The 36th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was a motor race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Friday, May 30, 1952. It was the opening race of the 1952 AAA National Championship Trail and was also race 2 of 8 in the 1952 World Championship of Drivers.
Troy Ruttman won the race for car owner J. C. Agajanian. Ruttman, aged 22 years and 80 days, set the record for the youngest 500 winner in history. It was also the last dirt track car to win at Indy. Ruttman's win also saw him become the youngest winner of a World Drivers' Championship race, a record he would hold for 51 years until the 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix when Spanish driver Fernando Alonso won at the age of 22 years and 26 days.
Bill Vukovich led 150 laps, but with 9 laps to go, he broke a steering linkage while leading. He nursed his car to a stop against the outside wall, preventing other cars from getting involved in the incident.
In the third year that the 500 was included in the World Championship, Ferrari entered the race with Alberto Ascari driving a Ferrari 375 Indianapolis. The effort gained considerable attention, but Ascari was forced to retire after a few laps when the hub of a wheel on his car collapsed. He was classified 31st. It was the only World Championship race in 1952 that Ascari entered and did not win.
Fifth place finisher Art Cross was voted the Rookie of the Year. Though at least one rookie starter was in the field every year dating back to 1911, this was the first time the now-popular award was officially designated.
Time trials Time trials was scheduled for four days, but rain pushed qualifying into a fifth day.
Saturday May 17 – Pole Day time trials Sunday May 18 – Second day time trials (rained out) Saturday May 24 – Third day time trials Sunday May 25 – Fourth day time trials (rained out) Monday May 26 – Fifth day time trials (rain make up day)
Starting grid RowInsideMiddleOutside 128 Fred Agabashian9 Andy Linden4 Jack McGrath 236 Duke Nalon18 Sam Hanks1 Duane Carter 398 Troy Ruttman26 Bill Vukovich22 Cliff Griffith 459 Jim Rathmann16 Chuck Stevenson2 Henry Banks 565 George Fonder54 George Connor7 Bill Schindler 614 Joe James55 Bobby Ball67 Gene Hartley 712 Alberto Ascari 33 Art Cross 77 Jimmy Bryan 834 Rodger Ward37 Jimmy Reece 81 Eddie Johnson 993 Bob Scott 29 Jim Rigsby 21 Chet Miller 108 Manny Ayulo48 Spider Webb27 Tony Bettenhausen 115 Johnnie Parsons 73 Bob Sweikert 31 Johnny McDowell
Failed to qualify All drivers from the United States unless stated.
Frank Armi (#39) George Armstrong – Did not arrive Buzz Barton (#58) Joe Barzda (#53) Bill Boyd (#92) – Did not arrive Bill Cantrell (#52) Neal Carter (#25) Jimmy Daywalt (#64) Duke Dinsmore (#68) Giuseppe Farina – Withdrew Walt Faulkner (#3) Johnny Fedricks (#82) Carl Forberg (#53) Gene Force (#96) Dick Fraizer (#63) Potsy Goacher (#93) Perry Grimm (#55) Peter Hahn (#74) Allen Heath (#32, #97) Tommy Hinnershitz (#27) Jackie Holmes (#41) Jimmy Jackson (#61) Danny Kladis (#19) Jud Larson (#39, #66) Bayliss Levrett (#69) – Wrecked practice, retired Frank Luptow (#56) George Lynch (#74) Johnny Mauro (#35) Mike Nazaruk (#5, #66) Danny Oakes (#39) Puffy Puffer Paul Russo (#10) Carl Scarborough (#33, #44) Albert Scully (#62) – Did not arrive Doc Shanebrook (#76) Ottis Stine (#84) Bill Taylor (#47) George Tichenor (#88) Johnnie Tolan (#51) Leroy Warriner (#27) Chuck Weyant (#92) – Did not arrive
