1959 Indianapolis 500

Fact File

Date:	Saturday, 30 May 1959
Winner:	Rodger Ward Watson-Offenhauser
Pole position:	Johnny Thomson Lesovsky-Offenhauser
Fastest lap:	Johnny Thomson Lesovsky-Offenhauser
Circuit:	Indianapolis, 200 laps
Round:	2 of 9

Race Result

Pos		Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time	Points
1	+5	Rodger Ward	Watson-Offenhauser	200	3hr 40m 49.200s	8
2	+1	Jim Rathmann	Watson-Offenhauser	200	+23.277s	6
3	-2	Johnny Thomson	Lesovsky-Offenhauser	200		5 FL
4	+11	Tony Bettenhausen	Epperly-Offenhauser	200		3
5	+11	Paul Goldsmith	Epperly-Offenhauser	200		2
6	+5	Johnny Boyd	Epperly-Offenhauser	200
7	+5	Duane Carter	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	200
8		Eddie Johnson	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	200
9	+18	Paul Russo	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	200
10	+7	AJ Foyt	Kuzma-Offenhauser	200
11	-2	Gene Hartley	Kuzma-Offenhauser	200
12	-5	Bob Veith	Moore-Offenhauser	200
13	+10	Al Herman	Dunn-Offenhauser	200
14	-1	Jimmy Daywalt	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	200
15	+6	Chuck Arnold	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	200
16	+17	Jim McWithey	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	200
17	-15	Eddie Sachs	Kuzma-Offenhauser	182	DNF
18	+10	Al Keller	Kuzma-Offenhauser	163	DNF
19	-1	Pat Flaherty	Watson-Offenhauser	162	DNF
20	-16	Dick Rathmann	Watson-Offenhauser	150	DNF
21	+9	Bill Cheesbourg	Kuzma-Offenhauser	147	DNF
22	+3	Don Freeland	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	136	DNF
23	+9	Ray Crawford	Elder-Offenhauser	115	DNF
24	-14	Don Branson	Phillips-Offenhauser	112	DNF
25	-1	Bob Christie	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	109	DNF
26	-21	Bobby Grim	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	85	DNF
27	-13	Jack Turner	Christensen-Offenhauser	47	DNF
28	+1	Chuck Weyant	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	45	DNF
29	-10	Jud Larson	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	45	DNF
30	+1	Mike Magill	Sutton-Offenhauser	45	DNF
31	-5	Red Amick	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	45	DNF
32	-10	Len Sutton	Lesovsky-Offenhauser	34	DNF
33	-13	Jimmy Bryan	Epperly-Offenhauser	1	DNF

Championship Standings

How the championship standings stood post-race.

Driver

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Jack Brabham	9
2	Rodger Ward	8
3	Tony Brooks	6
=	Jim Rathmann	6
5	Johnny Thomson	5
6	Maurice Trintignant	4
7	Phil Hill	3
=	Tony Bettenhausen	3
9	Bruce McLaren	2
=	Paul Goldsmith	2

Constructor

Pos	Constructor	Points
1	Cooper-Climax	8
2	Ferrari	6

Statistics & Milestones

Race debut

Driver: Red Amick, Chuck Arnold (only start), Don Branson, Bobby Grim, Jim McWithey

Constructor: Christensen, Elder (only start), Sutton (only start)

Last start

Driver: Bill Cheesbourg, Ray Crawford, Jimmy Daywalt, Pat Flaherty, Al Keller, Jud Larson, Mike Magill, Paul Russo, Jack Turner, Chuck Weyant

Constructor: Moore

Wins

Driver: 1st and only for Rodger Ward (22nd different winner, 9th American driver)

Constructor: 2nd for Watson

Race 1-2

Constructor: 1st for Watson (7th different constructor to finish 1-2)

Podiums

Driver: 3rd for Jim Rathmann, 1st for Rodger Ward (62nd different podium finisher, 26th American driver), 1st and only for Johnny Thomson (63rd different podium finisher, 27th American driver)

Constructor: 2nd & 3rd for Watson, 1st and only for Lesovsky (18th different podium finisher)

Poles

Driver: 1st and only for Johnny Thomson (19th different polesitter, 10th American driver)

Constructor: 1st and only for Lesovsky (11th different polesitter)

Fastest laps

Driver: 1st and only for Johnny Thomson (25th different fastest lap setter, 9th American driver)

Constructor: 1st and only for Lesovsky (11th different fastest lap setter)

Front row starts

Driver: 2nd for Eddie Sachs & Jim Rathmann, 1st and only for Johnny Thomson (45th different front row starter, 22nd American driver)

Points finishes

Driver: 4th and last for Tony Bettenhausen, 1st for Rodger Ward & Paul Goldsmith (99th & 100th different point scorers, 35th & 36th American drivers)

See also

• Indianapolis 500
• Indianapolis Circuit
• 1959 World Championship season