1962 Indianapolis 500

46th Indianapolis 500

Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Indianapolis 500
Sanctioning body	USAC
Season	1962 USAC season
Date	May 30, 1962
Winner	Rodger Ward
Winning team	Leader Cards
Average speed	140.293 mph (225.780 km/h)
Pole position	Parnelli Jones
Pole speed	150.370 mph (241.997 km/h)
Fastest qualifier	Parnelli Jones
Rookie of the Year	Jim McElreath
Most laps led	Parnelli Jones (120)
Pre-race ceremonies
National anthem	Purdue Band
"Back Home Again in Indiana"	C. David Cochard
Starting command	Tony Hulman
Pace car	Studebaker Lark Daytona Convertible
Pace car driver	Sam Hanks
Starter	Pat Vidan
Honorary referee	Robert A. Stranahan, Jr.
Estimated attendance	230,000
TV in the United States
Network	N/A
Announcers	N/A
Nielsen ratings	N/A / N/A
Chronology
Previous Next 1961 1963

The 46th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Wednesday, May 30, 1962.

A historic pole day saw Parnelli Jones break the 150 mph (240 km/h) barrier in qualifying. Rodger Ward and Len Sutton finished 1st-2nd for Leader Cards Racing.

The 1962 Indy 500 marked the final 500 wherein the entire 33-car field consisted of U.S.-born participants. It was also the first race held with the track surface paved entirely in asphalt, with just the ceremonial single yard of bricks exposed at the start/finish line.

Race schedule

For 1962, the Opening Day of practice was shifted back to Saturday April 28. Time trials were held on the second and third weekends of May, allowing the 500 Festival Open Invitation golf tournament the entire fourth weekend of May. Bump Day was held May 20, ten days prior to the race. Carburetion Day, the final day of practice was held Monday May 28, along with the 500 Festival Parade later that evening.

Race schedule — April/May 1962 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 22   23   24   25   26   27   28 Practice 29 Practice 30 Practice 1 Practice 2 Practice 3 Practice 4 Practice 5 Practice 6 Practice 7 Practice 8 Practice 9 Practice 10 Practice 11 Practice 12 Pole Day 13 Time Trials 14 Practice 15 Practice 16 Practice 17 Practice 18 Practice 19 Time Trials 20 Bump Day 21   22   23 Pro-Am 24 500 Open 25 500 Open 26 500 Open 27 500 Open 28 Carb Day 29 Meeting 30 Indy 500 31 Banquet

Color Notes Green Practice Dark Blue Time trials Silver Race day Blank No track activity

Time trials

Time trials were scheduled for four days.

• Saturday May 12 – Pole Day time trials
  • Len Sutton was the first driver to make an assault on the track record. His fourth lap of 149.900 mph was a new one-lap track record.
  • Parnelli Jones became the first driver to break the 150 mph barrier. His first lap was run at 150.729 mph, a new all-time one-lap track record. All four of his laps were over 150 mph, and his four-lap average came in at 150.370 mph. Jones was rewarded by having 150 silver dollars poured into his helmet by Phil Hedback of Bryant Heating & Cooling.
• Sunday May 13 – Second day time trials
  • The 13th proved to be an unlucky day for Norm Hall, whose previous crash in car #25 left him unscathed, but today, he spun the #41 Forbes Special on the Southwest Turn, hit the wall backwards and was severely injured, including a fractured left leg and possible skull fracture. Jim Rathmann and Troy Ruttman both were flagged off by their crews after they failed to get sufficient speed to qualify. Eddie Sachs could not reach an acceptable speed and a new engine was ordered for his Dean-Autolite Special machine. Dan Gurney left for Holland to compete in the Holland Grand Prix. Qualifiers this day were Eddie Johnson #32 at 146.592 and Bob Veith #96 at 146.157.
• Saturday May 19 – Third day time trials
• Sunday May 20 – Fourth day time trials

