The 47th Indianapolis 500-1963

24,888 views
•Mar 16, 2013

1146Share
Save

cjs83172
2.96K subscribersNo copyright infringement is intended with this, or any other video I upload. The purpose of uploiading this video is for the viewing pleasure for those that watch it. This is the 47th Indianapolis 500, run on May 30, 1963. While the big-name stars of Indy were running the old roadsters, the appearance of the Lotus team with drivers Jim Clark and Dan Gurney, and the smaller, lighter rear-engine cars they

brought, raised more than a few eyebrows. However, even with the backing of the Ford Motor Company, they just couldn't match what the Offenhausers could produce, and like the year before, Parnelli Jones led the charge, breaking his records set in 1962. Joining him on the front row were Don Branson and Jim Hurtubise. Hurtubise was driving one of the three Novis entered by Andy Granatelli, as the Novi was making it's

first start at Indy since 1958, and their engines were just as powerful as ever. Another of the three drivers on Granatelli's team was one of two future three-time Indy winners that made his debut in 1963. His name was Bobby Unser. The other future three-time winner that made his debut was Johnny Rutherford, but neither of them lasted long. In fact, Unser was the first out, crashing on the second lap and was soon joined on the

sidelines by Rutherford and fellow rookie teammate Art Malone. Meanwhile, Jones dominated the race, leading 167 laps, but needed to make three pit stops, while the Lotus cars made only one pit stop each for the race, which put Clark in a great position. But this was a race marred by a major controversy. About two-thirds of the way through the race, Jones' car developed a crack in it's external oil pan, causing it to lose oil.

Two other cars in the race, one driven by Hurtubise and the other driven by Bobby Grim, ran out of oil, and both were black flagged. Late in the race, there were several spins and crashes on the oily track, including two by Eddie Sachs and another by Lloyd Ruby, causing the USAC officials to be so concerned that they considered black flagging Jones, but were apparently talked out of it long enough for Jones to win,

becoming the eighth pole sitter to win the race and the first to do so since Pat Flaherty in 1956. This race also sparked a rule change, which was partially born from the controversy. Trying to unlap himself on the last lap, Roger McCluskey, who was running third, spun out and couldn't get restarted. Because the rules required all competitors to complete all 500 miles, regardless of how far behind they were, McCluskey was

scored 15th. That rule was changed for 1964, as when the leader got the checkered flag, the remaining cars got up to five minutes to complete the race, or as many laps as they could before they would be flagged in. Clark took second place, while 1961 winner A.J. Foyt was third, followed by Rodger Ward, who finished fourth despite trouble with his brakes all day, with Don Branson taking fifth.

Next was Jim McElreath, which was a minor miracle considering he spun in the pits twice, once with another car, while Dan Gurney was seventh in the other Lotus. All credits go to SPEED (SpeedVision, the forerunner to the current SPEED network, originally aired the content of the video), the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, USAC, and Championship Racefilms.

If there are any others who I'm forgetting, please let me know so I can add them to the list of those to credit.