Jim Rathmann and defending winner Rodger Ward engage in the greatest sustained two-man battle the race has ever seen. There are a record 29 lead changes, of which 14 are between these two alone during the entire second half. They are never any more than a few feet apart from each other and constantly swapping the lead until a handful of laps from the end, when Ward sees the white cords beginning to show through on his right front tire. Rather than pit, the cagey veteran slows down and nurses his car home to 2nd. Rathmann, already a three-time runner-up, finally wins and raises the 500-mile race record to 138.767 mph.

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• ID: 37806
• Taken By: No Photographer
• Taken: February 09, 2006

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