Starting grid

Row	Inside		Middle		Outside
1	98	Parnelli Jones	3	Rodger Ward  W	54	Bobby Marshman
2	7	Len Sutton	1	A. J. Foyt  W	4	Shorty Templeman
3	15	Jim McElreath  R	34	Dan Gurney  R	17	Roger McCluskey
4	5	Bud Tingelstad	14	Don Branson	27	Don Davis
5	9	Dick Rathmann	62	Paul Russo	18	Bobby Grim
6	19	Chuck Hulse  R	21	Elmer George	32	Eddie Johnson
7	96	Bob Veith	88	Gene Hartley	67	Chuck Rodee  R
8	83	Allen Crowe  R	44	Jim Rathmann  W	12	Lloyd Ruby
9	45	Jack Turner	53	Paul Goldsmith	2	Eddie Sachs
10	38	Johnny Boyd	91	Jim Hurtubise	26	Troy Ruttman  W
11	29	Bob Christie	86	Ebb Rose	79	Jimmy Daywalt

R Indianapolis 500 rookie

W Indianapolis 500 winner

Alternates

• First alternate: Dempsey Wilson (#31)
• Second alternate: Ronnie Duman  R  (#28)

Failed to qualify

• Chuck Arnold (#23, #37, #46, #47, #77)
• Duane Carter (#72)
• Bill Cheesbourg (#35, #59, #88)
• Leon Clum  R  (#6, #23)
• Jack Conely  R  (#89)
• Russ Congdon  R 
• Tommy Copp  R  (#58)
• Johnny Coy  R  (#68, #92)
• Chuck Daigh  R  (#35)
• Jack Ensley  R  (#95)
• Jack Fairman  R  (#32, #78)
• Don Freeland (#36)
• Roy Graham  R  (#55)
• Norm Hall (#25, #41)
• Jim Hemmings  R  (#65, #94)
• Herb Hill  R  (#69) – Entry declined
• Bruce Jacobi  R  (#22)
• Ed Kostenuk  R  (#37)
• Ralph Ligouri  R  (#68)
• Bob Mathouser  R  (#43)
• Mike McGreevey  R  (#46)
• Al Miller  R  (#64)
• Keith Rachwitz  R  (#33)
• Gig Stephens  R  (#61)
• Chuck Stevenson (#16)
• Chuck Weyant

Race recap

First half

Parnelli Jones took the lead at the start, and led the first 59 laps. The first incident on the track occurred on lap 17. A four-car crash in turn four involved Jack Turner, Bob Christie, Allen Crowe, and Chuck Rodee. A lengthy yellow light period was needed to clean up the incident.

Second half

Rodger Ward led the final 31 laps en route to victory. It was his second 500 win, after winning also in 1959. His Leader Cards teammate Len Sutton finished second, accomplishing the first team "sweep" of 1st-2nd since the Blue Crown team did it in 1947 and 1948.

After dominating much of the early race, Parnelli Jones, who started on the pole and led 120 laps, finished 7th. Jones chances for victory faded around the lap 125 mark when he lost his brakes. Unable to easily bring his car to a halt during pit stops, his crew put out tires so he could bump up against them or ride over them in order to help stop the car.

