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Road to 100: 1962

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INDIANAPOLIS -- Construction of the City-County Building, a cornerstone of Indianapolis' downtown landscape, was completed in 1962.

The 28-story tower was the tallest in the city at the time.

And excitement was building at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as well, with history being made during the first day of time trials for the 46th running of the Indianapolis 500.

That's when Parnelli Jones, behind the wheel of his trusty 3-year-old car 'Old Calhoun', became the first driver to turn a lap at 150 miles-an-hour

Jones' record-breaking qualifying round landed him the pole position. He was on track to raise the Borg Warner Trophy, leading the race for a total of 120 laps when his brakes gave out.

But Old Calhoun kept going, carrying Parnelli to a seventh-place place finish despite the setback.

And while crews were hammering away to keep their drivers wheels tight, everyone thought A.J. Foyt was finished when one of his came off and started rolling away on its own. 

But he was determined to continue, running across the track, and back into the pits to sub for Paul Russo.

In the end, first place went to Rodger Ward who led for the final 31 laps en route to victory.

Enjoying the taste of success for a second time after also winning the race in 1959.

MORE ON THE ROAD TO 100

1961 | 1960 | 1959| 1958 |1957 | 1956 | 1955 | 1954 |1953 | 1952 |1951 | 1950 | 1949 | 

|1948194719461941 |  1940 | 1939 | 1938 | 1937 | 1936 | 1935 | 1934 | 1933 | 1932 | 1931 | 1930 | 1929 | 1928 | 

1927 | 1926 | 1925 | 1924 | 1923 | 1922 | 1921 | 1920 | 1919 | 1916 | 1915 | 1914 | 1913 | 1912 | 1911 | Special Section: Road to 100 | Enter to win tickets to the Indy 500 | Start your engines: 100 stories in 100 days

Tune in to RTV6 News at 6 p.m. every night for our Road to 100, where we take a look back at each of the races leading up to the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500. 

Want tickets to this year's race? Tune in to RTV6 News at 6 p.m. and watch for the daily trivia question and answer, then click here to enter the answer to be entered daily for your chance to win tickets to the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 on May 29.