Highlights from the 35th running of the Indianapolis 500
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RACE: 35th Indianapolis 500
DATE: May 30, 1951
WINNER: Lee Wallard
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AVERAGE SPEED: 126.244 mph
WHAT HAPPENED: Wallard led 159 laps in the No. 99 Belanger Special in what would become his greatest and final racing triumph. He was injured in a race one week later in Reading, Pennsylvania, and was burned when his car caught fire. He needed more than two dozen skin grafts and never raced again.
NOTABLE: Duke Nalon returned to the race for the first time since his car burst into flames in the 1949 race and he suffered serious burns. He missed the 1950 race, the won the pole for the 35th Indy 500 in a Novi.