Pole and victory at Indianapolis

Pat Flaherty started the 1956 Indianapolis 500 from pole position and won it, the high point of a career cut short by injury that summer.

Pat Flaherty was born in Glendale, California, in the United States, on January 6, 1926. He began racing track roadsters in 1946 and in 1948 moved to the Midwest to compete in Andy Granatelli's Hurricane Hot Rod Association, before stepping up to AAA championship cars.

Because the Indianapolis 500 counted toward the World Championship from 1950 to 1960, his runs there are part of our record. His first came at the 1950 Indianapolis 500, where he finished tenth. He returned in 1953 and 1954, and in 1955 he again finished tenth. That year he also won the championship car race at Milwaukee, and he won there again in 1956.

His best day came at the 1956 Indianapolis 500. Flaherty started from pole position in a Watson Offenhauser and won the race, the only World Championship victory and podium of his career. Less than three months later he was badly injured in a crash, and the injuries kept him out of the 1957 Indianapolis 500.

He came back to Indianapolis one last time in 1959, finishing 19th at the 1959 Indianapolis 500, his final World Championship start. Our record shows 6 starts, 1 win, 1 pole position and 1 podium across six seasons. In later life he raced pigeons for more than twenty years and ran a portable go kart track. He was inducted into the Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 2006 and died in 2002.

0 world titles, 1 wins, 1 pole positions, 6 starts.

Teams

Victories

• Indianapolis 500 1956