1911 Indianapolis 500

Inaugural running of the Indianapolis 500 February 2025 1st Indianapolis 500 1911 Indianapolis 500 program cover.jpg AAA May 30, 1911 Ray Harroun Nordyke & Marmon Company Harry Goetz2011 100th Anniversary Indianapolis 500 Official Media Guide Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation/IMS Public Relations 2011 Statistics 176 English https://doctorindy.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/2011-Indy-500-Media-Guide.pdf 6:42:08 74.602 mi/h km/h on Lewis Strang N/A Ray Harroun (88) Stoddard-Dayton Carl G. Fisher Fred J. WagnerFox Jack C. The Illustrated History of the Indianapolis 500 1911-1994 Carl Hungness Publishing 4th 1994 22 en 0-915088-05-3 R. P. Hooper 85,000Harroun In 'Wasp' Wins: One Death Is Race Toll https://www.newspapers.com/clip/11350677/ Paul W. Willis The Indianapolis Star 1 Newspapers.com May 31, 1911 June 3, 2017 1909-1910 events 1912 The 1911 International 500-Mile Sweepstakes Race was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Tuesday, May 30, 1911. It was the inaugural running of the Indianapolis 500, which is one of the most prestigious automobile races in the world. Ray Harroun, an engineer with the Marmon Motor Car Company, came out of retirement to drive, and won the inaugural event before re-retiring for good in the winner's circle. thumb|The Marmon Wasp, the car that won the 1911 Indianapolis 500. Over the previous two seasons (1909 and 1910), the Speedway had scheduled numerous smaller races during a series of meets over the two years. In a departure from that policy, for 1911 the management decided to instead schedule a single, large-scale event attracting widespread attention from both American and European racing teams and manufacturers. It proved to be a successful event, immediately establishing itself as both the premier motorsports competition in the U.S. and one of the most prestigious in the world. The race was sanctioned by the AAA Contest Board, and was part of the 1911 season of races. In an era of two-man cars – consisting of a driver accompanied by a riding mechanic – Ray Harroun famously drove the race solo. In the days leading up to the race, fellow competitors complained about Harroun's ability to see other cars around him at speed (that duty was typically performed by the riding mechanic). In an effort to assuage the concerns, Harroun famously affixed a rearview mirror to his machine. It is believed to be the first rearview mirror mounted on a racing car,Ward's Auto World: Rearview Mirror https://web.archive.org/web/20050426073941/http://waw.wardsauto.com/ar/auto_rearview_mirror/ 26 April 2005 although Harroun himself claimed he got the idea from seeing a mirror used for a similar purpose on a horse-drawn vehicle in 1904.Davidson, Donald The Talk of Gasoline Alley (radio program). Accessed via WIBC (FM), 28 May 2006 Harroun also claimed that the mirror vibrated constantly due to the rough brick surface, and it was rendered largely useless.The Talk of Gasoline Alley Donald Davidson (historian) WFNI 5 May 2010 Nevertheless, Harroun led 88 laps (of 200), running near the front nearly all day. He executed a preplanned strategy of driving a steady 75 mph pace to reduce his tire wear. Around the halfway mark, he was briefly relieved by Cyrus Patschke for approximately 35 laps, but got back into the car, and drove to victory by a margin of approximately 1 minute and 42 seconds. The marathon race was completed in 6 hours and 42 minutes in front of a crowd of over 85,000 spectators. A total of twelve cars completed the 500-mile distance, while 12 of the 40 cars dropped out due to crashes or mechanical failures. One participant, Sam Dickson (the riding mechanic for Arthur Greiner) was fatally injured after a crash on lap 12.https://newspaperarchive.com/sports-clipping-may-31-1911-3640171/ Marmon Car Wins; Death Marked Race The New York Times Indianapolis, Indiana 13 1911-05-31 2022-12-30 NewspaperArchive One Race May 2017 thumb|325px|Bob Burman, Louis Disbrow, Jack Tower, and Joe Grennon at the 1911 Indianapolis 500 "Too much racing" The 1910 racing season at Indianapolis Motor Speedway began well, with an estimated 60,000 spectators for the 200 mi km on Wheeler-Schebler Trophy on Memorial Day, won by Ray Harroun.Kettlewell, Mike. "Indianapolis: The Richest Race in the World", in Northey, Tom, ed. World of Automobiles (London: Orbis, 1974), Volume 9, p.1013. Throughout the remainder of the season, however, the crowds grew progressively smaller, and after seeing a second decline in attendance in as many days for Labor Day, September 5, 1910, the final day of the concluding meet, 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, given both the rain showers occurring early that morning and the large parade held downtown during the afternoon, neither the two days of the Labor Day meet nor the July 4 weekend races had come near to equaling the Memorial Day turnout. While potential explanations for the decline included the high heat of summer and the women of the city making family holiday plans that did not include automobile racing, one of the most likely, they reasoned, was an overabundance of the very events they exhibited: too many races had diluted turnout down to only