1911 Indianapolis 500

The 1911 Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, or International 500-Mile Sweepstakes Race, the first recorded automobile race of such distance in history, and cause for the largest public gathering in the city up to that time, was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Tuesday, May 30, 1911. A departure from previous Speedway policy of holding numerous smaller racing meets during 1909 and 1910 racing seasons, the singular, large-scale event attracted widespread attention from both American and European racing teams and manufacturers, and, despite controversy surrounding its conclusion, proved far and away a successful event, immediately establishing itself both as the premier motorsports competition in the nation, and one of the most prestigious in the world.

One Race

"Too much racing"

After seeing a second decline in attendance in as many days for Labor Day, September 5, 1910, the final day of the concluding racing meet of the 1910 racing season at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, co-founders Carl Fisher, James Allison, Arthur Newby and Frank Wheeler conferred to decide on a new course for the following year. While the appearance on Monday of some 18,000 was reasonable enough in some respects, given both the rain showers occurring early that morning and the large parade held downtown in the afternoon, neither the two days of the Labor Day meet nor the July 4 weekend races had came near to equalling the 50,000 that had been attracted the previous Memorial Day. While potential explanations for the decline included the summer's extreme heat and the women of the city making holiday plans for their families that did not include auto racing, one of the most likely, they reasoned, was an overabundance of the very events they exhibited: too many races had diluted turnout to including only those most interested in the sport.^[1]

Timing and farming

By the next day, Tuesday September 6, local newspapers had already heard rumors of the decision, and reported the four partners as considering, for 1911, a singular event with a purse high enough to attract global as well as local and regional competition. Beginning with discussion of either a 24-hour or a one thousand mile endurance race as favored by several of the manufacturers, debate soon proceeded as to what would be most beneficial to spectators as well as participants; while a 24-hour event would be possible on a technical level despite its extreme nature, all agreed that potential ticket-buyers would inevitably depart the grounds well before its conclusion. Deciding on a "race window" extending from 10:00 A.M. to late afternoon, early estimates placed the planned race distance at 300 to 500 miles; the winner of the event, with purse estimates ranging toward $30,000, could expect to see as much as $12,000.^[2]

In choices for a specific date for the race, Memorial Day, already the occasion of the largest attendance, was always foremost. As suggested to the Speedway owners by Lem Trotter, the date coincided with the completion of a late-spring agricultural practice known as "haying," after which the farmers acquired an effective two-week break. While the intention, Trotter argued, would certainly be to draw from far more than just the local farming community, simple business sense called for as little interference as possible with the regional economy. That such an opportunity to avoid a potential conflict of interest fell on a major national holiday sealed the decision: within two days, formal announcement was made of a 500-mile, marathon-distance motor race, to be held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, May 30, 1911.^[2]

Superlatives, preparation

As desired and expected, news of the inauguration of a contest of such distance evoked strong enthusiasm both within and without the motorsport community. Newspaper and trade magazine articles used ever-new superlatives for the challenges expected to soon face both drivers and engineers, and continuing discussion throughout the spring and winter kept the race as the primary conversation piece of the average citizen. Everyone, it seemed, had something to say about it.^[3]

Due to the publicity thus created, Speedway management, which had for the previous two seasons of meets charged the effectively nominal entry fee of one dollar per mile of scheduled race distances, took measure to ensure that the conceivably large entry list did not include any but the most serious participants: at an accordingly heightened fee of $500 per car, participation became a nominally risky proposition to teams and manufacturers, since, although the high finishers were due to receive record purse money and accessory prizes, no money at all was offered to finishers below tenth place. Interest, however, was far from dampened, with entry blanks distributed over the course of the following month quickly returning filled, the first of which being that of an automobile built by the J. I. Case Threshing Machine Compnay of Racine, Wisconsin, to be driven by Lewis Strang. By May 1, the final potential day for entry, an extensive total of some 46 cars had been nominated to compete.^[3]

May 1 also marked the beginning of an eventually decades-long tradition of the opening of the Speedway, on the first day of the month, to practice by any and all participants. A policy originally established so as to allow teams unfamiliar with the 2.5 mile, recently brick-paved course as much time to acclimate as necessary, it ultimately proved most advantageous to the locally-based teams, given many of the entries from abroad not even setting out for the city until well into the month. One example of such, the double-entry Pope-Hartford team based in Springfield, Massachusetts, came by way of the team's actual racing cars themselves simply being driven, while loaded up with toolboxes and as many spare parts as they could hold, cross-country, making overnight stops in New York City, Buffalo, Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio, before finally arriving, where they were duly met at the city's East Washington Street by Frank Fox, who was not only the slated driver of one of the two cars but also the company's local agent.^[3]

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The 500-Mile Race

Harroun's winning Marmon "Wasp", currently on display at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum.

