The 33rd International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was an automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Monday, May 30, 1949. After two years of failures to his teammate,

Bill Holland Willard Holland (December 18, 1907 – May 19, 1984)) was an American race car driver from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who won the Indianapolis 500 in 1949 and finished second in 1947, 1948 and 1950. He also was runner up in the 1947 American ...

finally won one for himself, giving car owner

Lou Moore Lewis Henry Moore (September 12, 1904 Hinton, Oklahoma – March 25, 1956 Atlanta, Georgia) was an American racecar driver. He was most known during his racing career for qualifying on the pole position of the 1932 Indianapolis 500. He was lat ...

his third consecutive Indy victory.

Mauri Rose Maurice "Mauri" Rose (May 26, 1906 – January 1, 1981) was an American racecar driver. He started from the pole position driving a Maserati in the 1941 Indianapolis 500, but spark plug problems put him out of the race after sixty laps. He then t ...

was fired by the team after the race when he again ignored orders and tried to pass Holland, only to see his car fail with 8 laps to go. Spider Webb suffered a broken transmission the morning of the race and failed to start. Rather than utilize an alternate starter, officials awarded Webb 33rd finishing position.

Results

Alternates

*First alternate: Ralph Pratt (#34)

Failed to Qualify

* Les Anderson (#74) *

Henry Banks Henry Banks (June 14, 1913 – December 18, 1994) was an American midget car and "big car" driver. "Married Roseanne Eisamann, two children, John Allen Banks, and Kathryn Roseanne Banks, three grandchildren Allen Edwin Banks, Jeffrey Henry Banks ...

(#35) * Frank Beardsley * Randall Beinke (#42) *

Tony Bettenhausen Melvin Eugene "Tony" Bettenhausen (September 12, 1916 – May 12, 1961) was an American racing driver, who won the National Championship in 1951 and 1958. Bettenhausen was nicknamed the "Tinley Park Express" in honor of his hometown. He was ...

(#16, #46) *

Lindley Bothwell Lindley Bothwell (August 1, 1901 – June 19, 1986) was a prosperous Southern California orange grower, a consulting citrus agriculturalist from his Lindley Bothwell Ranch in the San Fernando Valley, and an antique automobile collector and racer. ...

(#66) * Frank Brisko (#48) * Walt Brown (#18) * Jim Brubaker (#79) * Frank Burany (#24) *

Jimmy Daywalt Jimmy Daywalt (August 28, 1924 – April 4, 1966) was an American racecar driver. Born in Wabash, Indiana, he drove in the AAA and USAC Championship Car series, racing in the 1950, 1953–1957, 1959, and 1961–1962 seasons with 20 starts. He fi ...

(#56) *

Billy Devore Louis Wiley "Billy" Devore (12 September 1910, St. John, Kansas – 12 August 1985, Indianapolis, Indiana) was an American racecar driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving th ...

* Ted Duncan (#72) * Kenny Eaton (#55) * Milt Fankhouser (#73) * Pat Flaherty (#43) *

Dick Fraizer 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 ...

(#59) *

Eddie Haddad Eddie Haddad (February 20, 1928 in Winnipeg, Manitoba – August 14, 1978 in Chilliwack, British Columbia) was a boxer primarily active in the 1940s in Manitoba and British Columbia. His first major international tournament was at the 1948 O ...

(#47) *

Mel Hansen Melvin Lloyd Hansen (born July 11, 1911, Redfield, South Dakota – Died June 5, 1963, San Bernardino, California) was an American racecar driver. Hansen was nicknamed the "Firecracker Kid" because he loved to throw the explosive devices unde ...

(#44) *

Tommy Hinnershitz Thomas Paul Hinnershitz (April 6, 1912 – August 1, 1999) was an American race car driver. Hinnershitz was active through the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s on dirt, asphalt and boards, driving "Big Cars" (later Sprint Cars), at that time slightly ...

(#15, #18) * Byron Horne (#39) *

Danny Kladis Danny Kladis (February 10, 1917 – April 26, 2009) was an American racecar driver. He was born in Crystal City, Missouri and died at Joliet, Illinois. 92-year-old Kladis was the oldest living Indy 500 starter at the time of his death. Racin ...

(#58) * Tommy Mattson *

Johnny Mauro Johnny Mauro (October 25, 1910 – January 23, 2003) was an American racecar driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto r ...

(#16) * George Metzler (#67) - Fatal accident *

Chet Miller Chester Miller (July 19, 1902 – May 15, 1953) was an American racecar driver. He was killed in a crash in the south turn of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during practice for the 1953 Indianapolis 500. Yates, Brock W. "The Indianapolis 500 ...

(#65) *

Hal Robson Harold Robson (August 16, 1911 – July 2, 1996) was a Canadian-American racecar driver active in the 1940s. He was the brother of 1946 Indianapolis 500 The 30th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedwa ...

(#23) * Mike Salay (#49) * Wally Stokes (#75) * Bill Taylor (#51) *

Joel Thorne Joel W. Thorne (16 October 1914 New York City – 17 October 1955 North Hollywood, California) was an American racecar driver, engineer, and playboy. He died when he crashed his private plane, after what witnesses described as "stunting", into ...

(#81) *

Louis Tomei Luigi Gilbert "Louis" Tomei (February 17, 1910 in Portland, Oregon – May 15, 1955 in Los Angeles) was an American racecar driver active during the 1930s and 1940s, and a stuntman active during the 1940s and 1950s. Indy 500 results S ...

(#42) * Doc Williams (#65)

Broadcasting

Radio

The race was carried live on the

Mutual Broadcasting System The Mutual Broadcasting System (commonly referred to simply as Mutual; sometimes referred to as MBS, Mutual Radio or the Mutual Radio Network) was an American commercial radio network in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the Old-time radio, golden ...

, the precursor to the

IMS Radio Network The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network (known typically as the IMS Radio Network or the INDYCAR Radio Network), is an in-house radio syndication arrangement which broadcasts the Indianapolis 500, the NTT IndyCar Series, and Indy Lights to ...

. The broadcast was sponsored by Perfect Circle Piston Rings and Bill Slater served as the anchor. The broadcast featured live coverage of the start, the finish, and live updates throughout the race.

Television

The race was carried live for the first time in history on local television on WFBM-TV channel 6 of Indianapolis. The station signed on for the first time race morning May 30, 1949, with a documentary about the race entitled ''The Crucible of Speed'', then covered the race itself. The race broadcast utilized three cameras located along the main stretch. Earl Townsend, Jr. who had worked previously as a radio reporter, was the first television announcer. Dick Pittenger and Paul Roberts joined Townsend along with engineer Robert Robbins. The telecast reached approximately 3,000 local households.

Notes

Works cited

*1949 Indianapolis 500 Radio Broadcast, Mutual: ''Re-broadcast'' on "The All-Night Race Party" – WIBC-AM (May 28, 2005) *Van Camp's Pork & Beans Presents: ''Great Moments From the Indy 500'' – Fleetwood Sounds, 1975

References

{{Indy 500 Indianapolis 500 races

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...