1966 – Hill Wins Disputed ‘500’

 

Graham Hills waves to the crowd from victory lane after winning the Indianapolis 500. Sue Ellen Harrison, the Indy 500 Festival Queen, flanks the Englishman.

Indianapolis, Ind. (May 30, 1966) – Graham Hill evidently won the most fantastically confused and incredible 500-mile race in the 50-year history of the event Monday afternoon, finishing 41.13 seconds ahead of defending champion Jimmy Clark.

Hill’s victory was strongly disputed by Clark’s car owner, Colin Chapman, and sponsor Andy Granatelli, who maintained that Clark should be credited with the victory.

However, Indianapolis Motor Speedway publicist Al Bloemker said that scorers had told him that after a check of the official timing tape, “they hadn’t found anything that would indicate a change in the finish.”

The contested finish was in keeping with the tenor of a race that simply defied description. Eleven of the 33 starters were wiped out in a single crash that stopped the race before the leaders could get through the first turn of the first lap.

Miraculously, no driver was injured in a pileup that involved 16 cars, nor in any of the five accidents that followed.

The ending was just as incredible as the start as both Hill, a Londoner who gained his ride after Walt Hansgen was killed in an April crash at LeMans, and Clark both headed for victory lane.

Just 10 laps from the finish, both looked like also-rans as Hill’s teammate, Jackie Stewart, led by more than half a lap.

Then, Stewart’s engine – which had been laboring for 17 laps with failing oil pressure – gave up the ghost in the third turn with victory just 25 miles away.

Before that, both Clark and Lloyd Ruby had the race all wrapped up and ready for delivery when misfortune struck.

Ruby’s bad break came last, and therefore was more dramatic. The Wichita Falls, Tex., veteran was leading by almost a lap when he sprung an oil leak in the cam tower housing and was black flagged after 152 laps. He finally got back in the race, six laps down, only to go out or good with cam failure after 175 laps.

Clark spun his car twice while leading the race. The first time came on lap 62 when he had a lead of more than half a lap over Ruby. He looped coming out of the fourth turn but regained control and came on around to the pits.

Then, on the 84th circuit, while holding a lead of approximately 20 seconds, he did a complete spin in the third turn, but again regained complete control. But the ensuing pit stop would cost him dearly in time and most certainly in victory.

Chapman said afterwards that Clark was bothered all the way with handling issues. The two-time world road champion did reduce his speed considerably after the second spin.

The crux of the argument on whether Hill or Clark won was the 175th lap. Hill passed Clark on the front stretch of that circuit but the dispute concerns whether Hill was taking over second place or unlapping himself at the time.

As far as George Bignotti, who saddled his third winner as a chief mechanic with Hill, is concerned, the 1962 world road racing champion was moving into second behind Stewart.

But Chapman and Granatelli were just as certain that Clark won. Chaman pointed out, “We think they (the scorers) gave Hill an extra lap someplace.”

Granatelli was in a much less compromising mood than the calm Chapman. “How could Hill win when they were announcing and showing on the scoreboard that Stewart and Clark were running 1-2 and Hill was half a lap behind on the backstretch?”

“If that was the case, Hill had been leading all the time and Stewart never was in front.”

“We lapped Hill on the 47th lap and we were running faster than him the rest of the way. Now, where d he pass Clark?” he added.

With Hill the winner, he is the first rookie to capture auto racing’s richest prize in 39 years. The last was George Souders in 1927.

It was also a staggeringly successful debut for Hill’s car owner, John Mecom Jr., a 26-year-old multi-millionaire from Houston, Tex. The owner not only won the race on his very first shot but also would have had first and second sewn up if Stewart had made it to victory lane.

Hill’s winning time for the 500 miles was 3 hours, 27 minutes, and 52.33 seconds for an average speed of 144.317 miles per hour. This was more than six miles per hour off Clark’s record of 150.6886 miles per hour set last year.


Results –


1. Graham Hill
2. Jimmy Clark
3. Jim McElreath
4. Gordon Johncock
5. Mel Kenyon
6. Jackie Stewart
7. Eddie Johnson
8. Bobby Unser
9. Joe Leonard
10.Jerry Grant
11.Lloyd Ruby
12.Al Unser
13.Roger McCluskey
14.Parnelli Jones
15.Rodger Ward
16.Carl Williams
17.Jim Hurtubise
18.Mario Andretti
19.George Snider
20.Chuck Hulse
21.Bud Tinglestad
22.Johnny Boyd
23.Don Branson
24.Billy Foster
25.Gary Congdon
26.A.J. Foyt
27.Dan Gurney
28.Cale Yarborough
29.Arnold Knepper
30.Al Miller
31.Bobby Grim
32.Ronnie Duman

USAC starter Pat Vidan waves the checkered flag for Indianapolis 500 winner Graham Hill.