1950: SENSATIONAL ROOKIE BREAKS NOVI RECORDS
Only seconds before the first day of qualifications ends, diminutive rookie Walt Faulkner takes off in J.C. Agajanian's dirt-track car and proceeds to cause a sensation by breaking Ralph Hepburn's one-and four-lap Novi track records with speeds of 136.013 mph and 134.343 mph, respectively. It seems that the only person on the grounds not jumping up and down and cheering is Faulkner.
1951: "CINDERELLA MAN" PULLS IT OFF
Lee Wallard, a 40-year-old World War II Navy vet, who once earned his off-season living driving a bulldozer, is the first to win in less than four hours. He averages 126.244 mph. Late in the race, the right rear shock mount breaks on his dirt-track car, causing him to take a substantial beating on the bricked main straightaway. Then the exhaust pipe breaks, and with 12 laps remaining, the brakes fail. He refuses to give up and is an extremely popular winner. In addition to being fairly well beaten up, the coarse material of his fire retardant-treated uniform has chafed his skin. After being taken to the infield hospital to have his body rubbed with liniment, he is placed on scales and found to have lost 15 pounds since breakfast.
1952: QUALIFYING RECORD BROKEN . BY A DIESEL!
Freddie Agabashian causes a major upset by winning the pole and upping the single-lap qualifying mark to 139.104 mph, his powerplant being a diesel. The Cummins Engine Company of nearby Columbus, Ind., has placed one of its hefty 401-cubic-inch truck engines, laid on its side, into a low-slung Kurtis chassis and boosted it with an ingenious implement, which, while not listed as such at the time, is the track's first-ever turbocharger. The latter turns out to be the car's undoing. Because the inlet has inadvisably been placed down in front of the engine and directly behind the grille, it
becomes blocked with rubber particles and causes the engine to overheat after 71 laps.
1952: VUKY DROPS OUT; TROY (ONLY 22) WINS
Bill Vukovich is only nine laps away from winning the "500" with an offset Kurtis/Offenhauser (which he himself has nicknamed "the roadster") when the steering mechanism fails. Into the lead and on to victory sweeps the dirt-track car of Troy Ruttman, who, at only 22, becomes the youngest-ever winner of the "500."
1953: VUKY WINS IN OPPRESSIVE HEAT
On the hottest race day in history (temperatures reach into the mid-90s and the track surface registers 130 degrees), Bill Vukovich waves off a relief driver and leads 195 of the 200 laps to win. Because many of the cars use second and third drivers, Vukovich is nicknamed by some, "The Iron Man." The mysterious and private Vukovich - a man of few words - is also a needler. "You think this is hot," he barks, "you ought to try driving a tractor in Fresno in July."
1954: "GENTLEMAN JACK" BREAKS 140
Jack McGrath is the first to qualify in excess of 140 mph, his best lap being 141.287 mph. The soft-spoken and mild-mannered "Gentleman Jack," who also effectively serves as his own chief mechanic, comes within seven seconds of finishing second in the race. He sets one- and four-lap qualifying records in both 1954 and 1955, sits on the front row in five out of six starts between 1949 and 1954, but sadly will never win.
1957: SALIH'S MIRACLE
Intrigued by the design of the 1952 Cummins Diesel, George Salih, the winning crew chief of 1951, has been trying to interest potential car owners in a vehicle featuring a four-cylinder Offenhauser engine laid over on its side. When no backers materialize, he proceeds to build the car himself and goes heavily into personal debt to finish it. Veteran driver Sam Hanks agrees to drive it and silences those who said the concept would never work by winning at a record average speed of 135.601 mph. With Hanks announcing his retirement in Victory Lane, and the joyous Salih now happily turning down offers, Jimmy Bryan will come on board in 1958, and the car will win again.
1960: ROOKIE "HERK" ALMOST TOPS 150
