Indianapolis 500

1955

 

 

 

By RUSTY O'CALLAGHAN

Hayward CA Daily Review

 

Note: Rusty O'Callaghan, racing expert for The Daily Review, is a close personal friend of Bob Sweikert and has followed the career of the new Indianapolis 500 champion for eight years.

 

 

The 39th annual running of the Memorial Day 500 mile race at Indianapolis has passed into history and the record books show the name of Hayward's Bob Sweikert as the winner for the year 1955.

 

The 29 year old driver and father of three went the 250 torturing laps in 3 hrs, 53 min, 59.53 sec., for an average speed of 128.209 mph. Crossing the finish line with only a few gallons of fuel left in his tank

 

Sweikert put the John Zink Spl. into victory lane after one of the wildest and deadliest races since 1930.

 

He drove his car with the skill and courage of the old masters.

 

Starting 14th place in the fifth row, Sweikert showed that he was out to capture the classic by moving steadily up through the traffic to eighth place by the tenth lap, into fourth by the 22nd, second in the 56th, and first on the 89th.

 

Making only two pit stops, Sweikert moved out in front and stayed there until he made his second pit stop in the 132nd lap,

 

In the pits for only 46 seconds, he went back into the race in third place behind Art Cross and Don Freeland. Getting by the leading Freeland after Cross had dropped back, Sweikert took over the lead again in the 159th lap and stayed there until the end.

 

Sitting in the 54 degree weather, the better than 200,000 racing fans saw Inglewood's veteran "500" driver Jack McGrath take the lead going into the first turn with Tony Bettenhausen breaking into second place, pole position starter Jerry Hoyt third; Billy Vukovich fourth and Freddie Agabashian fifth.

 

In the second lap, Vukovich got the Hopkins Spl. by Hoyt and Bettenhausen and closed on McGrath in the Hinkle entry. With this move, a battle for first place started that lasted until Vukovich met with his final accident on the southeast turn in the 56th lap. Vukovich took McGrath on the northeast turn in the fourth lap for the lead with Sam Hanks battled by Bettenhausen for third place in the Jones-Maley Spl.

 

Agabashian dropped back to fifth and Walt Faulkner pushed into seventh place in the Merz Engineering Spl.

 

Jimmy Reese was the first car to go out of the race when the Malloy Special burned out a rod bearing on the tenth lap. McGrath passed Vukovich on the 14th lap and then dropped back into second place on the next one as Vukovich went by him again. Bob Sweikert had moved up to sixth, while last year's national champion. Jimmy Bryan had the Dean Van Lines roadster in seventh and Faulkner was eighth.

 

Vukovich has a 2 second lead over McGrath into the 30th lap, Hanks had come back-up into third place, and Sweikert had started his move in the John Zink Spl. and was riding fourth with Bryan, Bettenhausen and Agabashian following. Vukovich was turning a lap with a time of 136.802.

 

Sweikert got by Hanks in the 35th lap to take third place with Vukovich and McGrath still battling it out for the lead. In the 39th lap, Agabashian hit an oil slick on the southeast turn and spun twice into the infield and out of the race. Jerry Hoyt was the next one to go when his car blew an oil line.

 

At 75 miles Vukovich was in the lead by 10 1/2 seconds. McGrath was trailed by Sweikert, Hanks and Bryan. McGrath made that his first pit stop and so did Pan Am race winner Ray Crawford in the Crawford Spl.

 

Sweikert then moved up to second and was running there as tragedy hit on the southeast turn. Rodger Ward and Ed Elisian become tangled, Ward got side ways and Johnny Boyd flipped the Sumar Spl. over Ward's mount, the Astro-blue Spl. Al Keller plowed into the mess in the Sam Traylor Spl. and ended up out in the grass.

 

Vukovich came down the chute and tried to get by the jammed up cars on the outside, but he hit the pileup, went end for end over the wall and was fatally burned when the car caught fire (video).

 

Sweikert made a pit stop while the yellow flag was out for 27 minutes. Bryan jumped into the lead, Sweikert was running second, Cross third with Faulkner, Bettenhausen, O'Connor, Russo, Hanks and Davies. Sweikert was 1 min. 25 sec. ahead of Art Cross. Freeland trailed with Cal Niday pushing him. Ray Crawford went out of the race at 110 laps and Sweikert made his second pit stop at 132 laps and was out of first place for 20 laps. Art Cross held it for 17 laps and then dropped it to Freeland for the next three.

 

On the 171st lap, Cal Niday hit the wall and spun across the track. The car burst into flames, but Niday got clear in time. On the 180th lap Freeland went out with no brakes and Tony Bettenhausen moved up to second place trailed by O'Connor, Jimmy Davies, Johnny Thompson, Andy Linden and Faulkner.

 

In the 193rd-lap the wind almost blew Sweikert into the wall, but he made a good recovery and went on to win with Bettenhausen second, Jimmy Davies in the Bardhal Spl. third, Johnny Thompson fourth, Walt Falkner fifth, Andy Linden sixth, Al Herman seventh , O'Connor eighth, Jim Dewalt ninth and Pat Flaherty tenth.

 

 

 

 

Things Getting Out of Hand In the Auto Racing World

Driver Hasn’t Chance Anymore

 

By Harold Scherwitz

San Antonio Light Sports Editor

 

When the top stars die, things have gotten out of hand in the speed world. Vukovich and Ascari, the world's best, in the same week!

 

In another day of auto racing, an alert and clever driver had a chance to steer his car around a wreck on the track ahead. He had a chance to maneuver, or to ditch his machine in the infield if necessary to save his own life and the lives of others.

 

At 130 miles an hour, plus, the best driver in the business- Bill Vukovich had proved he was the best- got no such opportunity.

 

He piles into a careening rival, out of control, in a split second, and the death toll mounts (video).

 

Part of the game, you say? Maybe so. But it is beginning to dawn on a lot of fellows that the value of their own driving goes down in ratio to the steadily increasing speed being built into those Indianapolis racing machines. The driver has become an iron-muscled, sharp-eyed, nerveless robot whose sole job is to keep his foot down on the accelerator and get the very limit of speed out of his mount.

 

The cars have been streamlined and cut down so that the driver barely fits into them. The mechanic, who used to ride with the driver and watch the pits, the instruments and the track ahead and behind is only a memory. The driver has been on his own for years.

 

 

 

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