1966 Indianapolis 500

50th Indianapolis 500

Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Indianapolis 500
Sanctioning body	USAC
Season	1966 USAC season
Date	May 30, 1966
Winner	Graham Hill
Winning team	John Mecom, Jr.
Average speed	144.317 mph (232.256 km/h)
Pole position	Mario Andretti
Pole speed	165.899 mph (266.989 km/h)
Fastest qualifier	Mario Andretti
Rookie of the Year	Jackie Stewart
Most laps led	Lloyd Ruby (68)
Pre-race ceremonies
National anthem	Purdue Band
Back Home Again in Indiana	Ed Ames
Starting Command	Tony Hulman
Pace car	Mercury Comet Cyclone GT
Pace car driver	Benson Ford
Honorary starter	None
Attendance	250,000 (estimated)
TV in the United States
Network	ABC's Wide World of Sports
Announcers	Chris Schenkel Rodger Ward
Nielsen Ratings
Chronology
Previous	Next
1965	1967

The 50th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Monday, May 30, 1966.

Eleven of the 33 starters, a whole third of the field, was eliminated in a first-lap accident right after receiving the green flag on the mainstretch. No drivers are injured, except for A. J. Foyt, who hurts his hand scaling the catch fence trying to escape the wreck scene. Only seven cars, the fewest finishers ever, are still running by the end of the race.

First-time starter Jackie Stewart leads by over a lap late in the race in John Mecom's Lola T90-Ford. However, inside ten laps to go, his oil pressure drops too low due to a broken scavenge pump. Stewart parked the car, and walked back to the pits. Fellow "rookie" Graham Hill inherits the lead and led a total of 10 laps to win, the first rookie winner since 1927. Despite parking the car, Stewart is voted the rookie of the year over Hill.

Defending race winner Jimmy Clark spun twice during the race, and finished second.

Time trials

Three-year veteran Johnny Rutherford was injured in a serious crash on April 3 at Eldora, and was forced to sit out the 1966 race.

Saturday May 14 - Pole Day time trials

Mario Andretti won the pole position with a four-lap track record of 165.889 mph. His best single lap was a record 166.328 mph.

Chuck Rodee was killed in a crash. On his second warmup lap in turn one, Rodee backed in to the outside wall, and he died of his injuries at the hospital.

A total of 18 cars completed qualifying runs on a chilly pole day.

Sunday May 15 - Second Day Time trials

After crashing on pole day, A. J. Foyt qualified at 161.355 mph, the fourth-fastest car in the field.

Saturday May 21 - Third Day Time trials

Unser brothers Bobby and Al qualified, with rookie Al (162.272 mph) leading the speeds for the day. Bobby Grim qualified his turbo Offy front-engined roadster at 158.367 mph, the only such car in the field.

Sunday May 22 - Bump Day Time trials

Two drivers managed to bump their way into the field, Ronnie Duman and Larry Dickson. Greg Weld wrecked two cars (one of which was a popular Granatelli-Novi), but was uninjured. Bobby Grim, the slowest qualifier, holds on to the make the field in his front-engined roadster.

Race recap

Start

As the field down the mainstretch for the start, Billy Foster was among those jockeying for position. As the green flag fell, he nearly touched wheels with Gordon Johncock, and lost control. He spun directly into the outside wall, just beyond the start/finish line, and triggered a huge pileup. Fourteen cars are involved, with debris and loose wheels bouncing all over the racing surface.

As the drivers instinctively scurried out of their machines to avoid possible flames (although no significant fires had broke out), A. J. Foyt became the only casualty of the incident. He injured his hand climbing over the catch fence on the outside of the track.

Of the fourteen cars, eleven are damaged beyond repair. The red flag came out, and after the cleanup, the race lined up for a restart with only 22 cars.

Controversy

After the race, some confusion in the scoring led to a controversy, wherein second place Jim Clark's team thought they were the rightful winner. Clark had spun on two separate occasions during the race, but did not make serious contact during either incident. He did not stall his engine either time, and was able to drive to the pits for the crew to inspect the car quickly both times. Clark's team contended that he did not lose a significant amount of time, and figured that they were still one lap ahead of Hill at the finish. The scoring pylon, which was manually controlled and unofficial, changed somewhat frequently as the scoring was ironed out, to the dismay of Clark's crew in particular. The unofficial results at the conclusion of the race showed Graham Hill winning by 41.13 seconds over Clark.

The morning after the race, USAC released the official results, and the standings were unchanged. Colin Chapman and Andy Granatelli, the entrants of Clark's Lotus team, declined to file an official protest. A possible explanation given was that the Lotus crew did not see Hill pass by Clark during the aftermath of the second spin.

Race winner Graham Hill admitted to being "puzzled" and "surprised" to be the winner, while other unsatisfied competitors chimed that he had "never passed a car all day long." The IMS Radio Network, which scored the race independently from the USAC officials, also came up with Hill as the first place car. The apparent controversy died out quickly, and no official action was ever taken. Years later the subject is still mildly debated in racing circles.

