The 1963 Tony Bettenhausen 200 was the seventh round of the

1963 USAC Championship Car season The 1963 USAC Championship Car season consisted of 12 races, beginning in Trenton, New Jersey on April 21 and concluding in Phoenix, Arizona on November 17. There was also one non-championship event at Pikes Peak, Colorado. The USAC National Ch ...

, held on August 18, 1963, at the

Milwaukee Mile The Milwaukee Mile is a oval race track in the central United States, located on the grounds of the Wisconsin State Fair Park in West Allis, Wisconsin, a suburb west of Milwaukee. Its grandstand and bleachers seats approximately 37,000 spectato ...

, in

West Allis, Wisconsin West Allis is a city in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. A suburb of Milwaukee, it is part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area. The population was 60,325 at the 2020 census. History The name West Allis derives from Edward P. Allis, ...

. The race was the first

American Championship Car American open-wheel car racing, also known as Indy car racing, is a category of professional automobile racing in the United States. As of 2022, the top-level American open-wheel racing championship is sanctioned by IndyCar. Competitive events ...

race won by a rear-engined car. Jim Clark and

Team Lotus Team Lotus was the motorsport sister company of English sports car manufacturer Lotus Cars. The team ran cars in many motorsport categories including Formula One, Formula Two, Formula Ford, Formula Junior, IndyCar, and sports car racing. Mor ...

had finished second at the

1963 Indianapolis 500 The 47th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Thursday, May 30, 1963. Rufus Parnell Jones, also known as " Parnelli," took his only Indy 500 win. This win was controversial because ...

after a controversy surrounding the lack of a black flag for winner

Parnelli Jones Rufus Parnell Jones (born August 12, 1933) is an American former professional racing driver and racing team owner. He is notable for his accomplishments while competing in the Indianapolis 500 and the Baja 1000 desert race. In 1962, he became the ...

, whose car was leaking oil.

Colin Chapman Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman (19 May 1928 – 16 December 1982) was an English design engineer, inventor, and builder in the automotive industry, and founder of Lotus Cars. In 1952 he founded the sports car company Lotus Cars. Chapman ...

and Team Lotus decided to return to Champ Car competition at Milwaukee and Trenton later in the year. The rear-engined Lotuses dominated practice and qualifying, breaking the track record by over a second. In the race, Clark led all 200 laps and lapped the entire field, save for second place

A. J. Foyt Anthony Joseph Foyt Jr. (born January 16, 1935) is an American retired auto racing driver who has raced in numerous genres of motorsports. His open wheel racing includes United States Automobile Club Champ cars, sprint cars, and midget cars. H ...

. Clark's teammate

Dan Gurney Daniel Sexton Gurney (April 13, 1931 – January 14, 2018) was an American racing driver, race car constructor, and team owner who reached racing's highest levels starting in 1958. Gurney won races in the Formula One, Indy Car, NASCAR, Can-Am, ...

finished third, battling a misfire. Although a rear-engined car would not win the

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 ...

until 1965, the win signaled a shift in Champ Car design. The last win for a front-engined roadster on a paved track was the opening round of the 1965 season at

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

, barely a year and a half after Clark's Milwaukee victory.

Qualifying

Clark, Gurney, Foyt, and Jones broke the previous qualifying record set in 1961 by

Don Branson Donald L. Branson (June 2, 1920 – November 12, 1966) was an American racecar driver. Career Born in Rantoul, Illinois, Branson drove in the USAC Championship Car series and also in sprint cars, racing champ cars in the 1956–1966 seasons w ...

at 34.09 sec (105.62 mph / 169.94 km/h).

Race result

Standings after the race

;National Championship standings * Note: Only the top five positions are included.

References

{{reflist

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 ...

Milwaukee Indy 225