Oilpressure

Congratulations to Rick Johnson, of Washing state, for winning the 2026 Oilpressure.com Indianapolis Trivia Contest again. I did not think this was the toughest one over the past 17 years, but I was told be several at IMS last week that it ay have been the toughest. Rick missed only three questions this year. He gets upset with himself when he misses one, but missing tyhree was a very good effort. I realized I had one question in there twice. Fortunately most everyone got it both times.

Unfortunately, there are several clues that most answers this year were found through AI, which is not always correct. This probably surprises no one, but I am not a fan of AI for many reasons. I’m sure there are some good business applications, but it has ruined a lot of things – including this contest.

I realize that everyone in the past has utilized Google and Wikipedia, but I could word the questions where you actually had to do some creative research in order to find the answers. A few have actually gone to the IMS Museum and showed it to Donald Davidson or one of the docents to get answers. That’s fine too, because that is being creative and learning to utilize resources.

But AI has taken the creativity and the resourcefulness out of the picture. When most everyone has almost all of the questions correct, and share the same incorrect answers – that sort of takes the sport out of it.

But congratulations to Rick for winning this year. You have bragging rights for the next year…and possibly a lot longer than that. The answers are below…

George Phillips

1. Prior to Team Penske winning three straight Indianapolis 500s from 2001 to 2003; who was the only car owner to win three Indianapolis 500s in a row. What were the years? Lou Moore; 1947-49

 

2. How many team owners are credited with having at least three Indianapolis 500 victories? Name them. Seven – Mike Boyle, Lou Moore, Bob Wilke, Pat Patrick, Roger Penske, Chip Ganassi, Michael Andretti. (I also accepted AJ Foyt)

 

3. Who originally took over the Michener Petroleum Racing team? Andy Granatelli (I also accepted Pat Patrick)

 

4. Who was intended to be Bobby Unser’s Indianapolis 500 teammate in 1971, before a crash sidelined him? LeeRoy Yarbrough

 

5. Who was the track record holder at the time, that was shot down in WWI over Verdun? Georges Boillot

 

6. Who was the car-owner that Denis Hulme was originally slated to drive for in 1967? George Bryant

 

7. It is well documented that Dick Simon was the last driver to start the race as an alternate starter. Who was the last driver to do it before Simon, and when? Chris Kneifel in 1984

 

8. Name an Indianapolis 500 winner that attended Jefferson High School in Lafayette, Indiana. George Souders, the 1927 winner

 

9. Who drove Mario Andretti’s winning car in the race the following year after Mario’s win? George Follmer

 

10. What driver drove the first Cosworth engine in the Indianapolis 500? What was the year? Al Unser, 1976

 

11. Who was the first car-owner to win the Indianapolis 500 three years in a row? Name the years and the winning driver(s). Lou Moore. Drivers: Mauri Rose 1947-48; Bill Holland 1949

 

12. Name a driver who hitchhiked his way across the US to drive in the 1936 Indianapolis 500. Al Putnam 

 

13. Who was originally slated to be Mauri Rose’s teammate in the 1947 Indianapolis 500? Tony Bettenhausen

 

14. What driver was originally assigned to the car that Walt Faulkner put on the pole in 1950? Johnny Mantz

 

15. The 1956 Indianapolis 500 winner Pat Flaherty once owned a bar in Chicago. What was the name of the bar? What street was it on, or what famous Chicago landmark was it near? Pat and Swede’s Lounge. It was on Irving Park Road in Chicago, 2.9 miles from Wrigley Field

 

16. Who was the first woman to be part of the Indianapolis 500 television broadcast team? Irving Fauvre in 1949

 

17. How many times did 1965 winner Jim Clark start on the front-row? How many times did he participate in the traditional front-row photograph? Three times, 1964, 1965 and 1966. He only participated once, in 1964. Bobby Johns subbed for Clark in 1965 and a crew-member sat in for him in 1966.

 

18. What future Indianapolis 500 winner, spent the night before the 1960 race sleeping under a park bench at Leonard Park in the town of Speedway? Johnny Rutherford

 

19. What driver has the most Indianapolis 500 starts in an AJ Watson-built chassis? Dick Rathmann

 

20. Who was the first female broadcaster and pit reporter for the IMS Radio Network, and what year? Sally Larvick in 1988

 

21. Who is the person in the question above related to by marriage? She is married to Paul Page

 

22. The 1961 race is known for the late-race battle between AJ Foyt and Eddie Sachs. Both cars were Watson chassis, but built by other car builders using Watson blueprints. Who actually built the two cars that finished first and second in 1961? Floyd Trevis built Foyt’s 1961 winner; while Wayne Ewing built Sach’s runner-up car.

 

23. What Indianapolis 500 starter made headlines, when he was recruited by DeSoto to drive a car across the US backwards? Harry Hartz

 

24. On three separate occasions, the pole sitter has exited the race before completing a single lap. Name the years and the drivers when this happened. 1958 – Dick Rathmann; 1992 – Roberto Guerrero and 2001 – Scott Sharp.

 

25. In the famous Foyt/Sachs duel in 1961 Foyt had a problem with the fuel hose on his third pit stop, forcing him to make a late-race fourth stop. On that last stop, they borrowed the fueling equipment from another pit for a car that was already out of the race. Who was the driver of the car, whose fueling equipment was borrowed by the Foyt team? Len Sutton

 

26. At the time of his death, this driver was the last remaining Indianapolis 500 driver from the 1940s. Who was he, and what year did he pass away? Jim Rathmann, 2011.

 

27. Who does Donald Davidson give credit to, for the earliest development of wide, low-profile tires in racing? Mickey Thompson

 

28. For those interested in numerology – in one particular year, the first four car numbers of the starting grid were 1-9-11 and 32. Put them together and you get 1911, the first year of the Indianapolis 500; and No. 32 – the car number for Ray Harroun, when he on that 1911 race. In what year did this coincidence take place? 2000

 

29. For several years, The Vita-Fresh Orange juice Special was on the grid of the Indianapolis 500. What was the first year this car qualified, and who was the driver? 1963 – Dempsey Wilson

 

30. What year(s) had the most qualified cars bumped from the field (prior to the multiple bumps per day format that has been in play for the past couple of decades)? How many were bumped? 1954 and 1971 saw a total of ten cars bumped from the field.

 

31. For years, The Indianapolis News would supply a newspaper in Victory Lane with the winner’s name in the headline. When was the last year this was done? 1973

 

32. Which Indianapolis 500 winner was given the nickname The Little Professor (not Alex Palou)? The 1911 winner, Ray Harroun

 

33. When was the last time a turbine-powered car was entered into the Indianapolis 500? What type of chassis was it? Who was the car-owner and who was the driver? 1970.  Gerhardt chassis. Jack Adams was the owner and Jigger Sirois was the driver.

 

 

Tie Breaker: There has never been a year with no rookies in the field. However, there have been years with only one rookie. Name the years with only one rookie drivers, their names and where they finished.  Mel Hansen finished nineteenth in 1939; and Howdy Holmes in 1979, who finished seventh.

This entry was posted on May 20, 2026 at 4:04 am and is filed under IndyCar. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.