The largest racing purse offered to that date, $27,550, drew 46 entries from the United States and Europe, from which 40 qualified by sustaining 75 mph (120.7 km/h) for a quarter mile distance, though starting position was determined by date of entry instead of speed. Entries were prescribed by rules to have a minimum weight of 2,300 lb (1,043 kg) and a maximum engine size of 600 cubic inches (9.83 litres) displacement.^[4]

The cars lined up five to a row, excepting the first and last; the former led in what is now called the pole position by co-founder and president of the Speedway Carl G. Fisher in a Stoddard-Dayton pace car, the latter holding a single car to make up for the shifted positioning that resulted. Fisher's use of the Stoddard-Dayton is believed to constitute the first use of such a vehicle, for the first known mass-rolling start of an automobile race.^[4]

Amid roiling smoke, the roar of the 40 machines' engines, and the waving of a red flag which signalled 'clear course ahead', American Johnny Aitken, in a National, took the lead from the fourth starting spot on the extreme outside of the first row, and held it until lap 5 when Spencer Wishart took over in a Mercedes, himself soon overtaken by David L. Bruce-Brown's Fiat which would go on to dominate the first half of the race. Nearing the halfway point, Ray Harroun, an engineer for the Marmon company and defending AAA national champion, and the only driver competing without a riding mechanic due to his first-ever-recorded use of a cowl-mounted rear-view mirror, passed Bruce-Brown for the lead in his self-designed, six-cylinder "Marmon Wasp" (so named for its distinctively sharp-pointed, wasp-like tail).^[4]

Others falter during the marathon event; of the 14 cars to fall out, riding mechanic Sam Dickson is the lone fatality, killed when driver Arthur Greiner hits the wall in the second turn on lap 12.^[4]

Harroun, relieved by Cyrus Patschke for 35 laps (87.5 miles / 140.82 km), leads 88 of the 200 laps, the most among the race's seven leaders, to average a speed of 74.602 mph (120.060 km/h) in a total time of 6:42:08 for the 500-mile (804.67 km) distance to win.^[4]

Or apparently win.

During the midpoint of the second half the race, Harroun and Lozier driver Ralph Mulford had fought an intense battle for supremacy, with Harroun being scored as holding a small advantage near the 340 mile (550 kilometer) mark...whereupon one of the Wasp's tires 'let go'. With balloon tires not yet developed, automobile tires of the day did not 'go flat', but were in fact thin strips of solid rubber which could be cut and torn without totally destroying the tire, and by extension the car, if pit stop for replacement occurred swiftly enough. Harroun's forced stopped allowed Mulford to move to the front, before Mulford soon pitted as well, also needing new rubber. After Mulford came back onto the track, Harroun was scored in the lead with a 1 minute, 48 second advantage...and it is on this statistic that controversy ensues.

Upon Harroun's declared victory, Mulford filed protest, contending that he had lapped Harroun when the Marmon had limped in on the torn tire, an argument appearing plausible to some, due to an accident disrupting the official timing and scoring stand at nearly the same time. However, race officials were quick to note that Mulford's subsequent pit stop forced the Lozier crew to spend several minutes themselves changing a tire that had stuck to the wheel hub; Mulford's protest was thus denied, though the reality remains that the final result will always be open to dispute.^[5]

After the race, and collection of $10,000 for first place, Harroun returned to the position he had taken at the end of the 1910 racing season: retirement. He would never race again.

Official Results

Qualification Results

Entries required to maintain excess of 75 mph (120.7 km/h) over a quarter-mile distance to qualify, but starting grid determined by order of entry date.

No qualification times or speeds recorded, only success or failure to qualify.^[6]

Row	Far Inside	Inside Center	Center	Outside Center	Far Outside
1	Pace Car Position	Lewis Strang	†1 Ralph DePalma	Harry Endicott	Johnny Aitken
2	Louis Disbrow	Frank Fox	Harry Knight	†2 Joe Jagersberger	Will Jones
3	Gil Andersen	Spencer Wishart	W. H. Turner	Fred Belcher	†3 Arthur Chevrolet
4	†4 Charles Basle	Eddie Hearne	Harry Grant	Charlie Merz	Howdy Wilcox
5	Mel Marquette	Fred Ellis	Harry Cobe	Jack Tower	Ernest Delaney
6	David L. Bruce-Brown	Lee Frayer	Joe Dawson	Ray Harroun	Ralph Mulford
7	Teddy Tetzlaff	Herbert Lytle	Hughie Hughes	Charles Bigelow	Ralph Beardsley
8	Caleb Bragg	Howard Hall	Bill Endicott	Arthur Greiner	Bob Burman
9	Billy Knipper

Race Results

Race finishing times recorded down to second intervals.

All entries still running at conclusion scored ahead of non-finishing entries regardless of race completion percentage.

