Carousel 1 1963 Watson #98 Agajanian-Willard Battery Special Roadster- Parnelli Jones

A. J. Watson built his first Indianapolis race car in 1950. He designed, built and "chiefed" the first Watson Roadster in 1956 and Pat Flaherty drove it to an Indy 500 victory.

Over the next 8 years Watson Roadsters would win Indianapolis 5 times with Rodger Ward in 1959, Jim Rathmann in 1960, Ward in 1962, Parnelli Jones in 1963 and A.J. Foyt, Jr., in 1964. The 1963 Indy field held 14 Watsons, but new rear engines and aerodynamics had begun to take over.

Parnelli Jones first got into the Indianapolis 500 in 1961 finishing 12th was named Rookie of the Year. In 1962, he finished fifth after becoming the first driver to surpass 150 miles per hour in qualifying.

In 1963, he again started from the pole and was 23 seconds ahead with less than 100 miles to go when his oil tank developed a horizontal crack, spraying oil onto the track. Jones slowed and second-place Jim Clark made up great distance. Cohn Chapman, Clark's car owner, pleaded the case to Chief Steward Harlan Fengler to have Jones black-flagged. Agajanian pleaded the defense. Finally, the oil spray stopped when the oil level dropped below the crack and Jones went on to win the Indianapolis 500.

-Legacy Staff