World Driving Champion Giuseppe "Nino" Farina came to Indy in 1956 as a fifty-year-old rookie looking to make the race in a Kurtis 500D chassis equiped with a Ferrari engine. Originally slated to run in the 1955 Indinapolis 500, Ferrari was not able to ready the car in time and lost interest in the project. Ironically it was the Maserati brothers who took over the car, brought it to Indy in 1956, and put Farina in the car.
Unfortunately the speed was never there. The best Farina could do was 134mph - which was 5mph too slow to make the pace. Rookie driver Earl Motter took the car out and got it up to 136mph. Seeing a rookie go 2mph faster remotivated Farina to give it a go and was in line to qualify, but never got the chance due to rain terminating qualifying early.