Sixty Years Ago At Sebring

Sebring’s fourth annual 12-hour classic in 1955 turned out to be thrilling but controversial.

The race featured a massive 80-car field, but chaos ensued at the start when six reserve entries – upset they were not selected to race – snuck on to the track and began racing. After a couple of “protest laps” they exited the track, much to the relief of the timing/scoring staff.The race boiled down to a furious two-car battle between the Briggs Cunningham owned Jaguar D-type driven by Mike Hawthorn and Phil Walters, and the Ferrari 750S Monza driven by Phil Hill and unknown (at the time) driver Carroll Shelby.The two cars were seldom separated by more than a few seconds, with the Jaguar usually in the lead. However, after a series of pit stops, the PA announcer became confused and began announcing the Ferrari as the leader. When the checkered flag fell, the Ferrari was flagged as the winner. Joe Lane, the Director of Scoring took over the PA to announce the Jaguar had actually won. After both teams celebrated in victory lane, the Ferrari team filed a protest with the American Automobile Association. Two weeks later, after reviewing all the relevant scoring charts, the Jaguar was declared the winner by a margin of 25.4 seconds.