A theory emerged that scorers accidentally omitted one lap from Jim Clark's official tally. Therefore, he was effectively placed behind Hill at the finish. The car of Al Unser, Sr. was painted nearly identical to Clark's. The theory is that when Al Unser crashed out of the race on lap 161, scorers mistakenly thought it was Clark, and as Clark drove by in the immediate aftermath, they credited that lap to Unser by mistake.

Box score

Finish	Start	No	Name	Qual	Rank	Laps	Led	Status
1	15	24	Graham Hill	159.243	23	200	10	Running
2	2	19	Jim Clark	164.114	2	200	66	Running
3	7	3	Jim McElreath	160.908	9	200	0	Running
4	6	72	Gordon Johncock	161.059	8	200	0	Running
5	17	94	Mel Kenyon	158.555	32	198	0	Flagged
6	11	43	Jackie Stewart	159.972	14	190	40	Oil Pressure
7	29	54	Eddie Johnson	158.898	28	175	0	Stalled
8	28	11	Bobby Unser	159.109	27	171	0	Flagged
9	20	6	Joe Leonard	159.560	17	170	0	Stalled
10	10	88	Jerry Grant	160.335	13	167	0	Flagged
11	5	14	Lloyd Ruby	162.433	5	166	68	Cam Stud
12	23	18	Al Unser	162.372	6	161	0	Crash T4
13	21	8	Roger McCluskey	159.271	22	129	0	Oil Leak
14	4	98	Parnelli Jones	162.484	4	87	0	Wheel Bearing
15	13	26	Rodger Ward	159.468	19	74	0	Handling
16	25	77	Carl Williams	159.645	16	38	0	Valve
17	22	56	Jim Hurtubise	159.208	24	29	0	Oil line
18	1	1	Mario Andretti	165.849	1	27	16	Valve
19	3	82	George Snider	162.521	3	22	0	Crash T2
20	8	12	Chuck Hulse	160.844	10	22	0	Crash T2
21	27	22	Bud Tingelstad	159.144	26	16	0	Overheating
22	14	28	Johnny Boyd	159.384	21	5	0	Crash T1
23	9	4	Don Branson	160.385	12	0	0	Crash FS
24	12	27	Billy Foster	159.490	18	0	0	Crash FS
25	16	53	Gary Congdon	158.688	29	0	0	Crash FS
26	18	2	A.J. Foyt	161.355	7	0	0	Crash FS
27	19	31	Dan Gurney	160.499	11	0	0	Crash FS
28	24	66	Cale Yarborough	159.794	15	0	0	Crash FS
29	26	37	Arnie Knepper	159.440	20	0	0	Crash FS
30	30	75	Al Miller II	158.681	30	0	0	Crash FS
31	31	39	Bobby Grim	158.367	33	0	0	Crash FS
32	32	34	Larry Dickson	159.144	25	0	0	Crash FS
33	33	96	Ronnie Duman	158.646	31	0	0	Crash FS

Alternates

• First alternate: Dick Atkins

Tire participation chart
Supplier	No. of starters
Goodyear	16
Firestone	17*
* - Denotes race winner

Broadcasting

Radio

The race was carried live on the IMS Radio Network. Sid Collins served as chief announcer. Len Sutton joined the crew, serving as "driver expert," replacing Fred Agabashian. At the conclusion of the race, Lou Palmer reported from victory lane.

Bill Frosh, who had reported from turn one for over a decade, left the on-air crew, working instead in production. Mike Ahern took over the prestigious turn one position. Newcomer Doug Zink took the backstretch location, while second-year member Ron Carrell moved to turn three.

For 1967, the flagship station changed from WIBC to WTHI in Terre Haute.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network
Booth Announcers	Turn Reporters	Pit/garage reporters
Chief Announcer: Sid Collins Driver expert: Len Sutton Statistician: John DeCamp Historian: Donald Davidson	Turn 1: Mike Ahern Turn 2: Howdy Bell Backstretch: Doug Zink Turn 3: Ron Carrell Turn 4: Jim Shelton	Chuck Marloe (north) Luke Walton (center) Lou Palmer (south)

Television

The race was carried in the United States on ABC's Wide World of Sports. The broadcast aired on Saturday June 10. Chris Schenkel anchored the telecast for the first time, with analysts Rodger Ward, Ward did double duty driving the 500 and calling the 500. It was the first time the race was broadcast in color, and the first time the entire hour-long program was devoted entirely to the 500. The opening featured a brief recap of time trials in the first half, and race coverage in the second half.

The race was shown live on MCA closed-circuit television in various theaters across the United States. Charlie Brockman served as anchor.

Gallery

• 

  1966 pace car

Notes

Works cited

• Indianapolis 500 History: Race & All-Time Stats - Official Site
• 1966 Indianapolis 500 Radio Broadcast, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network

1965 Indianapolis 500 Jim Clark

1966 Indianapolis 500 Graham Hill

1967 Indianapolis 500 A. J. Foyt