Indianapolis 500
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Grand Prix starting grid
Race starts
Grid positions from race-result records; not a separately verified pre-race grid.
| POS | DRIVER | TEAM |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pat Flaherty | Watson |
| 2 | Jim Rathmann | Kurtis Kraft |
| 3 | Pat O'Connor | Kurtis Kraft |
| 4 | Dick Rathmann | Kurtis Kraft |
| 5 | Tony Bettenhausen | Kurtis Kraft |
| 6 | Johnnie Parsons | Kurtis Kraft |
| 7 | Fred Agabashian | Kurtis Kraft |
| 8 | Paul Russo | Kurtis Kraft |
| 9 | Andy Linden | Kurtis Kraft |
| 10 | Bob Sweikert | Kuzma |
| 11 | Troy Ruttman | Kurtis Kraft |
| 12 | Johnny Boyd | Kurtis Kraft |
| 13 | Sam Hanks | Kurtis Kraft |
| 14 | Ed Elisian | Kurtis Kraft |
| 14 | Eddie Russo | Kurtis Kraft |
| 15 | Rodger Ward | Kurtis Kraft |
| 16 | Jimmy Daywalt | Kurtis Kraft |
| 17 | Ray Crawford | Kurtis Kraft |
| 18 | Johnny Thomson | Kuzma |
| 19 | Jimmy Bryan | Kuzma |
| 20 | Keith Andrews | Kurtis Kraft |
| 21 | Jimmy Reece | Lesovsky |
| 22 | Gene Hartley | Kuzma |
| 23 | Bob Veith | Kurtis Kraft |
| 24 | Jack Turner | Kurtis Kraft |
| 25 | Bob Christie | Kurtis Kraft |
| 26 | Don Freeland | Phillips |
| 27 | Al Herman | Kurtis Kraft |
| 28 | Al Keller | Kurtis Kraft |
| 29 | Billy Garrett | Kuzma |
| 30 | Cliff Griffith | Stevens |
| 31 | Johnnie Tolan | Kurtis Kraft |
| 32 | Eddie Johnson | Kuzma |
| 33 | Duke Dinsmore | Kurtis Kraft |