The 50th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was held at the

Indianapolis Motor Speedway The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is an automobile racing circuit located in Speedway, Indiana, an enclave suburb of Indianapolis, Indiana. It is the home of the Indianapolis 500 and the Verizon 200, and and formerly the home of the United State ...

in Speedway, Indiana on Monday, May 30, 1966. The official program cover for the race celebrated both the 50th running of the race, and 150th anniversary of Indiana statehood. Eleven of the 33 starters were eliminated in a first-lap accident right after receiving the green flag on the main stretch. Only A. J. Foyt was injured, hurting his hand scaling the catch fence trying to escape the wreck scene. Only seven cars, the fewest finishers ever, were still running by the end of the race. First-time starter Jackie Stewart led by over a lap late in the race in John Mecom's Lola T90-Ford.Kettlewell, p. 2192. However, inside ten laps to go, his oil pressure dropped too low due to a broken scavenge pump. Stewart parked the car, and after briefly attempting to push some ways, he walked back to the pits. Fellow rookie

Graham Hill Norman Graham Hill (15 February 1929 – 29 November 1975) was a British racing driver and team owner, who was the Formula One World Champion twice, winning in and as well as being runner up on three occasions (1963, 1964 and 1965). Despite ...

inherited the lead and led a total of 10 laps to win, the first rookie winner since 1927. Despite parking the car, Stewart was voted the rookie of the year over Hill, completing enough laps to finish in 6th place. Defending race winner

Jim Clark James Clark Jr. OBE (4 March 1936 – 7 April 1968) was a British Formula One racing driver from Scotland, who won two World Championships, in 1963 and 1965. A versatile driver, he competed in sports cars, touring cars and in the Indianapol ...

spun twice during the race, and finished second. For the second year in a row, the Wood Brothers from the NASCAR Grand National circuit were invited to work pit stops, this time for Dan Gurney. However, the car dropped out of the race in the crash on the opening lap.

Race schedule

Practice and time trials

Background

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. The Mecom Racing Team was scheduled to field drivers Walt Hansgen, Rodger Ward, and Jackie Stewart. However, Hansgen died from injuries suffered in a crash during a test session at

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...

on April 3.

was named as a late replacement, and his name was not even listed on the entry list in the official program.

Practice

Practice for the "Golden Anniversary 500" opened on Saturday April 30, but cold temperatures and rainy weather for the first few days kept most cars off the track.

Chuck Hulse Chuck Hulse (October 3, 1927 – July 13, 2020) was an American racecar driver. Hulse raced in the USAC Championship Car series in the 1959-1964 and 1966-1968 seasons, with 60 career starts, including the Indianapolis 500 races in 1962, 1963, 19 ...

(149.8 mph) was the fastest car over the first weekend. On Monday May 2, Art Pollard became the first rookie to pass the 145 mph rookie test. Jackie Stewart also passed his rookie test. On Tuesday May 10, Mario Andretti turned a practice lap of 164.5 mph during practice, establishing himself as an early favorite for the pole position. Among the others over the 160 mph mark were A. J. Foyt, George Snider, and Dan Gurney. Rain washed out practice on Wednesday May 11. On Friday May 13, the final day of practice before time trials, Mario Andretti shattered the unofficial track record by more than 5 mph, running a lap of 167.411 mph. Rain hampered most of the day, but Andretti put together additional laps of 166 mph, and 164 mph. The next-fastest car was

, whose best lap was 165.7 mph.

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.

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 Greg Weld (March 4, 1944 – August 4, 2008) was an American racecar driver and later a businessman who founded an automotive aftermarkets parts manufacturer that carries his name. Weld won the 1963 Knoxville Nationals, the premiere event in spr ...

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.

Starting grid

: Yellow indicates the driver was eliminated in the first lap accident. : Tan indicated the driver was involved in the first lap accident, but was able to restart the race.

Race recap

Start

As the field came down the main stretch for the start,

Billy Foster William A. Foster (September 18, 1937 – January 20, 1967) was a Canadian racecar driver. Born in Victoria, British Columbia, Foster died in a crash during practice for a NASCAR Grand National stock car race at Riverside International Racew ...

