Results of the 1969 Indianapolis 500 held at Indianapolis

Indianapolis Motor Speedway

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, located in Speedway, Indiana in the United States, is the home of the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race and the Brickyard 400....

 on Friday, May 30, 1969.

Race schedule

EWLINE Race schedule — May, 1969 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat         1 Opening Day 2 Practice 3 Practice 4 Practice 5 Practice 6 Practice 7 Practice 8 Practice 9 Practice 10 Practice 11 Practice 12 Practice 13 Practice 14 Practice 15 Practice 16 Practice 17 Pole Day 18 Time Trials 19 Practice 20 Practice 21 Practice 22 Practice 23 Practice 24 Time Trials 25 Bump Day 26   27   28 Carb Day 29 Meeting 30 Indy 500 31

EWLINE EWLINE Color Notes Green Practice Dark Blue Time trials Silver Race day Red Rained out* Blank No track activity * Includes days where track activity was significantly limited due to rain

Jigger Sirois

On pole day, Saturday May 17, rain threatened to wash out the afternoon. At the time, the rules did not specifically provide for rain delay extensions during the pole round. Only cars who made an attempt before the rains came (and the track being closed) might be eligible for the pole unless officials made a ruling. Rookie Jigger Sirois drew the #1 qualifying spot in the order.

At 4:12 p.m., the track finally was opened for qualifying, and Sirois took to the track. He completed his first three laps at:

• Lap 1 - 161.783 mph
• Lap 2 - 162.279 mph
• Lap 3 - 160.542 mph

However, on his fourth and final lap, his crew waved off the run, and it was aborted. Arnie Knepper

Arnie Knepper

Arnold A. "Arnie" Knepper , was an American racecar driver.Born in Belleville, Illinois, Knepper also died there as from cancer. He drove in the USAC Championship Car series, racing in the 1963-1972 seasons, with 75 career starts, including the 1965-1969 Indianapolis 500 races...

 was the second car in line, and pulled away for his warm up laps. Rain began to fall, and Knepper was unable to complete a single lap. The rain washed out the rest of the afternoon, and continued into Sunday, washing out the entire weekend. Had Sirois' crew not waved off his final lap, he would have been the lone qualifier of the weekend, and would have sat on the provisional pole position for an entire week.

On the second weekend of time trials, Sirois waved off his second attempt, and also waved off his third and final attempt when his speed was not fast enough. Sirois's first attempt the weekend before would have been fast enough to qualify for the race. Sirois never managed to qualify at Indy in subsequent years, and became a source of popular folklore

Folklore

Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...

.