those most interested in the sport. How It All Began; 1910 Davidson, Donald Shaffer, Rick Autocourse Official History of the Indianapolis 500, Second Edition Icon Publishing Limited 2013 27 Timing By the next day, Tuesday, September 6, 1910, local newspapers had already heard rumors of the decision, and reported that the four partners would likely soon choose to concentrate on a singular, major event for 1911. Most strongly considered were either a 24-hour contest — anticipating the 24 Hours of Le Mans, itself inaugurated 12 years later — or a 1000 mi km on endurance race, with a purse of $25,000;Kettlewell, p.1013. equivalent to 37.615 kg lb on of pure gold, and more than high enough to attract global as well as national and regional competition. The endurance event was favored by several manufacturers, but debate soon proceeded as to what would be most beneficial to the spectators as well as the participants. While a 24-hour race 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. The management decided that the ideal "race window" would be from 10 a.m. local time until late afternoon. This would allow spectators adequate time to arrive before the start, stay for the entire race, and return home before sundown. To fit in that timeframe, that translated to a race distance of 300 to 500 mi km. With total purse estimates ranging upwards of $30,000, the race winner could expect to take home as much as $12,000, the equivalent of over $400,000 in 2026 dollars. In choices for a specific date to hold the race, Memorial Day, already the occasion of the largest previous attendance, was always foremost. The Independence Day (July 4) date was rejected, as numerous other events such as parades, picnics, and other celebrations already captured the attention of would-be spectators. Scheduling the race on a Saturday (of a non-holiday weekend) during the summer was also eschewed, since many people – especially in the farming business – worked on Saturdays. Business associate Lem Trotter informed the Speedway owners that Memorial Day 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 conflict of interest fell on a major national holiday sealed the decision: within two days, formal announcement was made of a 500 mi km on, marathon-distance motor race, to be held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, May 30, 1911. Preparation, and the "Month of May" As desired and expected, news of a contest of such distance evoked enthusiasm both within and without the motorsport community. Newspaper and trade magazine articles used superlatives for the challenges expected to soon face both drivers and engineers. A 500-Mile Race It Is; 1911 Davidson, Donald Shaffer, Rick Autocourse Official History of the Indianapolis 500, Second Edition Icon Publishing Limited 2013 28–30 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 measures to ensure that the likely large entry list did not include any that were frivolous: 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 an automobile built by the J. I. Case Threshing Machine Company of Racine, Wisconsin, to be driven by Lewis Strang. By May 1, 1911, the final day for entry filing, a high total of some 46 cars had been nominated to compete. May 1 also marked the beginning of a long tradition of the opening of the Speedway, on the first day of the month of the race, to free practice on the circuit during daylight hours by any and all participants. A policy originally established so as to allow teams unfamiliar with the 2.5 mi km on, recently brick-paved high-speed course as much time to acclimate as necessary, the "Month of May", as it came to be called in future years, ultimately proved most advantageous in the short-term to the locally based teams, given that many of the entries from abroad did not even set out for the city until well into the month. One such example, the double-entry Pope-Hartford team based in Springfield, Massachusetts, came by way of the team's actual racing cars themselves simply being driven cross-country, while loaded up with toolboxes and as many spare parts as they could hold, 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. Ultimately, of the full forty-six entries originally submitted, only the two cars of the Falcar team from Moline, Illinois failed to appear, due to an inability to acquire critical chassis pieces. Setting the field thumb|Starting grid on race morning. To further refine the entry list as the date of the race approached, a qualification system was implemented whereby each car would be required to demonstrate a sufficiently competitive pace. With several of the top entries having already recorded, during the "unofficial" practice time of the month, complete laps at up to 88 mi/h km/h on, a minimum required speed of 75 mi/h km/h on, based on a flying start over a 0.25 mile km section of the main straightaway, was considered to be within reason. Thus, all cars successfully completing an officially-timed run of the quarter-mile distance at or under 12 seconds would be accepted into the starting field; those that did not would be given two additional attempts before being rejected, a policy that began the tradition of three qualification attempts allotted to each entered car. In the years