1949 Indianapolis 500

33rd Indianapolis 500
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Indianapolis 500
Sanctioning bodyAAA
DateMay 30, 1949
WinnerBill Holland
Winning EntrantLou Moore
Average speed121.327 mph (195.257 km/h)
Pole positionDuke Nalon
Pole speed132.939 mph (213.945 km/h)
Most laps ledBill Holland (146)
Pre-race
Pace carOldsmobile 88
Pace car driverWilbur Shaw
StarterSeth Klein[1]
Honorary refereeJ. Emmett McManamon[1]
Estimated attendance150,000[2]
Chronology
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1948 1950

The 33rd International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was an automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Monday, May 30, 1949.

After two years of failures to his teammate, Bill Holland finally won one for himself. Giving car owner Lou Moore his third consecutive Indy victory. Mauri Rose was fired by the team after the race when he again ignored orders and tried to pass Holland, only to see his car fail with 8 laps to go.[3]

Spider Webb suffered a broken transmission the morning of the race and failed to start. Rather than utilize an alternate starter, officials awarded Webb the 33rd finishing position.

Offenhauser-powered cars locked 28 out of the 33 starting positions, and the top 19 finishing positions.

  1. ^ a b Fox, Jack C. (1994). The Illustrated History of the Indianapolis 500 1911-1994 (4th ed.). Carl Hungness Publishing. p. 22. ISBN 0-915088-05-3.
  2. ^ Stranahan, Bob (May 31, 1949). "Sizzling Pace Sets New Record; Nalon Burned in Crash". The Indianapolis Star. p. 1. Retrieved June 1, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  3. ^ "Career Summary:Maurice 'Mauri' Rose". www.snaplap.net. 20 April 2015. Retrieved June 4, 2020.