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 | Johnny Thomson | Lesovsky |
| 2 | Eddie Sachs | Kuzma |
| 3 | Jim Rathmann | Watson |
| 4 | Dick Rathmann | Watson |
| 5 | Bobby Grim | Kurtis Kraft |
| 6 | Rodger Ward | Watson |
| 7 | Bob Veith | Moore |
| 8 | Eddie Johnson | Kurtis Kraft |
| 9 | Gene Hartley | Kuzma |
| 10 | Don Branson | Phillips |
| 11 | Johnny Boyd | Epperly |
| 12 | Duane Carter | Kurtis Kraft |
| 13 | Jimmy Daywalt | Kurtis Kraft |
| 14 | Jack Turner | Christensen |
| 15 | Tony Bettenhausen | Epperly |
| 16 | Paul Goldsmith | Epperly |
| 17 | Anthony Foyt | Kuzma |
| 18 | Pat Flaherty | Watson |
| 19 | Jud Larson | Kurtis Kraft |
| 20 | Jimmy Bryan | Epperly |
| 21 | Chuck Arnold | Kurtis Kraft |
| 22 | Len Sutton | Lesovsky |
| 23 | Al Herman | Dunn |
| 24 | Bob Christie | Kurtis Kraft |
| 25 | Don Freeland | Kurtis Kraft |
| 26 | Red Amick | Kurtis Kraft |
| 27 | Paul Russo | Kurtis Kraft |
| 28 | Al Keller | Kuzma |
| 29 | Chuck Weyant | Kurtis Kraft |
| 30 | Bill Cheesbourg | Kuzma |
| 31 | Mike Magill | Sutton |
| 32 | Ray Crawford | Elder |
| 33 | Jim McWithey | Kurtis Kraft |