following these inaugural qualification sessions, which were held on May 27 and 28, 1911, anecdotes would occasionally arise, and thereafter be steadily embellished in their retelling, regarding the purported qualifying times and speeds of given competitors, and how they compared to one another. In reality, no records of the sessions were kept at all, let alone publicized, with the sole objective being the confirmation of each car's capability to achieve the minimum speed. Also in contrast to later eras, both the starting order and the car numbering of the participants were determined not by respective speeds or previous seasonal point totals, but by entry date, with the Strang-driven Case entry being assigned #1 in the first starting position. The 500-mile race thumb|right|250px|The 1911 Stoddard-Dayton pace car on display at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum. The largest racing purse offered to date, $27,550, drew 46 entries from the United States and Europe, from which 40 qualified by sustaining 75 mph km/h on along the quarter mile-long main straight.Kettlewell, p.1014. Grid positions were determined by date of filing of official entry forms, rather than speed, a difference from the contemporary European practice of lottery.World of Automobiles 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. 1911 Popely, Rick Riggs, L. Spencer Indianapolis 500 Chronicle Publications International, Ltd. 1998 10 The 40 cars lined up five to a row, except for the first and last. In the first row, the Stoddard-Dayton pace car was situated on the inside (driven by IMS owner Carl Fisher), with four competitors cars rounding out the row. Rows 2-8 had five cars each, while the final row had only one car in it. 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. At some point before the race, Bert Adams was denied a license by the AAA Contest Board - Adams was replaced as driver of the McFarlan by his riding mechanic, Mel Marquette.Bert Adams http://www.motorsportmemorial.org/LWFWIW/focusLWFWIW.php?db2=LWF&db=ct&n=1442 July 1, 2025 www.motorsportmemorial.org Amid roiling smoke, the roar of the 40 machines' engines, and the waving of a red flag which signaled '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 Bruce-Brown's Fiat which would go on to dominate the first half of the race. On lap 12 tragedy would strike as Sam Dickson (the riding mechanic for Arthur Greiner) was the first person killed in history during the Indianapolis 500. One of the front wheels came off the American Simplex car Greiner was driving, causing him to lose control and both men to be thrown from the car. While Greiner escaped with a broken arm, Dickson flew into a fence 20 feet (6.1 m) from the car. Reports state that Dickson was killed instantly, although the crowd evidently swarmed around the body, requiring the state militia who were acting as security at the event to use their guns as clubs to clear a path for the attending doctors.Marmon car wins; death marked race https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1911/05/31/104826117.pdf The New York Times May 31, 1911 https://web.archive.org/web/20181001183343/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1911/05/31/104826117.pdf October 1, 2018 live Nearing the halfway point, Ray Harroun, an engineer for the Marmon-Nordyke 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). Others faltered during the marathon event, 14 cars fell out of the race. Harroun, relieved by Cyrus Patschkehttp://www.thevintageracer.com/articles/cyrus-patschke.htm for 35 laps (87.5 miles / 140.82 km), led 88 of the 200 laps, the most among the race's seven leaders, for a race-average 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. During the midpoint of the second half of the race, Harroun and Lozier driver Ralph Mulford had fought an intense duel, with Harroun holding a small advantage near the 340 mile (550 kilometer) mark, whereupon one of the Wasp's tires failed.April 2013 Harroun's forced stop allowed Mulford to move to the front, before Mulford also pitted for new rubber. After Mulford came back onto the track, Harroun was scored in the lead with a 1-minute 48 second advantage, and victory. 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. Controversy Upon Harroun's declared victory, second-place finisher Mulford supposedly protested, contending he had lapped Harroun when the Marmon 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 Mulford's subsequent pit stop forced the Lozier crew to spend several minutes themselves changing a tire which stuck to the wheel hub; Mulford's protest was thus denied. 