69	3
5	4	73	Image:US flag 48 stars.svg Dick Rathmann	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	144.47	6	200	0	+4:21.81	2
6	10	1	Image:US flag 48 stars.svg Bob Sweikert	Kuzma-Offenhauser	143.03	12	200	0	+5:35.05
7	23	14	Image:US flag 48 stars.svg Bob Veith	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	142.53	16	200	0	+6:25.63
8	15	19	Image:US flag 48 stars.svg Rodger Ward	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	141.17	27	200	0	+6:32.31
9	21	26	Image:US flag 48 stars.svg Jimmy Reece	Lesovsky-Offenhauser	142.88	14	200	0	+6:38.31
10	30	27	Image:US flag 48 stars.svg Cliff Griffith	Stevens-Offenhauser	141.47	24	199	0	+1 Lap
11	22	82	Image:US flag 48 stars.svg Gene Hartley	Kuzma-Offenhauser	142.84	15	196	0	+4 Laps
12	7	42	Image:US flag 48 stars.svg Fred Agabashian	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	144.06	8	196	0	+4 Laps
13	25	57	Image:US flag 48 stars.svg Bob Christie	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	142.23	20	196	0	+4 Laps
14	28	55	Image:US flag 48 stars.svg Al Keller	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	141.19	26	195	0	+5 Laps
15	32	81	Image:US flag 48 stars.svg Eddie Johnson	Kuzma-Offenhauser	139.09	32	195	0	+5 Laps
16	29	41	Image:US flag 48 stars.svg Billy Garrett	Kuzma-Offenhauser	140.55	30	194	0	+6 laps
17	33	64	Image:US flag 48 stars.svg Duke Dinsmore	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	138.53	33	191	0	+9 laps
18	3	7	Image:US flag 48 stars.svg Pat O'Connor	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	144.98	4	187	39	+13 Laps
19	19	2	Image:US flag 48 stars.svg Jimmy Bryan	Kuzma-Offenhauser	143.74	9	185	0	+15 Laps
20	2	24	Image:US flag 48 stars.svg Jim Rathmann	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	145.12	3	175	0	Engine
21	31	34	Image:US flag 48 stars.svg Johnnie Tolan	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	140.06	31	173	0	Engine
22	5	99	Image:US flag 48 stars.svg Tony Bettenhausen	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	144.6	5	160	0	Accident
23	14	10	Image:US flag 48 stars.svg Ed Elisian Image:US flag 48 stars.svg Eddie Russo	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	141.38	25	160	0	Brakes
24	16	48	Image:US flag 48 stars.svg Jimmy Daywalt	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	140.97	28	134	0	Accident
25	24	54	Image:US flag 48 stars.svg Jack Turner	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	142.39	18	131	0	Engine
26	20	89	Image:US flag 48 stars.svg Keith Andrews	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	142.97	13	94	0	Transmission
27	9	5	Image:US flag 48 stars.svg Andy Linden	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	143.05	11	90	0	Oil Leak
28	27	12	Image:US flag 48 stars.svg Al Herman	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	141.61	23	74	0	Accident
29	17	49	Image:US flag 48 stars.svg Ray Crawford	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	140.88	29	49	0	Accident
30	12	15	Image:US flag 48 stars.svg Johnny Boyd	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	142.33	19	35	0	Oil Leak
31	11	53	Image:US flag 48 stars.svg Troy Ruttman	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	142.48	17	22	3	Spun Off
32	18	88	Image:US flag 48 stars.svg Johnny Thomson	Kuzma-Offenhauser	145.54	2	22	0	Spun Off
33	8	29	Image:US flag 48 stars.svg Paul Russo	Kurtis Kraft-Novi	143.54	10	21	11	Accident	1

[edit] Notes

Pole position: Pat Flaherty - 4:07.26 (time over four laps)
Fastest Lap: Paul Russo - 1:02.32
Shared Drive: Car# 10: Ed Elisian 123 laps and Eddie Russo 37 laps

Previous race: 1956 Monaco Grand Prix	FIA Formula One World Championship, 1956 season	Next race: 1956 Belgian Grand Prix

Previous race: 1955 Indianapolis 500	Indianapolis 500	Next race: 1957 Indianapolis 500