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. Sixteen cars were 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 broken out), A. J. Foyt became the only driver casualty of the incident. He injured his hand climbing over the catch fence on the outside of the track. He was checked out at the infield hospital, and cleared to drive relief if needed. One spectator was hit by a wheel from the crash. Of the sixteen cars, eleven were damaged beyond repair. The red flag came out, and after the cleanup, the race lined up for a restart with only 22 cars. The red flag delay was about 1 hour and 24 minutes. When the race was restarted, the field took several warm up laps, and restarted single file. The yellow light came back on almost immediately when Johnny Boyd crashed in turn 1 on the first green lap.

Race

The early half of the race was dominated by Lloyd Ruby, who was seeking his first win in the Indianapolis 500. However, a bad pit stop resulted in Ruby losing a couple of laps and he went on to finish 11th. Jackie Stewart dominated the second half of the race, leading 40 laps. Stewart was leading by a little over a lap before his car broke with 10 laps to go. Graham Hill inherited the lead, led the final laps, and won the race. His original margin of victory was 42 seconds over second place, Jim Clark, pending the final results.

Controversy

During the race, confusion broke out over the running order, which resulted in people being unsure, even to this day, on who won the race. The confusion in the scoring led to a controversy, wherein second place

'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 track position, and estimated that they were still one lap ahead of Graham Hill at the finish. The scoring pylon, which was manually controlled and unofficial, changed frequently and somewhat sporadically as the scoring was ironed out, much to the dismay of Clark's crew in particular, and much to the confusion of spectators. The unofficial results at the conclusion of the race showed

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

admitted to having an "uneventful race", being "puzzled" and "surprised" to be the winner, while other unsatisfied competitors quipped 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 Talk of Gasoline Alley," Network Indiana, May 11, 2006 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

's official tally. Therefore, he was effectively placed behind Hill at the finish. The car of Al Unser 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. Another version of the theory suggests an opposite situation - one of Unser's laps was erroneously credited to Clark's tally early on, and when the scoring serials were compiled and settled later in the race, the extra lap was correctly deleted. Alongside the controversy between Hill and Clark, fourth place Gordon Johncock is also theorized by some observers to have actually been the rightful winner of the race. Johncock completed the 500 miles in less elapsed time than Hill, Clark, and third place Jim McElreath. However, Johncock had suffered minor damage during the first lap accident, and restarted the race in the pit lane due to the crew changing the nose cone. USAC officials did not score his first lap out of the pit lane, and he effectively ran all day carrying a one lap penalty to the field.

Box score

Alternates

*First alternate:

Dick Atkins Richard Charles Atkins (April 23, 1936 – November 13, 1966) was an American racing driver from Oakland, California. Atkins came up in sprint cars and won the Turkey Night Grand Prix in 1965 and was rewarded by race promoter J. C. Agajanian with ...

(#97)

Failed to qualify

* Jim Adams – Entry declined, lack of experience * Gary Bettenhausen (#61) – Entry declined, lack of experience * Ronnie Bucknum (#68) * Bill Cheesbourg (#79, #99) *

Jack Conely Jack may refer to: Places * Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community * Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community * Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas, USA People and fictional characters * Jack (given name), a male given name, ...

(#89) – Did not appear/failed engine in practice *

Dick Fries Dick, Dicks, or Dick's may refer to: Media * ''Dicks'' (album), a 2004 album by Fila Brazillia * Dicks (band), a musical group * ''Dick'' (film), a 1999 American comedy film * "Dick" (song), a 2019 song by Starboi3 featuring Doja Cat Names ...

– Entry declined, lack of experience * Masten Gregory (#63, #78) *

Dick Guldstrand Dick, Dicks, or Dick's may refer to: Media * ''Dicks'' (album), a 2004 album by Fila Brazillia * Dicks (band), a musical group * ''Dick'' (film), a 1999 American comedy film * "Dick" (song), a 2019 song by Starboi3 featuring Doja Cat Names ...

– Entry declined, lack of experience *

Bob Harkey Bob Harkey (June 23, 1930January 16, 2016) was an American driver in the USAC Championship Car series from Charlotte, North Carolina. He raced in the 1963–1979 seasons, with 85 career starts, including the Indianapolis 500 in 1964, 1971 and 197 ...

