1950 Indianapolis 500
The 34th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Tuesday, May 30, 1950. The event was sanctioned by the AAA and served as the premier event on the calendar of the 1950 AAA National Championship Trail.
| Indianapolis Motor Speedway | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indianapolis 500 | |||||
| Sanctioning body | AAA | ||||
| Date | May 30, 1950 | ||||
| Winner | Johnnie Parsons | ||||
| Winning Entrant | Frank Kurtis | ||||
| Average speed | 124.002 mph (199.562 km/h) | ||||
| Pole position | Walt Faulkner | ||||
| Pole speed | 134.343 mph (216.204 km/h) | ||||
| Most laps led | Johnnie Parsons (115) | ||||
| Pre-race | |||||
| Pace car | Mercury | ||||
| Pace car driver | Benson Ford | ||||
| Starter | Seth Klein | ||||
| Honorary referee | Clarence Beesmyer | ||||
| Estimated attendance | 175,000 | ||||
| Chronology | |||||
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For the first time, the race was included as a points-paying event towards the FIA-sanctioned World Drivers' Championship.
The race was originally scheduled for 200 laps (500 miles), but was stopped after 138 laps (345 miles) due to rain.
A rumor circulated in racing circles during and after this race that Johnnie Parsons's team discovered an irreparable crack in the engine block on race morning. The discovery supposedly precipitated Parsons to charge for the lap leader prizes. Presumably, he set his sights on leading as many laps as possible before the engine inevitably was to fail. Furthermore, the race ending early due to rain supposedly saved Parsons's day allowing him to secure the victory before the engine let go. However, the engine block crack was proved to be an urban myth, and it was said to be a very minor but acceptable level of porosity, which did not significantly affect the performance.
Parsons's win saw him score 9 points and move to a temporary first-place tie (after 3 races on the Formula One season calendar) in the first ever World Drivers' Championship, alongside Nino Farina and Juan Manuel Fangio, and also saw him become the first American to win a World Championship race. Parsons is one of only three drivers to have won his first World Championship race, the other two being Farina, who won the first World Championship race (the 1950 British Grand Prix, 17 days earlier) and Giancarlo Baghetti, who won the 1961 French Grand Prix. Despite the 500 being his only race in the 1950 World Championship, it would be enough to see him finish the championship 6th in points.
During the month, Clark Gable and Barbara Stanwyck were at the track to film scenes for the film To Please a Lady. Stanwyck was on hand in victory lane after the race for the traditional celebratory kiss to the winner.