Box score FinishGridNo.DriverConstructorQualifyingLapsTime/RetiredPointsSpeedRank 1 7 98 Troy Ruttman Kuzma-Offenhauser 135.36 18 200 128.922 mph 1000 8 2 10 59 Jim Rathmann Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser 136.34 7 200 +4:02.33 800 6 3 5 18 Sam Hanks Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser 135.73 14 200 +6:11.61 700 4 4 6 1 Duane Carter Lesovsky-Offenhauser 135.52 16 200 +6:48.34 600 3 5 20 33 Art Cross Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser 134.28 26 200 +8:40.15 500 2 6 21 77 Jimmy Bryan Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser 134.14 27 200 +9:24.32 400 7 23 37 Jimmy Reece Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser 133.99 29 200 +10:35.24 300 8 14 54 George Connor Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser 135.60 15 200 +12:00.61 250 9 9 22 Cliff Griffith Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser 136.61 6 200 +12:23.76 200 10 31 5 Johnnie Parsons Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser 135.32 19 200 +13:37.78 150 11 3 4 Jack McGrath Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser 136.66 5 200 +14:21.72 100 12 26 29 Jim Rigsby Watson-Offenhauser 133.90 33 200 +16:05.10 50 13 16 14 Joe James Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser 134.95 22 200 +16:55.65 14 15 7 Bill Schindler Stevens-Offenhauser 134.98 20 200 +18:48.66 15 13 65 George Fonder Sherman-Offenhauser 135.94 13 197 +3 Laps 16 24 81 Eddie Johnson Trevis-Offenhauser 133.97 30 193 +7 Laps 17 8 26 Bill Vukovich Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser 138.21 2 191 Steering 1 18 11 16 Chuck Stevenson Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser 136.14 9 187 +13 Laps 19 12 2 Henry Banks Lesovsky-Offenhauser 135.96 11 184 +16 Laps 20 28 8 Manny Ayulo Lesovsky-Offenhauser 135.98 10 184 +16 Laps 21 33 31 Johnny McDowell Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser 133.93 32 182 +18 Laps 22 29 48 Spider Webb Bromme-Offenhauser 135.96 12 162 Oil leak 23 22 34 Rodger Ward Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser 134.13 28 130 Oil Pressure 24 30 27 Tony Bettenhausen Diedt-Offenhauser 135.38 17 93 Oil Pressure 25 4 36 Duke Nalon Kurtis Kraft-Novi 136.18 8 84 Supercharger 26 32 73 Bob Sweikert Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser 134.98 21 77 Differential 27 1 28 Fred Agabashian Kurtis Kraft-Cummins diesel 138.01 3 71 Turbocharger 28 18 67 Gene Hartley Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser 134.34 24 65 Exhaust 29 25 93 Bob Scott Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser 133.95 31 49 Transmission 30 27 21 Chet Miller Kurtis Kraft-Novi 139.03 1 41 Supercharger 31 19 12 Alberto Ascari Ferrari 134.30 25 40 Wheel 32 17 55 Bobby Ball Stevens-Offenhauser 134.72 23 34 Gearbox 33 2 9 Andy Linden Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser 137.00 4 20 Oil Pump Source:
Former Indianapolis 500 winner
Indianapolis 500 Rookie
All entrants utilized Firestone tires.
