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 | Dick Rathmann | Watson |
| 2 | Ed Elisian | Watson |
| 3 | Jimmy Reece | Watson |
| 4 | Bob Veith | Kurtis Kraft |
| 5 | Pat O'Connor | Kurtis Kraft |
| 6 | Johnnie Parsons | Kurtis Kraft |
| 7 | Jimmy Bryan | Epperly |
| 8 | Johnny Boyd | Kurtis Kraft |
| 9 | Tony Bettenhausen | Epperly |
| 10 | Jack Turner | Lesovsky |
| 11 | Rodger Ward | Lesovsky |
| 12 | Anthony Foyt | Kuzma |
| 13 | Don Freeland | Phillips |
| 14 | Paul Russo | Kurtis Kraft |
| 15 | Billy Garrett | Kurtis Kraft |
| 16 | Paul Goldsmith | Kurtis Kraft |
| 17 | Bob Christie | Kurtis Kraft |
| 18 | Eddie Sachs | Kuzma |
| 19 | Jud Larson | Watson |
| 20 | Jim Rathmann | Epperly |
| 21 | Al Keller | Kurtis Kraft |
| 22 | Johnny Thomson | Kurtis Kraft |
| 23 | Shorty Templeman | Kurtis Kraft |
| 24 | Jerry Unser | Kurtis Kraft |
| 25 | George Amick | Epperly |
| 26 | Eddie Johnson | Kurtis Kraft |
| 27 | Len Sutton | Kurtis Kraft |
| 28 | Art Bisch | Kuzma |
| 29 | Chuck Weyant | Dunn |
| 30 | Johnnie Tolan | Kuzma |
| 31 | Mike Magill | Kurtis Kraft |
| 32 | Dempsey Wilson | Kuzma |
| 33 | Bill Cheesbourg | Kurtis Kraft |