 | |||||
| Indianapolis Motor Speedway | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indianapolis 500 | |||||
| Sanctioning body | USAC | ||||
| Season | 1965 USAC season | ||||
| Date | May 31, 1965 | ||||
| Winner | Jim Clark | ||||
| Winning team | Team Lotus | ||||
| Average speed | 150.686 mph (242.506 km/h) | ||||
| Pole position | A. J. Foyt | ||||
| Pole speed | 161.233 mph (259.479 km/h) | ||||
| Fastest qualifier | A. J. Foyt | ||||
| Rookie of the Year | Mario Andretti | ||||
| Most laps led | Jim Clark (190) | ||||
| Pre-race ceremonies | |||||
| National anthem | Purdue Band | ||||
| "Back Home Again in Indiana" | Johnny Desmond | ||||
| Starting command | Tony Hulman | ||||
| Pace car | Plymouth Sport Fury | ||||
| Pace car driver | P.M. Buckminster | ||||
| Starter | Pat Vidan[1] | ||||
| Honorary referee | Raymond Firestone[1] | ||||
| Estimated attendance | 250,000[2] | ||||
| TV in the United States | |||||
| Network | ABC's Wide World of Sports | ||||
| Announcers | Charlie Brockman Rodger Ward | ||||
| Chronology | |||||
| |||||
The 49th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Monday, May 31, 1965.
The five-year-old "British Invasion" finally broke through as Jim Clark and Colin Chapman triumphed in dominating fashion with the first rear-engined Indy-winning car, a Lotus 38 powered by Ford. With only six of the 33 cars in the field having front engines, it was the first 500 in history to have a majority of cars as rear-engined machines.
Clark, of Scotland, started from the front row, and led 190 laps, the most since Bill Vukovich (195) in 1953. He became the first non-American winner of the Indianapolis 500 since 1920 when Frenchman Gaston Chevrolet won. Clark would go on to win the 1965 World Championship (which Indianapolis was not part of any longer). He is the only driver in history to win the Indy 500 and Formula One World Championship in the same year. Clark actually chose to skip Monaco to compete at Indy.
ABC Sports covered the race for the first time on Wide World of Sports. Charlie Brockman anchored the broadcast along with Rodger Ward.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Overpeck, Dave (June 1, 1965). "First Foreigner To Score Since '16; Parnelli 2d". The Indianapolis Star. p. 1. Retrieved June 2, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