Position colors reflect the American formula motorsports standard for finishing positions.

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	Cyl	Displ (in³) (L)	Color	Qual Speed	Rank	Start Pos	Laps Led*	Laps Run	Time	Speed (mph) (km/h)	Status	Prize Money ($)
1	32	Ray Harroun**	Marmon "Wasp"	Nordyke & Marmon Company	Marmon	Marmon	6	477 7.82	yellow / black	no full lap	28		88	200	6:42:08	74.602 120.060	finished	14,250
2	33	Ralph Mulford	Lozier	Lozier Motor Company	Lozier	Lozier	4	544 8.91	White	no full lap	29		10	200	6:43:51 +0:01:43	74.285 119.550	finished	5,200
3	28	David L. Bruce-Brown	Fiat	E. E. Hewlett	Fiat	Fiat	4	589 9.65	maroon / white	no full lap	25		81	200	6:52:29 +0:10:21	72.730 117.048	finished	3,250
4	11	Spencer Wishart	Mercedes	Spencer Wishart	Mercedes	Mercedes	4	583 9.55	gray	no full lap	11		5	200	6:52:57 +0:10:49	72.648 116.916	finished	2,350
5	31	Joe Dawson	Marmon	Nordyke & Marmon Company	Marmon	Marmon	4	495 8.11	yellow / black	no full lap	27		0	200	6:54:34 +0:12:26	72.365 116.460	finished	1,500
6	2	†1 Ralph DePalma	Simplex	Simplex Automobile Company	Simplex	Simplex	4	597 9.78	red / white	no full lap	2		4	200	7:02:02 +0:19:54	71.084 114.399	finished	1,000
7	20	Charlie Merz	National	National Motor Vehicle Company	National	National	4	447 7.33	blue / white	no full lap	18		0	200	7:06:20 +0:24:12	70.367 113.245	finished	800
8	12	W. H. Turner	Amplex	Simplex Automobile Company	Amplex	Amplex	4	443 7.26	red	no full lap	12		0	200	7:15:56 +0:33:48	68.818 110.752	finished	700
9	15	Fred Belcher	Knox	Knox Automobile Company	Knox	Knox	6	432 7.08	brown	no full lap	13		4	200	7:17:09 +0:35:01	68.626 110.443	finished	600
10	25	Harry Cobe	Jackson	Jackson Automobile Company	Jackson	Jackson	4	559 9.16	maroon / white	no full lap	22		0	200	7:21:50 +0:39:42	67.899 109.273	finished	500
11	10	Gil Andersen	Stutz	Ideal Motor Car Company	Stutz	Wisconsin	4	390 6.39	gray / white	no full lap	10		0	200	7:22:55 +0:40:47	67.73 109.001	finished	0
12	36	Hughie Hughes	Mercer	Mercer Motors Company	Mercer	Mercer	4	300 4.92	yellow / blue	no full lap	32		0	200	7:23:32 +0:41:24	67.63 108.840	finished	0
13	30	Lee Frayer	Firestone-Columbus	Columbus Buggy Company	Firestone-Columbus	Firestone-Columbus	4	432 7.08	scarlet / gray	no full lap	26		0	197	flagged		flagged, still running	0
14	21	Howdy Wilcox	National	National Motor Vehicle Company	National	National	4	589 9.65	blue / white	no full lap	19		0	194	flagged		flagged, still running	0
15	37	Charles Bigelow	Mercer	Mercer Motors Company	Mercer	Mercer	4	300 4.92	yellow / blue	no full lap	33		0	194	flagged		flagged, still running	0
16	3	Harry Endicott	Inter-State	Inter-State Automobile Company	Inter-State	Inter-State	4	390 6.39	gray / black	no full lap	3		0	192	flagged		flagged, still running	0
17	41	Howard Hall	Velie	Velie Motors Corporation	Velie	Velie	4	334 5.47	gray	no full lap	36		0	190	flagged		flagged, still running	0
18	46	Billy Knipper	Benz	E. A. Moross	Benz	Benz	4	444 7.28	white	no full lap	40		0	188	flagged		flagged, still running	0
19	45	Bob Burman	Benz	E. A. Moross	Benz	Benz	4	520 8.52	white	no full lap	39		0	183	flagged		flagged, still running	0
20	38	Ralph Beardsley	Simplex	Simplex Automobile Company	Simplex	Simplex	4	597 9.78	red	no full lap	34		0	178	flagged		flagged, still running	0
21	18	Eddie Hearne	Fiat	Edward A. Hearne	Fiat	Fiat	4	487 7.98	red / white	no full lap	16		0	175	flagged		flagged, still running	0
22	6	Frank Fox	Pope-Hartford	Pope Manufacturing Company	Pope-Hartford	Pope-Hartford	4	390 6.39	red / white	no full lap	6		0	162	flagged		flagged, still running	0
23	27	Ernest Delaney	Cutting	Clark-Carter Automobile Company	Cutting	Cutting	4	390 6.39	gray / black / white	no full lap	24		0	160	flagged		flagged, still running	0
24	26	Jack Tower	Jackson	Jackson Automobile Company	Jackson	Jackson	4	432 7.08	maroon / white	no full lap	23		0	145	flagged		flagged, still running	0
25	23	Mel Marquette	McFarlan	Speed Motors Company	McFarlan	McFarlan	6	377 6.18	lead / white	no full lap	20		0	142	flagged		flagged, still running	0
26	42	Bill Endicott	Cole	Cole Motor Car Company	Cole	Cole	4	471 7.72	green	no full lap	37		0	104	flagged		flagged, still running	0
27	4	Johnny Aitken	National	National Motor Vehicle Company	National	National	4	589 9.65	blue / white	no full lap	4		8	125	did not finish		connecting rod	0
28	9	Will Jones	Case	Case Corporation	Case	Wisconsin	4	284 4.65	red / gray	no full lap	9		0	122	did not finish		steering	0
29	1	Lewis Strang	Case	Case Corporation	Case	Wisconsin	4	284 4.65	red / gray	no full lap	1		0	109	did not finish		steering	0
30	7	Harry Knight	Westcott	Westcott Motor Car Company	Westcott	Westcott	6	421 6.90	gray	no full lap	7		0	90	did not finish		accident, front-straight	0
31	8	†2 Joe Jagersberger	Case	Case Corporation	Case	Wisconsin	4	284 4.65	red / gray	no full lap	8		0	87	did not finish		accident, front-straight	0
32	35	Herbert Lytle	Apperson	Apperson Brothers Automotive Company	Apperson	Apperson	4	546 8.95	vermillion / white	no full lap	31		0	82	did not finish		accident, pits	0
33	19	Harry Grant	Alco	American Locomotive Company	Alco	Alco	6	580 9.50	black	no full lap	17		0	51	did not finish		bearings	0
34	17	†4 Charles Basle	Buick	Buick Motor Company	Buick	Buick	4	594 9.73	white / red	no full lap	15		0	46	did not finish		mechanical	0
35	5	Louis Disbrow	Pope-Hartford	Pope Manufacturing Company	Pope-Hartford	Pope-Hartford	4	390 6.39	red / black	no full lap	5		0	45	did not finish		accident, front-straight	0
36	16	†3 Arthur Chevrolet	Buick	Buick Motor Company	Buick	Buick	4	594 9.73	white / red	no full lap	14		0	30	did not finish		mechanical	0
37	39	Caleb Bragg	Fiat	Caleb S. Bragg	Fiat	Fiat	4	487 7.98	maroon	no full lap	35		0	24	did not finish		wrecked, pits	0
38	24	Fred Ellis	Jackson	Jackson Automobile Company	Jackson	Jackson	4	355 5.82	maroon / white	no full lap	21		0	22	did not finish		fire damage, withdrawn	0
39	34	Teddy Tetzlaff	Lozier	Lozier Motor Company	Lozier	Lozier	4	544 8.91	white / red	no full lap	30		0	20	did not finish		accident, front-straight	0
40	44	Arthur Greiner	Amplex	Simplex Motor Car Company	Amplex	Amplex	4	443 7.26	red / white	no full lap	8		0	12	did not finish		accident, second turn	0

