Team story
Origins
Lee Wallard drove the number 8 Moore-Offenhauser in 1950 for Lou Moore, under the Blue Crown Spark Plug name. Indianapolis was joining the Drivers’ World Championship for the first time. The Moore chassis nevertheless belonged to the American championship: its World Championship presence does not document a team also competing in European Grands Prix.
The Formula 1 journey
Wallard started twenty-third and was sixth in the rain-shortened race. In 1951 Henry Banks drove a Moore entered by Lindsey Hopkins, again under the Blue Crown name, completing all 200 laps in sixth place. Wallard’s victory in that edition came in a Kurtis instead: it was not a Moore success.
Historical timeline
Three chapters in the story of Moore
Three episodes to revisit the people, cars and races that shaped this journey.
First appearance · Indianapolis 500
Lee Wallard · Indianapolis 500 1950. The recorded position is P6; this number alone does not show whether the driver completed the race distance. This is the first recorded race start, or the first entry if the team never started a race.
Sporting landmark · Indianapolis 500
Lee Wallard · Indianapolis 500 1950. The recorded position is P6; this number alone does not show whether the driver completed the race distance. This marks the first win or podium where one exists, otherwise the highest recorded placing for this constructor.
Latest recorded appearance · Indianapolis 500
Bob Veith · Indianapolis 500 1959. The recorded position is P12; this number alone does not show whether the driver completed the race distance. This is the last race start attributed to this constructor in the archive, not necessarily the end of the organisation behind it.
A distinctive way of racing
The chassis builder and owner were not necessarily the same person. Banks’s results record distinguishes Lindsey Hopkins from the Moore constructor. In 1959 Bob Veith used a Moore-Offenhauser entered by John Zink and was twelfth: sponsors, owners and drivers changed while the chassis name remained in the Indianapolis 500 records.
What remains
The name’s World Championship history is spread across 1950, 1951 and 1959. The two sixth places establish its best result, without podiums. The single-seaters passed between different owners during the 1950–60 period in which Indianapolis counted towards the Drivers’ Championship.