Jim McElreath Indianapolis 1963 in the Bill Forbes Racing Team Watson Offenhauser. A.J. Watson built this roadster in 1962 for the Bill Forbes Racing team and driver Shorty Templeman qualified the new car 6th quick to start on the outside of row 2 for the 1962 500. Shorty brought the car home in 11th place competing all 200 laps. In 1963 Bill Forbes entered the car at the Speedway again and talented mechanic Dave Laycock returned as the teams head wrench. This time they hired young hot-shot and last years rookie of the year Jim McElreath to drive the two year old roadster. Jim was the first driver to qualify for the 1963 500 at 149.744 for 6th quick. For the second year in a row the fast Watson would start on the outside of row 2. Jim ran hard early in the race nudging past Jim Hurtubise for 2nd place on lap 20. But on his first pit stop a brake locked up and he spun in the pits knocking tires everywhere and very nearly taking out Bobby Marshman in the process, this dropped him out of the top 10. Back out on the track Jim headed towards the front again. He got up to 5th at 106 laps but then spun again when he entered the pits and this time a one minute and 25 second stop dropped him to 13th place. He gradually worked his way back towards the front and ended up completing the race and coming home in 6th place. Overall it turned out to be a good payday for the talented young race driver.
Posted on: Tue, 13 Jan 2015 02:01:21 +0000
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