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Order # 5001
History
Don Freeland and car owner Bob
Estes returned to Indianapolis for their second Indianapolis 500®
together in 1954. Estes had his mechanics, Jud Phillips and A.J.
Watson, build him a copy of the 1953 Indy®-winning Kurtis Kraft
KK500A of Bill Vukovich. Phillips and Watson ignored Kurtis'
later KK500B and KK500C developments to build a small, light car
very similar to that of Vukovich. Weather was perfect on the first
Saturday of qualifying, and Freeland earned a starting spot of the
outside of the second row with a speed of 138.339 mph. When the
race started, Freeland lost a couple of spots. His first pit stop
for fuel and three tires on Lap 55 dropped him back to 20th
place, but as others pitted he came back up in the order. By Lap
100 he ran in 10th place. Freeland ran as high as 6th
and finished an uneventful race in 7th place. Bill
Vukovich won the 1954 Indianapolis 500® at a record speed of
130.840 mph. Freeland was one of four drivers who were initiated
into the "100 Mile An Hour Club" in 1954. Freeland and
the same "Bob Estes Special" chassis would retire from 2nd
place the following year with a broken gearbox and finish 3rd
in 1956. Estes' mechanics would go on to win the Indianapolis
500® as chief mechanic for other car owners, Watson in 1955, 1956,
1959, and 1962 and Phillips in 1968. The roadsters Watson built
from 1956 through 1963 are famed as the fastest front-engine open
wheel cars in racing history, winning the Indianapolis 500® in
1956, 1959, 1960, 1961 (Watson copy by Floyd Trevis), 1962, 1963,
and 1964.
started 6th
finished 7th
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