1962 Indy 500 pole 150.370 MPH Watson Roadster

Carousel 1 #4403 Includes outer white box

Since the early Fifties, racers had been looking for a car fast enough and a driver brace and shilled enough to beak the 150 mph barrier at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with a lap of under one minute flat on the famed two-and-a-half-mile track. Indy rookie Parnelli Jones teamed with car owner J.C. Agajanian and chief mechanic Jonnie Pouelsen in 1961. They named their Watson Roadster "Calhoun" and Jones led the race from finishing 12th. In 1962, driving the same car, Jones was the fastest man at the Speedway all May, with 8 practice laps over 149. On Pole Day he thrilled the crowd with a track a record 150.370 four lap qualifying speed. Roder Ward, who would win the race, started second in another Watson Roadster at 149.371 mph. Jones led the first 58 laps of the race until his first pit stop and led again from lap 65 through lap 125. A loose brake line contracted the exhaust header, burning a hole in the brake line. Jones was left with no brakes. While he continued to lap almost as quickly the time lost slowing the car for pit stops dragged him to a 7th place finish.