(#85) *

Bob Hurt Bob, BOB, or B.O.B. may refer to: Places * Mount Bob, New York, United States *Bob Island, Palmer Archipelago, Antarctica People, fictional characters, and named animals *Bob (given name), a list of people and fictional characters *Bob (surname ...

(#36) *

Bruce Jacobi Harold "Bruce" Jacobi (June 23, 1935 – February 4, 1987) was an American race car driver. In 1987, Jacobi, 51, died of head injuries sustained in a NASCAR race crash at the Daytona International Speedway in 1983. He had 37 USAC Champ Car start ...

(#68) * Bobby Johns (#41) * Jud Larson – Did not appear * Ron Lux (#55) *

Art Malone Arthur Malone (June 3, 1936 – March 29, 2013; Tampa, Florida) was an American race car driver who was successful in both drag racing and American open-wheel car racing, an unusual combination of skills. Career Malone is known primarily ...

(#32) *

Bob Mathouser Bob Mathouser (March 15, 1926 – November 15, 1980), was an American racecar driver. Born in Omaha, Nebraska, Mathouser died in Los Angeles, California. He drove in the USAC Championship Car series, racing in the 1961-1966 seasons, with 30 ...

(#96) *

Mike McGreevey Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and document ...

(#85) * Hal Minyard (#44) *

Dave Paul David M. Paul (born 1968) is a Democratic member of the Washington House of Representatives. Paul, who worked at Skagit Valley College for a decade, was first elected to the state legislature in 2018, running against Republican incumbent Dave ...

* Art Pollard (#44) * Red Riegel (#87) *

Chuck Rodee Chuck Rodee (born Charles J. Rodeghier September 8, 1927 – May 14, 1966) was an American racecar driver who died while attempting to qualify for the 1966 Indianapolis 500.Ebb Rose Jesse Ebb Rose (February 27, 1925, Houston, Texas – August 27, 2007) was an American racecar driver. Rose raced in the United States Automobile Club, USAC Championship Car series in the 1961–1963 seasons, with 4 career starts, including the 19 ...

– Did not appear * Johnny Rutherford (#92) – Withdrew, injured * Sammy Sessions (#38) * Gig Stephens (#71) – Did not appear * Chuck Stevenson (#11) * Bob Tattersall (#61) *

Bob Veith Bob Veith (November 1, 1924 – March 29, 2006) was an American racecar driver. Veith drove in the AAA and USAC Championship Car series, racing from 1955 to 1968 with 63 starts. He finished in the top ten 37 times, with a best finish of 2n ...

(#67) *

(#15, #76) *

Bob Wente Bob Wente (May 28, 1933 – August 13, 2000) was an American racing driver. Midget car He started racing midget cars in 1953 at the St. Louis Auto Racing Association. He won the Midwest region of the USAC National Midget championship in 1960 ...

(#65, #85) *

Billy Wilkerson William Richard "Billy" Wilkerson (September 29, 1890 – September 2, 1962) was the founder of ''The Hollywood Reporter'', a real estate developer in Las Vegas and owner of such nightclubs as Ciro's. His series of columns known as "Billy's L ...

– Entry declined, lack of experience *

Dempsey Wilson Dempsey Cothrin Wilson (March 11, 1927 – April 23, 1971) was an American racecar driver. Wilson was born in Los Angeles, California. He began his racing career on Southern California short tracks, racing roadsters, then midgets and stock ca ...

(#51) * LeeRoy Yarbrough (#76)

Race statistics

Broadcasting

Radio

The race was carried live on the IMS Radio Network.

Sid Collins Sid Collins (born Sidney Cahn Jr.) (July 17, 1922 – May 2, 1977) was an American broadcaster best known as the radio voice of the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network from 1952–1976. Collins coined th ...

served as chief announcer. Len Sutton joined the crew, serving as "driver expert," replacing Fred Agabashian. The network had gained sponsorship from Autolite, but Agabashian worked for Champion, and he considered it a conflict of interest, so he stepped aside. He would eventually return to the network in 1973–77. At the conclusion of the race, Lou Palmer reported from victory lane. The broadcast was scheduled for four and a half hours (including a 30-minute pre-race), but the red flag delay at the start extended it. The broadcast was carried on over 725 affiliates in all 50 states, and 850 stations worldwide including shortwave transmissions from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and Los Angeles, and XEVIP in Mexico City. Through Armed Forces Network, the broadcast reached worldwide to locations including Vietnam,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, Korea,

Saigon , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...

