95^o heat led to high attrition among the big-engined cars contending for the overall win.  The under-two liter cars were outgunned in qualifying but moved up as one after another of the leviathans fell by the wayside.

 

Cagy Ken Miles in Otto Zipper's Porsche RS60 qualified 12th. He outlasted all of the V8 powered cars to  finish 2nd to Shelby.

World Champion Jack Brabham in this Cooper Monaco was fastest under 2-liter qualifier at 2:08:45. He was four seconds a lap faster than Miles in the RS60, who turned 2:12:57.  In this photo he's in Riverside's esses at Turn 5. Pit stops for overheating and other problems cost Brabham time.  He still managed to finish 6th. The Cooper stayed on in California and was campaigned in 1961-62 by Sacramento's George Grinzewitsch.

All photographs and text are the property of Bob Norton and Tam McPartland and are protected under United States and international copyright laws.  All rights are reserved and the images and/or text may not be digitized, reproduced, stored, manipulated, and/or incorporated into other works without the written permission of the photographer, Bob Norton, or the writer, Tam McPartland.