1953 INDIANAPOLIS 500

The '1953 Indianapolis 500' was held on Saturday, May 30, 1953 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The event was part of the 1953 World Drivers' Championship.
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Contents

Classification

Notes

Classification

Pos	Grid	No	Driver	Team	Qual	Rank	Laps	Led	Time/Retired	Points
1	1	14	'Bill Vukovich'	'Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser'	138.39	1	200	195	3:53'01.69	'9'
2	12	16	'Art Cross'	'Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser'	137.31	8	200	0	+3'30.87	'6'
3	9	3	'Sam Hanks' 'Duane Carter'	'Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser'	137.53	5	200	3	+4'11.50	'2' '2'
4	2	59	'Fred Agabashian' 'Paul Russo'	'Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser'	137.54	4	200	1	+4'39.24	'1.5' '1.5'
5	3	5	'Jack McGrath'	'Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser'	136.6	13	200	0	+7'49.64	'2'
6	21	48	Jimmy Daywalt	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	135.74	23	200	0	+8'10.21
7	25	2	Jim Rathmann	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	135.66	27	200	1	+8'46.02
8	20	12	Ernie McCoy	Stevens-Offenhauser	135.92	22	200	0	+10'04.55
9	6	98	Tony Bettenhausen	Kuzma-Offenhauser	136.02	20	196	0	Accident
10	32	53	Jimmy Davies	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	135.26	31	193	0	+7 Laps
11	26	9	Duke Nalon	Kurtis Kraft-Novi	135.46	30	191	0	Accident
12	19	73	Carl Scarborough	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	135.93	21	190	0	+10 Laps
13	4	88	Manny Ayulo	Kuzma-Offenhauser	136.38	15	184	0	Engine
14	31	8	Jimmy Bryan	Schroeder-Offenhauser	135.5	29	183	0	+ 17 Laps
15	28	49	Bill Holland	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	137.86	2	177	0	Magneto
16	10	92	Rodger Ward	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	137.46	6	177	0	Axle
17	14	23	Walt Faulkner	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	137.11	10	176	0	+ 24 Laps
18	22	22	Marshall Teague	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	135.72	25	169	0	Oil Leak
19	18	62	Spider Webb	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	136.16	17	166	0	Oil Leak
20	29	51	Bob Sweikert	Kuzma-Offenhauser	136.87	11	151	0	Suspension
21	23	83	Mike Nazaruk	Turner-Offenhauser	135.7	26	146	0	Transmission
22	24	77	Pat Flaherty	Kuzma-Offenhauser	135.66	28	115	0	Accident
23	7	55	Jerry Hoyt	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	135.73	24	107	0	Overheating
24	27	4	Duane Carter	Lesovsky-Offenhauser	135.26	32	94	0	Ignition
25	17	7	Paul Russo	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	136.21	16	89	0	Magneto
26	8	21	Johnnie Parsons	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	137.66	3	86	0	Engine
27	15	38	Don Freeland	Watson-Offenhauser	136.86	12	76	0	Accident
28	13	41	Gene Hartley	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	137.26	9	53	0	Accident
29	16	97	Chuck Stevenson	Kuzma-Offenhauser	136.56	14	42	0	Fuel Leak
30	30	99	Cal Niday	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	136.09	18	30	0	Magneto
31	11	29	Bob Scott	Bromme-Offenhauser	137.43	7	14	0	Oil Leak
32	33	56	Johnny Thomson	Del Roy-Offenhauser	135.26	33	6	0	Ignition
33	5	32	Andy Linden	Stevens-Offenhauser	136.06	19	3	0	Accident

Notes

★ 'Pole position:' Bill Vukovich - 4'20.13 (4 laps)

★ 'Fastest lead lap:' Bill Vukovich - 1'06.240

★ Chet Miller died in an accident in practice on May 15.

★ Carl Scarborough retired from the race due to heat exhaustion, and died later at the infield hospital.

★ The race was known as the "Hottest 500", with track temperatures exceeding 130°F, and several drivers used backup drivers, including:

★
★ Duane Carter (49 laps) took over from Sam Hanks (151)

★
★ Paul Russo (96) took over from Fred Agabashian (104)

★
★ Eddie Johnson (88) took over from Jim Rathman (112)

★
★ Gene Hartley (37) and Chuck Stevenson (44) took over from Tony Bettenhausen (115)

★
★ Carl Scarborough (69) took over from Bob Scott (121)

★
★ Jim Rathmann (36) took over from Bill Holland (141)

★
★ Duke Dinsmore (10) and Andy Linden (29) took over from Rodger Ward (138)

★
★ Johnny Mantz (42) took over from Walt Faulkner (134)

★
★ Jackie Holmes (9) and Johnny Thomson (45) took over from Spider Webb (112)

★
★ Andy Linden (12) and Chuck Stevenson (13) took over from Jerry Hoyt (82)