, Okinowa, Philippines, England, Spain,

the Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

, Italy, France, Germany, Turkey, Greece, Pakistan, Morocco, Libya,

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, Iceland, Labrador, Greenland, and both the North and

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

poles. In the Indianapolis area, nearly every major radio station simulcast the broadcast. The race was heard by an estimated 100 million listeners. 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. The off-air, two-man serial scoring team of Bill Fleetemeyer and Bill Lamb were commended for their contributions to the broadcast. During this era, the radio network crew typically facilitated its own team of unofficial serial scorers to track the progress of the race. That allowed the scoring reports to be announced on-air faster than the official USAC scorekeepers could produce them from race control. Despite the controversy over the scoring between winner Graham Hill and second place Jim Clark, Fleetemeyer and Lamb also came up with Hill as the first place car. For 1967, the flagship station changed from WIBC to WTHI in Terre Haute. Guests in the booth during the red flag delay included

Peter DePaolo Pete DePaolo (April 6, 1898 – November 26, 1980) was an American race car driver who won the 1925 Indianapolis 500. Biography Peter DePaolo was born on April 6, 1898, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Pete saw his first race in 1919, where he w ...

, Cesar Romero, Johnnie Parsons, Wally Parks, Lucy Foyt, Phil Harris, General Howdy Wilcox, and Larry Bisceglia. During the race, guests that stopped by included Walt Arfons, Frank Borman, Al Bloemker, Louis Meyer, Mickey Thompson,

J. C. Agajanian Joshua C. James "Aggie" Agajanian (June 16, 1913May 5, 1984) was an influential Armenian-American figure in American motorsports history. He was a promoter and race car owner. Early life Agajanian was born in San Pedro, Los Angeles, Californ ...

, and Duke Nalon.

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

Birch Bayh visited the booth, accompanied by Wyoming

Gale W. McGee Gale William McGee (March 17, 1915April 9, 1992) was a United States Senate, United States Senator of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, and United States Ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS). He represente ...

and

Secretary of Agriculture The United States secretary of agriculture is the head of the United States Department of Agriculture. The position carries similar responsibilities to those of agriculture ministers in other governments. The department includes several organi ...

Orville Freeman. As a gesture celebrating the network's 15th anniversary, as well as the 50th running of the 500, guests were presented with a commemorative gold filled Zippo lighter. One station, KXO in California, was noted and recognized as being one of the few original affiliates to carry the race all fifteen years since the network's inception.

Television

The race was shown

live Live may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film *'' ''Live'' (Apocalyptica DVD) Music *Live (band), American alternative rock band * List of albums ...

MCA MCA may refer to: Astronomy * Mars-crossing asteroid, an asteroid whose orbit crosses that of Mars Aviation * Minimum crossing altitude, a minimum obstacle crossing altitude for fixes on published airways * Medium Combat Aircraft, a 5th gene ...

closed-circuit television Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly t ...

in nearly 200 theaters across the United States. Charlie Brockman served as anchor. For the first time, the feed was transmitted internationally to Europe utilizing the "Early Bird" satellite. A short video clip showing the restart after the first-lap accident, and a longer clip of the last 55 laps of the race, both synchronized to audio from the IMS Radio broadcast, have been posted on YouTube. The race was carried in the United States on ABC's '' Wide World of Sports''. The broadcast aired on Saturday June 4.

Chris Schenkel Christopher Eugene Schenkel (August 21, 1923 – September 11, 2005) was an American sportscaster. Over the course of five decades he called play-by-play for numerous sports on television and radio, becoming known for his smooth delivery and bar ...

anchored the telecast for the first time. Much of the video was culled from the live closed-circuit color telecast of the race.

Gallery

File:Mercury Comet 1966 Indy 500 pace car.jpg, 1966 pace car

Notes

References

Works cited

Indianapolis 500 History: Race & All-Time Stats
- Official Site *1966 Indianapolis 500 Radio Broadcast, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network {{IndyCar Series on ABC Indianapolis 500 races Indianapolis 500 Indianapolis 500 1966 in American motorsport May 1966 sports events in the United States