1959 Indianapolis 500

The 1959 Indianapolis 500 was an automobile race held at Indianapolis on Saturday, May 30, 1959. The event was part of the 1959 World Drivers' Championship.

Classification

Pos	Grid	No	Driver	Constructor	Qual	Rank	Laps	Led	Time/Retired	Points
1	6	5	Rodger Ward	Watson-Offenhauser	144.03	7	200	130	3:40:49.20	8
2	3	16	Jim Rathmann	Watson-Offenhauser	144.43	4	200	19	+ 0:23.28	6
3	1	3	Johnny Thomson	Lesovsky-Offenhauser	145.9	1	200	40	+ 0:50.64	5
4	15	1	Tony Bettenhausen	Epperly-Offenhauser	142.72	18	200	0	+ 1:47.09	3
5	16	99	Paul Goldsmith	Epperly-Offenhauser	142.67	19	200	0	+ 2:06.44	2
6	11	33	Johnny Boyd	Epperly-Offenhauser	142.81	16	200	0	+ 3:16.98
7	12	37	Duane Carter	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	142.79	17	200	0	+ 4:09.92
8	8	19	Eddie Johnson	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	144	9	200	0	+ 4:10.53
9	27	45	Paul Russo	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	142.38	22	200	0	+ 4:11.04
10	17	10	A.J. Foyt	Kuzma-Offenhauser	142.64	20	200	0	+ 4:14.48
11	9	88	Gene Hartley	Kuzma-Offenhauser	143.57	10	200	0	+ 5:42.48
12	7	74	Bob Veith	Moore-Offenhauser	144.02	8	200	0	+ 6:09.73
13	23	89	Al Herman	Dunn-Offenhauser	141.93	29	200	0	+ 6:40.40
14	13	66	Jimmy Daywalt	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	144.68	3	200	0	+ 6:41.54
15	21	71	Chuck Arnold	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	142.11	24	200	0	+ 8:19.86
16	33	58	Jim McWithey	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	141.21	33	200	0	+ 11:41.69
17	2	44	Eddie Sachs	Kuzma-Offenhauser	145.42	2	182	0	Spun Off
18	28	57	Al Keller	Kuzma-Offenhauser	142.05	27	163	0	Engine
19	18	64	Pat Flaherty	Watson-Offenhauser	142.39	21	162	11	Accident
20	4	73	Dick Rathmann	Watson-Offenhauser	144.24	5	150	0	Fire
21	30	53	Bill Cheesbourg	Kuzma-Offenhauser	141.78	30	147	0	Magneto
22	25	15	Don Freeland	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	143.05	14	136	0	Magneto
23	32	49	Ray Crawford	Elder-Offenhauser	141.34	32	115	0	Accident
24	10	9	Don Branson	Phillips-Offenhauser	143.31	12	112	0	Suspension
25	24	65	Bob Christie	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	143.24	13	109	0	Engine
26	5	48	Bobby Grim	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	144.22	6	85	0	Magneto
27	14	24	Jack Turner	Christensen-Offenhauser	143.47	11	47	0	Fuel leak
28	29	47	Chuck Weyant	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	141.95	28	45	0	Accident
29	19	7	Jud Larson	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	142.29	23	45	0	Accident
30	31	77	Mike Magill	Sutton-Offenhauser	141.48	31	45	0	Accident
31	26	87	Red Amick	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	142.92	15	45	0	Accident
32	22	8	Len Sutton	Lesovsky-Offenhauser	142.1	26	34	0	Accident
33	20	6	Jimmy Bryan	Epperly-Offenhauser	142.11	25	1	0	Engine

Notes

• Fastest Lead Lap: Johnny Thomson - 1:01.89
• Two drivers, Jerry Unser and Bob Cortner, were killed as a result of accidents during practice for this race.

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Jack Brabham	9
2	Rodger Ward	8
3	Tony Brooks	6
4	Jim Rathmann	6
5	Johnny Thomson	5

Constructors' Championship standings

Pos	Constructor	Points
1	Cooper-Climax	8
2	Ferrari	6

• Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Also, points scored in the 500 did not count towards the F1 constructors championship.

Previous race: 1959 Monaco Grand Prix	FIA Formula One World Championship 1959 season	Next race: 1959 Dutch Grand Prix
Previous race: 1958 Indianapolis 500	Indianapolis 500	Next race: 1960 Indianapolis 500