– 1 point for fastest lead lap
Race statistics
Lap Leaders Laps Leader1–6 Jack McGrath7–11 Bill Vukovich12 Troy Ruttman13–61 Bill Vukovich62–82 Troy Ruttman83–134 Bill Vukovich135–147 Troy Ruttman148–191 Bill Vukovich192–200 Troy Ruttman
Total laps led Driver LapsBill Vukovich 150Troy Ruttman 44Jack McGrath 6
Yellow Lights: 2 minutes Laps* Reason40 Alberto Ascari spin in turn 3 (50 seconds)191 Bill Vukovich against the wall in turn 2 (1:10)* – Approximate lap counts
Notes Pole position: Fred Agabashian – 4:20.85 (4 laps) Agabashian's Cummins Diesel Special was the first entry in the Indianapolis 500 to be powered by a turbocharged engine (then described as "turbosupercharged"). Gear-driven centrifugal blowers known as "superchargers" had been used since the 1920s to increase the volumetric efficiency and power output of racing engines, but the Cummins Diesel was the first to make use of the "free" energy contained in the engine exhaust stream to drive a turbine wheel connected to a centrifugal blower (thus, "turbo-supercharging"). Fastest Lead Lap: Bill Vukovich – 1:06.60 (135.135 mph) As of 2022, Troy Ruttman remains the youngest driver to win the Indianapolis 500, at 22 years and 80 days.Davidson, Donald. (2007). "The Talk of Gasoline Alley" [Radio program]. WIBC (FM), April 30, 2007. Archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20070928124654/http://media.wibc.com/av/audio/talk_gas/2007/april30.mp3, retrieved on January 6, 2016. Ruttman also became the youngest driver to win a race counting for the World Championship of Drivers. His record was broken by Fernando Alonso at the 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix. 1952 was the only occasion when the fastest (Chet Miller) and slowest (Jim Rigsby) qualifiers for the race started next to each other. 1952 was the first Indy 500 in which not a single relief driver was utilized during the race."WIBC All Night Race Party - 2007
Broadcasting
Radio The race was carried live on the radio on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network. During the offseason, the Speedway management created the network to handle broadcasting duties in-house. The arrangement was under the flagship of 1070 WIBC-AM of Indianapolis, and featured a crew that consisted mostly of WIBC talent. WIBC landed exclusive rights of the broadcast in the Indianapolis market, which eventually would draw the ire of the other major stations in the area. In later years, the broadcast would be carried on all five stations inside the city, and they would utilize talent and crew representing each station.
Sid Collins served as booth announcer. Jim Shelton was among the turn reporters, reporting from turn 4. Gordon Graham reported from the pits and from victory lane. Like previous years, the broadcast featured live coverage of the start, the finish, and 15-minute live updates throughout the race. At least twenty stations around the county picked up the broadcast.
World Drivers' Championship
Background The Indianapolis 500 was included in the FIA World Championship of Drivers from 1950 through 1960. The race was sanctioned by AAA through 1955, and then by USAC beginning in 1956. At the time the new world championship was announced and first organized by the CSI, the United States did not yet have a Grand Prix. Indianapolis Motor Speedway vice president and general manager Theodore E. "Pop" Meyers lobbied that the Indianapolis 500 be selected as the race to represent the country and to pay points towards the world championship.
Drivers competing at the Indianapolis 500 in 1950 through 1960 were credited with participation in and earned points towards the World Championship of Drivers. However, the machines competing at Indianapolis were not necessarily run to Formula One specifications and regulations. The drivers also earned separate points (on a different scale) towards the respective AAA or USAC national championships. No points, however, were awarded by the FIA towards the World Constructors' Championship.
Summary The 1952 Indianapolis 500 was round 2 of 8 of the 1952 World Championship. Alberto Ascari, driving for Ferrari, competed in the race. He became the first European-based driver who was seriously competing for the World Championship to come to Indianapolis to race in the 500. In doing so, Ascari skipped the Swiss Grand Prix. He dropped out early and finished 31st. He failed to score any points, but he would go on to win the remaining seven races and won the world title. Race winner Troy Ruttman earned 8 points towards the World Championship and finished seventh in the final season standings.
World Drivers' Championship standings after the race Pos Driver Points 1 Piero Taruffi 9 20 2 Troy Ruttman 8 1 3 Rudi Fischer 6 18 4 Jim Rathmann 6 2 5 Jean Behra 4Source:
References
External links
Indianapolis 500 History: Race & All-Time Stats – Official Site Van Camp's Pork & Beans Presents: Great Moments From the Indy 500 – Fleetwood Sounds, 1975