1926 Indianapolis 500
| Indianapolis Motor Speedway | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indianapolis 500 | |||||
| Sanctioning body | AAA | ||||
| Date | May 31, 1926 | ||||
| Winner | Frank Lockhart | ||||
| Winning Entrant | Pete Kreis | ||||
| Average speed | 95.904 mph (154.343 km/h) | ||||
| Pole position | Earl Cooper | ||||
| Pole speed | 111.735 mph (179.820 km/h) | ||||
| Most laps led | Frank Lockhart (95) | ||||
| Pre-race | |||||
| Pace car | Chrysler Imperial 80 | ||||
| Pace car driver | Louis Chevrolet | ||||
| Starter | Seth Klein[1] | ||||
| Honorary referee | Arthur Brisbane [1] | ||||
| Estimated attendance | 135,000[2] | ||||
| Chronology | |||||
| |||||
The 14th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes Race was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Monday, May 31, 1926. Louis Chevrolet drove the Chrysler pace car for the start.[3]
Rain halted the race at lap 72, and officials waited for the track to dry out. The race was resumed over an hour later. Rain fell again, and the race was called at the 400 mile mark (160 laps).
Rookie Frank Lockhart moved up from 20th to fifth by lap 5, having had passed 14 cars on that lap alone.[4] He moved up to second on Lap 16.[4] After the rain delay, Lockhart and Dave Lewis battled for the lead for about 20 laps, until Lewis dropped out.[4] After Lewis retired with a broken valve, Harry Hartz closed on Lockhart and briefly took the lead at about 250 miles as the crowd roared. But soon afterward Hartz was forced to make an unscheduled pit stop.[5] Lockhart then stretched out a two-lap lead when the race was called, and he was declared the winner. It was the first rain-shortened race in "500" history, and Lockhart was the fourth rookie to win the race. Lockhart may have actually completed as many as 163 laps (407.5 miles), but official scoring results reverted to the completion of lap 160.
Time trials
[edit ]Four-lap (10 mile) qualifying runs were utilized. Earl Cooper won the pole position. Frank Lockhart set a new 1-lap track record during his first attempt at 115.488 mph, but the run was aborted after a tire failure on the second lap. He later blew an engine during another attempt, and finally put a car in the field 20th on the grid.[6]
| Qualifying Results | ||||||
| Date | Driver | Lap 1 (mph) |
Lap 2 (mph) |
Lap 3 (mph) |
Lap 4 (mph) |
Average Speed (mph) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5/27/1926 | Earl Cooper | 113.68 | 112.97 | 111.32 | 109.09 | 111.735 |
Starting grid
[edit ]| Row | Inside | Middle | Outside | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | United States Earl Cooper | 3 | United States Harry Hartz | 10 | United States Leon Duray |
| 2 | 1 | United States Dave Lewis | 4 | United States Phil Shafer | 7 | United States Jules Ellingboe |
| 3 | 16 | United States Bennett Hill | 6 | United States Frank Elliott | 34 | Canada Bon MacDougall R |
| 4 | 22 | United States W. E. Shattuc | 9 | United States Cliff Durant | 31 | United States Tony Gulotta R |
| 5 | 8 | United States Fred Comer | 36 | United States Cliff Woodbury R | 19 | United States Ralph Hepburn |
| 6 | 14 | United States Norman Batten R | 27 | United Kingdom Douglas Hawkes | 29 | United States Ben Jones R |
| 7 | 29 | France Albert Guyot | 15 | United States Frank Lockhart R | 33 | United States Thane Houser R |
| 8 | 24 | United States Steve Nemesh R | 43 | United Kingdom Ernest Eldridge R | 23 | United States L. L. Corum W |
| 9 | 28 | United States Jack McCarver R | 17 | United States Fred Lecklider R | 12 | United States Pete DePaolo W |
| 10 | 18 | Canada John Duff R | ||||
Box score
[edit ]
Note: Relief drivers in parentheses[9]
W Former Indianapolis 500 winner
R Indianapolis 500 Rookie
Race statistics
[edit ]
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Race details
[edit ]- For 1926, riding mechanics were optional,[10] however, no teams utilized them.
- First alternate: none[11]
- This would be the first Indy 500 where a driver from the inaugural Indy 500 did not compete.
References
[edit ]- ^ a b Fox, Jack C. (1994). The Illustrated History of the Indianapolis 500 1911-1994 (4th ed.). Carl Hungness Publishing. p. 22. ISBN 0-915088-05-3.
- ^ "Youthful Driver Declared Victor After 400 Miles". The Indianapolis Star. June 1, 1926. p. 1. Retrieved June 3, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.Open access icon
- ^ Seattle Daily Times, June 1, 1926, Page 18.
- ^ a b c Biography at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America, Retrieved March 15, 2007
- ^ Book "The Indianapolis 500: A Complete Pictorial History p.70-71
- ^ The Lockhart Legend/ At the height of the Roaring Twenties Frank Lockhart was America's racing superstar
- ^ "Indianapolis 500 1926". Ultimate Racing History. Archived from the original on September 17, 2012. Retrieved January 15, 2012.
- ^ Popely, Rick; Riggs, L. Spencer (1998). The Indianapolis 500 Chronicle. Lincolnwood, Illinois: Publications International, Ltd. ISBN 0-7853-2798-3.
- ^ "International 500 Mile Sweepstakes - May 31, 1926". ChampCarStats.com.
- ^ Blazier, John E.; Rollings, Tom (1994). Forgotten Heroes of the Speedways: The Riding Mechanics.
- ^ The Talk of Gasoline Alley - 1070-AM WIBC, May 14, 2004
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