Indianapolis, Ind. (September 14, 1957) - Jud Larson of Hickman Mills, Mo., Saturday broke Jimmy Bryan’s fabulous victory streak in the “Hoosier Hundred’’ auto race at the Indiana State Fairgrounds here.
Larson, who sat on the pole, took the lead on the 57th lap when Johnny Thomson, who had led from the start, went out with engine trouble.Bryan, Phoenix, Ariz., defending national champion and three-time winner of the classic, finished second. In third was George Amick of Venice, Calif.
“It was a lot of fun, but it was a lot of work,” Larson said from victory lane. Everything worked fine but A.J. Watson, my mechanic, deserves the credit because he kept the car running.”
Although covered from head to toe in dirt, Larson remarked that he didn’t mind because, after all, it was “pay dirt.”
Larson not only set a new track record in qualifying in 36.54 seconds, an average of 98.522 mile per hour on the one-mile dirt track but set a new record for 100 miles of 1 hour, 5 minutes and 23 seconds for an average of 91.75 miles per hour. The old record of 1 hour, 8 minutes and 48 seconds was set by the late Bob Sweikert in 1953.
Hard luck dogged out not only Thomson, but also Roger Ward of Los Angeles. Ward was riding in second and had come close to catching Larson several times but on the 77th lap he pulled into the pits with engine trouble, out of the race.
Larson, who had captured a 100-mile race at Du Quoin, Ill., earlier this month, picked up 200 points toward the national championship. That gave him a total of 1,020 in the point race.
A large crowd was on hand in pleasant cool weather to cheer on the veterans of the Indianapolis 500. The 18 men who qualified split a record purse of more than $30,000.
Results –
1. Jud Larson
2. Jimmy Bryan
3. George Amick
4. Len Sutton
5. Don Branson
6. Elmer George
7. Ed Elisian
8. Jimmy Reece
9. Jack Turner
10.Pat O’Conner
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