Box score

Finish	Start	No	Name	Qual	Rank	Laps	Led	Status
1	2	2	United States Mario Andretti Mario Andretti Mario Gabriele Andretti is a retired Italian American world champion racing driver, one of the most successful Americans in the history of the sport. He is one of only two drivers to win races in Formula One, IndyCar, World Sportscar Championship and NASCAR...	169.851	2	200	116	Running
2	10	48	United States Dan Gurney Dan Gurney Daniel Sexton Gurney is an American racing driver, race car constructor, and team owner.The son of a Metropolitan Opera star, he was born in Port Jefferson, New York, but moved to California as a teenager...	167.341	10	200	0	Running
3	3	1	United States Bobby Unser Bobby Unser Robert William "Bobby" Unser is a retired U.S. automobile racer. He is the brother of Al Unser, Jerry Unser and Louie Unser, the father of Robby Unser, and the uncle of Al Unser, Jr. and Johnny Unser...	169.683	3	200	0	Running
4	24	9	United States Mel Kenyon Mel Kenyon Mel Kenyon is a former midget car driver. He is known as the "King of the Midgets", "Miraculous Mel", and "Champion of Midget Auto Racing." The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America says "Many consider him to be midget car racing's greatest driver ever." -Racing career:He attended his first auto...	165.426	24	200	0	Running
5	33	92	United States Peter Revson Peter Revson Peter Jeffrey Revson was an American race car driver who had successes in Formula One and the Indianapolis 500.-Background:Peter Revson was born in New York City, the son of Julie and Martin Revson....	160.851	33	197	0	Flagged
6	11	44	United States Joe Leonard Joe Leonard Joe Leonard , is a retired American motorcycle racer and racecar driver.Leonard won the first A.M.A. Grand National Championship Series in 1954 and won it again in 1956 and 1957. His record totals 27 wins, including the 1957 and 1958 Daytona 200...	167.240	11	193	0	Flagged
7	4	66	United States Mark Donohue Mark Donohue Mark Neary Donohue, Jr. , nicknamed "Captain Nice", was an American racecar driver known for his ability to set up his own race car as well as driving it to victories. Donohue is probably best known as the driver of the 1500+ bhp “Can-Am Killer” Porsche 917-30 and as the winner of the 1972...	168.903	4	190	0	Flagged
8	1	6	United States A.J. Foyt	170.568	1	181	66	Flagged
9	31	21	United States Larry Dickson Larry Dickson Larry Dickson , is a former driver in the USAC and CART Championship Car series. He raced in the 1965-1981 seasons, with 105 combined career starts, including the Indianapolis 500 in 1966-1969, 1971, 1978–1979, and 1981. He finished in the top ten 44 times, with his best finish in 2nd position in...	163.014	31	180	0	Flagged
10	32	97	United States Bobby Johns Bobby Johns Bobby Johns is a retired American racecar driver.Johns raced in the NASCAR series in the 1956-1969 seasons, with 141 career starts. He had 2 wins among his 36 top ten finishes and finished the 1960 season 3rd in the points...	160.901	32	171	0	Flagged
11	13	10	United States Jim Malloy Jim Malloy Jim Malloy , was an American racecar driver.Born in Columbus, Nebraska, Malloy died as a result of injuries sustained in practice for the 1972 Indianapolis 500...	167.092	13	165	0	Flagged
12	23	11	United States Sammy Sessions Sammy Sessions Allen Dale "Sammy" Sessions was an American racecar driver.Born in Nashville, Michigan, Sessions died in a snowmobile racing accident in Alexandria, Minnesota. He drove in the USAC Championship Car series, racing in the 1965-1975 seasons with 62 starts, including the Indianapolis 500 in 1968-1973...	165.434	23	163	0	Flagged
13	22	90	United States Mike Mosley Mike Mosley Mike Mosley , was an American racecar driver.Born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Mosley died in an off-road vehicle accident near Riverside, California. His young son, Michael, was also riding in the van Mosley was driving, but was uninjured. He was a driver in the USAC and CART Championship Car series...	166.113	22	162	0	Piston
14	6	82	United States Roger McCluskey Roger McCluskey Roger McCluskey was an American race car driver. He was from Tucson, Arizona.He won championship titles in three divisions of USAC -Sprints, Stocks, and Champ Cars. He won the USAC Sprint Car title in 1963 and 1966, the USAC Stock car title in 1969 and 1970. The Champ Car title in 1973...	168.350	6	157	0	Split Header
15	18	15	United States Bud Tingelstad Bud Tingelstad Bud Tingelstad was an American racecar driver.Born in Frazee, Minnesota, Tingelstad drove in the USAC Championship Car series, racing in the 1960-1971 seasons with 120 starts, including the Indianapolis 500 in each year except 1961 and 1970. He finished in the top ten 56 times, with his one...	166.597	18	155	0	Engine
16	15	84	United States George Snider George Snider George "Ziggy" Snider is a retired American race car driver. A longtime driver in the United States Automobile Club Silver Crown series, Snider is also a 22-time starter of the Indianapolis 500, the most starts without winning the race. His best finish was eighth in the 1975 Indianapolis 500...	166.914	15	152	0	Flagged