Notes

* Due to an accident at the timing and scoring stand, laps 138 through 176 were unofficially recorded.

** Ray Harroun was relieved by Cyrus Patschke for approximately 35 laps at the halfway point of the race.

†₁ De Palma is usually shown as American, but his application for a US passport (available at [1]) reveals that he did not become a US citizen until 1920

†₂ Jagersberger was Austrian-born.

†₃ Chevrolet is usually shown as American, but documents available at [2] show he did not became a US citizen until at least 1917.

†₄ Basle is usually shown as American, but documents available at [3] show he did not became a US citizen until at least 1917.

Notes

Race field average engine displacement:

• 460 in³ / 7.54 L

Race field average qualifying speed:

• No full lap

Finishing entries average time and finishing speed:

• 7:05:27
• 70.74 mph / 113.85 km/h

References and External Links

Footnotes

Jaslow, Russel (1997). "Who Really Won the First Indy 500?". Retrieved on 2006-06-16.
2006 Indianapolis 500 Official Program
Summary of race at www.champcarstars.com

Wikisource Newspaper Texts

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Crowd of 100,000 at the Speedway

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The Great Race

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Harroun is in Lead at 300

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Harroun Only One Sure of His Place

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One Dead and Many Injured

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Train and Trolley Bear in Thousands

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