The 34th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Tuesday, May 30, 1950. The event was part of the 1950 AAA National Championship Trail. It was also race 3 of 7 in the 1950 World Championship of Drivers and paid points towards the

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

. The event, however, did not attract any European

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

drivers for 1950.

Giuseppe Farina Emilio Giuseppe Farina, also known as Giuseppe Antonio "Nino" Farina, (; 30 October 1906 – 30 June 1966) was an Italian racing driver and first official Formula One World Champion. He gained the title in 1950. He was the Italian Champion in ...

originally planned to enter, but his car never arrived. The Indianapolis 500 would be included on the World Championship calendar through

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Jan ...

. 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 Johnnie Woodrow Parsons'' The Talk of Gasoline Alley'' – 1070-AM WIBC, May 15, 2007 (July 4, 1918 – September 8, 1984) was an American race car driver from Los Angeles, California who won the Indianapolis 500 in 1950. During his racing care ...

's team discovered an irreparable crack in the

engine block In an internal combustion engine, the engine block is the structure which contains the cylinders and other components. In an early automotive engine, the engine block consisted of just the cylinder block, to which a separate crankcase was attac ...

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 An urban legend (sometimes contemporary legend, modern legend, urban myth, or urban tale) is a genre of folklore comprising stories or fallacious claims circulated as true, especially as having happened to a "friend of a friend" or a family m ...

, and it was said to be a very minor but acceptable level of

porosity Porosity or void fraction is a measure of the void (i.e. "empty") spaces in a material, and is a fraction of the volume of voids over the total volume, between 0 and 1, or as a percentage between 0% and 100%. Strictly speaking, some tests measur ...

, 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 Emilio Giuseppe Farina, also known as Giuseppe Antonio "Nino" Farina, (; 30 October 1906 – 30 June 1966) was an Italian racing driver and first official Formula One World Champion. He gained the title in 1950. He was the Italian Champion in ...

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 The 1950 British Grand Prix, formally known as The Royal Automobile Club Grand Prix d'Europe Incorporating The British Grand Prix, was a Formula One motor race held on 13 May 1950 at the Silverstone Circuit in Silverstone, England. It was the fi ...

, 17 days earlier) and Giancarlo Baghetti, who won the 1961 French Grand Prix. Despite the 500 being his only race in the World Championship, it would be enough to see him finish the championship 6th in points. During the month,

Clark Gable William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American film actor, often referred to as "The King of Hollywood". He had roles in more than 60 motion pictures in multiple genres during a career that lasted 37 years, three decades ...

and Barbara Stanwyck were at the track to film scenes for the film ''

To Please a Lady ''To Please a Lady'' is a 1950 American romance film produced and directed by Clarence Brown, and starring Clark Gable and Barbara Stanwyck. The climactic race scene was shot at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Plot Racing driver Mike Brannan ha ...

''. Stanwyck was on hand in victory lane after the race for the traditional celebratory kiss to the winner.

Time trials

Time trials was scheduled for six days. *Saturday May 13:

Walt Faulkner Walt Faulkner (February 16, 1918 – April 22, 1956) was an American racing driver from Tell, Texas. He moved to Milledgeville, Georgia at the age of two-and-a-half, and to Lake Wales, Florida at the age of eight. He then moved to San Diego, Cal ...

won the pole position with a record run of 134.343 mph. *Sunday May 14 *Saturday May 20: The third day of time trials saw six cars complete runs.

Bayliss Levrett Bayliss Levrett (February 14, 1914 – March 13, 2002) was an American racecar driver from Jacksonville, Florida. He died in Reno, Nevada at the age of 88 after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease. Award Levrett is a 2007 inductee in the Nati ...

(131.181 mph) was the fastest of the afternoon.

Charles Van Acker Charles Van Acker (14 March 1912 Brussels – 31 May 1998 South Bend, Indiana) was a Belgian-American racecar driver. He first attempted to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 in 1946 but was too slow. In 1947 he made the race and finished in 29t ...

was ruled physically disqualified, after a crash he suffered at the Speedway from 1949. *Sunday May 21 *Saturday May 27: The day began with 11 spots open in the grid. *Sunday May 28: Only one driver managed to bump his way into the field.