17	14	59	United States Sonny Ates Sonny Ates Charles "Sonny" Ates is a retired American racecar driver....	166.968	14	146	0	Magneto
18	25	42	New Zealand Denis Hulme	165.092	25	145	0	Clutch
19	5	12	United States Gordon Johncock Gordon Johncock Gordon Johncock is a former racing driver, best known as a two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500 and the 1976 USAC Marlboro Championship Trail champion. Johncock was most often simply referred to as "Gordy."...	168.626	5	137	0	Piston
20	20	4	United States Lloyd Ruby Lloyd Ruby Lloyd Ruby was an American racecar driver.Ruby raced in the USAC Championship Car series in the 1958-1977 seasons, with 177 career starts, including every Indianapolis 500 race during 1960-1977. He finished in the top ten 88 times, with 7 victories. His best Indy finish was 3rd in 1964...	166.428	20	105	11	Fuel Tank
21	19	22	United States Wally Dallenbach, Sr. Wally Dallenbach, Sr. Wally Dallenbach, Sr. is a former long-time open-wheeled race car driver in CART from East Brunswick Township, New Jersey. He drove in 180 Indy Car races between 1965 and 1979, winning five times. He is the father of NASCAR driver and commentator, Wally Dallenbach, Jr.-Biography:Dallenbach nearly...	166.497	19	82	7	Clutch
22	21	29	United States Arnie Knepper Arnie Knepper Arnold A. "Arnie" Knepper , was an American racecar driver.Born in Belleville, Illinois, Knepper also died there as from cancer. He drove in the USAC Championship Car series, racing in the 1963-1972 seasons, with 75 career starts, including the 1965-1969 Indianapolis 500 races...	166.220	21	82	0	Crash T4
23	8	67	United States LeeRoy Yarbrough LeeRoy Yarbrough Lonnie "LeeRoy" Yarbrough was a NASCAR racer. His best season was 1969 when he won seven races, tallied 21 finishes in the top-ten and earned $193,211...	168.075	8	65	0	Split Header
24	29	95	Australia Jack Brabham Jack Brabham Sir John Arthur "Jack" Brabham, AO, OBE is an Australian former racing driver who was Formula One champion in , and . He was a founder of the Brabham racing team and race car constructor that bore his name....	163.875	29	58	0	Ignition
25	30	57	United States Carl Williams Carl Williams (driver) Carl Williams , was an American racecar driver.Born in Grandview, Missouri, Williams was killed in a motorcycle accident in Kansas City. He drove in the USAC Championship Car series, racing in the 1965-1972 seasons, with 63 career starts, including the Indianapolis 500 in 1966-1970 and 1972...	163.265	30	50	0	Clutch
26	9	8	United States Gary Bettenhausen Gary Bettenhausen Gary Bettenhausen is a retired American auto racing driver. He was born in Blue Island, Illinois, raised in Tinley Park, Illinois, and currently resides in Monrovia, Indiana.-Racing family:...	167.777	9	35	0	Piston
27	27	62	United States George Follmer George Follmer George Follmer is a retired American race car driver, and one of the most successful road racers of the 1970s. He was born in Phoenix, Arizona....	164.286	27	26	0	Engine
28	7	38	United States Jim McElreath Jim McElreath Jim McElreath , is a former driver in the USAC and CART Championship Car series.-Racing career:He raced in the 1961-1983 seasons, with 178 combined career starts, including 15 in the Indianapolis 500 in 1962-1970, 1973–1974, and 1977-1980. He finished in the top ten 101 times, with five victories...	168.224	7	24	0	Engine Fire
29	17	36	United States Johnny Rutherford Johnny Rutherford For the Major League Baseball pitcher, see Johnny Rutherford . For other people with a similar name, see John RutherfordJohn Sherman Rutherford III , better known as Johnny Rutherford, and also known as "Lone Star JR" is a former U.S...	166.628	17	24	0	Oil Tank
30	16	45	United States Ronnie Bucknum Ronnie Bucknum Ronnie Bucknum was an American racecar driver, born in Alhambra, California.Bucknum participated in 11 Formula One World Championship grands prix, debuting on August 2, 1964. He scored a total of 2 championship points...	166.636	16	16	0	Piston
31	12	40	United States Art Pollard Art Pollard Art Pollard , was an American racecar driver.Born in Dragon, Utah, Pollard died in Indianapolis, Indiana as a result of injuries sustained in practice for the 1973 Indianapolis 500. The car clipped the wall coming out of turn one and did a half-spin as it headed to the grass on the inside of the...	167.123	12	7	0	Drive Line
32	26	98	United States Bill Vukovich II Bill Vukovich II William John Vukovich, Jr. , better known as Bill Vukovich II is a former driver in the championship car division of USAC and CART series....	164.843	26	1	0	Rod
33	28	16	United States Bruce Walkup Bruce Walkup Bruce Walkup is a retired American racecar driver.Walkup raced in the USAC Championship Car series in the 1967-1971 seasons, with 35 career starts, including the 1969 and 1970 Indianapolis 500 races. He finished in the top ten 11 times, with his best finish in 4th position in 1969 at...	163.942	28	0	0	Transmission