Box score

Finish	Start	No	Name	Chassis	Engine	Qual	Laps	Status
1	2	3	Rodger Ward  W	Watson	Offenhauser	149.371	200	Running
2	4	7	Len Sutton	Watson	Offenhauser	149.328	200	Running
3	27	2	Eddie Sachs	Ewing	Offenhauser	146.431	200	Running
4	12	27	Don Davis	Lesovsky	Offenhauser	147.209	200	Running
5	3	54	Bobby Marshman	Epperly	Offenhauser	149.347	200	Running
6	7	15	Jim McElreath  R	Kurtis Kraft	Offenhauser	149.025	200	Running
7	1	98	Parnelli Jones	Watson	Offenhauser	150.370	200	Running
8	24	12	Lloyd Ruby	Watson	Offenhauser	146.520	200	Running
9	23	44	Jim Rathmann  W	Watson	Offenhauser	146.610	200	Running
10	28	38	Johnny Boyd	Epperly	Offenhauser	147.047	200	Running
11	6	4	Shorty Templeman	Watson	Offenhauser	149.050	200	Running
12	11	14	Don Branson	Epperly	Offenhauser	147.312	200	Running
13	29	91	Jim Hurtubise	Watson	Offenhauser	146.963	200	Running
14	32	86	Ebb Rose	Porter	Offenhauser	146.336	200	Running
15	10	5	Bud Tingelstad	Phillips	Offenhauser	147.753	200	Running
16	9	17	Roger McCluskey	Watson	Offenhauser	147.759	168	Spun T2
17	17	21	Elmer George (Paul Russo Laps 53–126) (A. J. Foyt Laps 127–147)	Lesovsky	Offenhauser	146.092	147	Engine
18	30	26	Troy Ruttman  W	Kuzma	Offenhauser	146.765	140	Piston
19	15	18	Bobby Grim	Trevis	Offenhauser	146.604	96	Oil Leak
20	8	34	Dan Gurney  R	Thompson	Buick	147.886	92	Rear End
21	16	19	Chuck Hulse  R	Kurtis Kraft	Offenhauser	146.377	91	Fuel Pump
22	33	79	Jimmy Daywalt	Kurtis Kraft	Offenhauser	146.318	74	Transmission
23	5	1	A. J. Foyt  W	Trevis	Offenhauser	149.074	69	Lost wheel
24	13	9	Dick Rathmann	Watson	Offenhauser	147.161	51	Magneto
25	18	32	Eddie Johnson	Trevis	Offenhauser	146.592	38	Magneto
26	26	53	Paul Goldsmith	Epperly	Offenhauser	146.437	26	Magneto
27	20	88	Gene Hartley (Bill Cheesbourg Laps 21–23)	Watson	Offenhauser	146.969	23	Steering
28	14	62	Paul Russo	Watson	Offenhauser	146.687	20	Piston
29	25	45	Jack Turner	Kurtis Kraft	Offenhauser	146.496	17	Crash FS
30	31	29	Bob Christie	Kurtis Kraft	Offenhauser	146.341	17	Crash FS
31	22	83	Allen Crowe  R	Watson	Offenhauser	146.831	17	Crash FS
32	21	67	Chuck Rodee  R	Christensen	Offenhauser	146.969	17	Crash FS
33	19	96	Bob Veith	Elder	Offenhauser	146.157	12	Engine
Sources:

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
1–59	Parnelli Jones
60–61	A. J. Foyt
62–64	Roger McCluskey
65–125	Parnelli Jones
126–160	Rodger Ward
161–169	Len Sutton
170–200	Rodger Ward

Total laps led
Driver	Laps
Parnelli Jones	120
Rodger Ward	66
Len Sutton	9
Roger McCluskey	3
A. J. Foyt	2

Yellow Lights: 5 for 38 minutes, 18 seconds
Laps*	Reason
18–33	Turner, Christie, Crowe, Rodee crash in turn 4 (18:44)
37–38	Shorty Templeman spin fronstretch (2:09)
60–62	Bobby Grim (1:39)
75–81	A. J. Foyt lost wheel (6:50)
168	Roger McCluskey spin turn 2 (9:27)
* – Approximate lap counts

Broadcasting

Radio

The race was carried live on the IMS Radio Network. Sid Collins served as chief announcer. Fred Agabashian served as "driver expert." Newcomer Howdy Bell joined the crew, serving as a turn reporter. It was his first of over 40 years with the network. Turn reporter Mike Ahern, who debuted on the radio crew a year earlier, missed the 1962 race due to being in the Army. He would return in 1963.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network
Booth Announcers	Turn Reporters	Pit/garage reporters
Chief Announcer: Sid Collins Driver expert: Fred Agabashian Statistician: Charlie Brockman	Turn 1: Bill Frosh Turn 2: Howdy Bell  R  Backstretch: Bernie Herman Turn 3: Lou Palmer Turn 4: Jim Shelton	Jack Shapiro (north) Luke Walton (center) John Peterson (south)

Television

Highlights of the time trials were shown on ABC's "Wide World Of Sports".

Gallery

• 
  1962 winning car (Ward)
• 
  1962 pole position winning car (Jones)

Notes

Works cited

• Indianapolis 500 History: Race & All-Time Stats - Official Site
• 1962 Indianapolis 500 at RacingReference.info (Relief driver statistics)
• 1962 Indianapolis 500 Radio Broadcast, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network