Johnny McDowell John Maxwell McDowell (January 29, 1915 – June 8, 1952) was an American racecar driver from Delavan, Illinois. He died in a qualifying crash at the Milwaukee Mile the week after the 1952 Indy 500. Racing career McDowell was raised in Pasa ...

bumped

Cliff Griffith Cliff Griffith (February 6, 1916 in Nineveh, Indiana – January 23, 1996 in Rochester, Indiana) was an American racecar driver. Griffith drove in the American Automobile Association, AAA and United States Automobile Club, USAC Championship Car s ...

, while 15 other cars failed to make the field. The two Novi entries failed to qualify –

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 ...

had engine trouble in one of the cars, while the other snapped a supercharger shaft. Rain and two crashes cut the track time to less than three hours.

Cy Marshall Cy Marshall (April 17, 1902 in Kansas City, Missouri – December 20, 1974 in Volusia, Florida) was an American racecar driver. Marshall was seriously injured and his riding mechanic, brother Paul Marshall, was killed in the 1930 Indy 500. He ...

was among the few left in line when time trials closed at 6 p.m.One Change In Lineup For Big Race (May 29, 1950)
/ref>

Box score

;Notes * – Includes 1 point for fastest lead lap = past winner
= rookie

Notes

* Pole position:

– 4:27.97 * Fastest Lead Lap:

– 1:09.77 * Shared drivers: **

Joie Chitwood George Rice Chitwood (April 14, 1912 – January 3, 1988), nicknamed "Joie", was an American racecar driver and businessman. He is best known as a daredevil in the Joie Chitwood Thrill Show. Background Chitwood was born in Denison, Texas; he was ...

(82 laps) and

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 ...

(54 laps), after Bettenhausen retired. Points for 5th position were shared between the drivers. **

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 ...

(71 laps) and

Fred Agabashian Levon "Fred" Agabashian (August 21, 1913 – October 13, 1989) was an American racer of midget cars and Indy cars. Career Midget car racing Agabashian competed in his first midget car race in his teens. His first championship was the 1937 ...

(41 laps) **

(105 laps) and Bill Cantrell (3 laps) * First win for Firestone in the World Championship.

Qualifying

First alternate

Non-qualifiers

Championship standings after the race

;World Drivers' Championship standings * Note: Only the top five positions are listed. Only the best 4 results counted towards the Championship.

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. Sid Collins moved into the booth for the first time to serve as analyst, and conducted the victory lane interview at the conclusion of the race. The broadcast feature live coverage of the start, the finish, and live updates throughout the race. Prior to the race, it was reported that Slater might miss the race, due to illness. WIBC personality Sid Collins was named as a replacement, however, Slater was able to arrive in time for race day. Collins, who had previously served as a turn reporter, was invited to be the co-anchor in the booth. For the first time, Collins interviewed the winner in victory lane at the conclusion of the race. Collins claims he burned his trousers on Parsons's hot exhaust pipe during the interview, which took place in the rain. Because the race was shortened, Mutual had to interrupt ''

Queen for a Day ''Queen for a Day'' is an American radio and television game show that helped to usher in American listeners' and viewers' fascination with big-prize giveaway shows. ''Queen for a Day'' originated on the Mutual Radio Network on April 30, 1945, i ...

'' to cover the finish of the abbreviated event. This was cited by some as a reason why the Speedway would begin flag-to-flag coverage in 1953.

Television

The race was carried live for the second year in a row on local television on WFBM-TV channel 6 of Indianapolis. Earl Townsend, Jr. was the announcer, along with Dick Pittenger and Paul Roberts. After the race, Speedway management disallowed WFBM from broadcasting the race live again, feeling that gate attendance had been negatively affected.

References

External links

Indianapolis 500 History: Race & All-Time Stats
– Official Site *1950 Indianapolis 500 Radio Broadcast, Mutual *Van Camp's Pork & Beans Presents: ''Great Moments From the Indy 500'' – Fleetwood Sounds, 1975
1950 Indianapolis 500 at RacingReference.info
(Relief driver statistics) {{F1GP 50-59 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 ...

Indianapolis 1950 in American motorsport