1911 Popely, Rick Riggs, L. Spencer Indianapolis 500 Chronicle Publications International, Ltd. 1998 11 According to track historian Donald Davidson, no protests were filed at the end of the raceThe Talk of Gasoline Alley Donald Davidson (historian) WFNI May 18, 2010 and Mulford offered congratulations to Harroun in the Detroit Free Press newspaper on June 4.Mulford Claims World's Record https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3870770/ralph_mulford_second_place_finisher/ Detroit Free Press 70 Newspapers.com June 4, 1911 December 22, 2015The Talk of Gasoline Alley Donald Davidson (historian) WFNI May 25, 2011 Davidson has also pointed out that Mulford was reported by contemporary publications to have changed 14 tires during the course of the race, including one from a blown tire in turn one.The Talk of Gasoline Alley Donald Davidson (historian) WFNI July 27, 2008 Changing tires at the time was a lengthy and painstaking process, as the wheels were typically not removable. Tires had to be pried off of the rims, remounted, and inflated - all using hand tools, and in the precarious confines of the primitive pit stalls. Mulford himself even understood and admitted that he lost at least 14 minutes of track position due to his numerous pit stops. "[Mulford] expressed himself as more than satisfied with the outcome of the race and gives full credit to Ray Harroun and Cyrus Patschke for their great victory." Detroit Free Press; June 4, 1911 31% right After blowing the tire on turn one, Mulford had to limp around the track for almost an entire lap, and subsequently bent the rim. That necessitated an even longer pit stop at that juncture to hammer out the damage. The accounts from the newspapers claim that Harroun changed only four tires all day during only three pit stops. Harroun's team changed the right rear tire three times, and one other unspecified tire. Harroun's shorter elapsed time in the pits is alone considered sufficient to more than overcome any track position advantage Mulford might have been thought to have. But the undermining evidence to support Harroun as the rightful winner was the team strategy to run a constant 75 mph pace, regardless of position, in order to save tire wear."The History of the 500 - Episode 10 (Mythbusters)", WIBC 93.1, April 14, 2013 During the 1910 Wheeler-Schebler Trophy Race, as well as during test runs in May 1911, Harroun discovered that by merely running a constant 75 mph pace instead of an 80 mph (or faster) pace, he would substantially reduce his tire wear and increase tire life.The Talk of Gasoline Alley Donald Davidson (historian) WFNI May 26, 2011 Davidson contends that Mulford did not make serious claims to victory later in life, as some have suggested. And in fact the controversy itself did not begin to inflame until decades after the race. Likewise, internet-based urban legends, and a book published in 2011, have fueled the controversy. It is also possible that Mulford's statements in the Detroit Free Press interview were misunderstood or purposely misconstrued. While giving full credit to Harroun for winning the race, Mulford did for himself claim the world record for 500 miles driven solo (Harroun had relief help from Cyrus Patschke). He also made the largely inconsequential claim that minus the stoppage time needed for pit stops (over 14 minutes), he likely completed the 500 miles (running time only) in less elapsed time than Harroun & Patschke. Starting grid Entries were required to maintain an excess of 75 mi/h km/h on over a quarter-mile distance to qualify. However, the starting grid determined by order of entry date. No qualification times or speeds were recorded, only pass or fail. RowNo.Far InsideNo.Inside CenterNo.CenterNo.Outside CenterNo.Far Outside1Pace Car Position1USA 1908 Lewis Strang2USA 1908 Ralph DePalma3USA 1908 Harry Endicott4USA 1908 Johnny Aitken25USA 1908 Louis Disbrow6USA 1908 Frank Fox7USA 1908 Harry Knight8Austria-Hungary 1908 Joe Jagersberger9USA 1908 Will Jones310USA 1908 Gil Andersen11USA 1908 Spencer Wishart12CAN 1868 W. H. Turner15USA 1908 Fred Belcher16USA 1908 Arthur Chevrolet417USA 1908 Charles Basle18USA 1908 Eddie Hearne19USA 1908 Harry Grant20USA 1908 Charlie Merz21USA 1908 Howdy Wilcox523USA 1908 Mel Marquette24USA 1908 Fred Ellis25USA 1908 Harry Cobe26USA 1908 Jack Tower27USA 1908 Ernest Delany628USA 1908 David Bruce-Brown30USA 1908 Lee Frayer31USA 1908 Joe Dawson32USA 1908 Ray Harroun33USA 1908 Ralph Mulford734USA 1908 Teddy Tetzlaff35USA 1908 Herbert Lytle36GBR Hughie Hughes37USA 1908 Charles Bigelow38USA 1908 Ralph Beardsley839USA 1908 Caleb Bragg41USA 1908 Howard Hall42USA 1908 Bill Endicott44USA 1908 Arthur Greiner45USA 1908 Bob Burman946USA 1908 Billy Knipper  Note: All drivers were orange R silver Indianapolis 500 Rookies Failed to qualify USA 1908 Louis Edmunds AUS Rupert Jeffkins Box score PosNo.DriverEntrantChassis(car name)EngineCylDispl(in3)GridLapsStatus132 USA 1908 Ray Harroun orange R silver(Cyrus Patschke)Nordyke & Marmon CompanyMarmon "Wasp"Marmon647728200 74.602 mph233 USA 1908 Ralph Mulford orange R silverLozier Motor CompanyLozierLozier454429200 +1:43328 USA 1908 David Bruce-Brown orange R silverE. E. HewlettFiat S61Fiat458925200 +10:21411 USA 1908 Spencer Wishart orange R silver(Dave Murphy)Spencer WishartMercedesMercedes458311200 +10:49531 USA 1908 Joe Dawson orange R silver(Cyrus Patschke)Nordyke & Marmon CompanyMarmonMarmon449527200 +12:2662 USA 1908 Ralph DePalma orange R silverSimplex Automobile CompanySimplexSimplex45972200 +19:54720 USA 1908 Charlie Merz orange R silver(Len Zengel)National Motor Vehicle CompanyNationalNational444718200 +24:12812 CAN 1868 W. H. Turner orange R silver(Walter Jones)American SimplexAmplexAmplex444312200 +33:48915 USA 1908 Fred Belcher orange R silver(John Coffey)Knox Automobile CompanyKnoxKnox643213200 +35:011025 USA 1908 Harry Cobe orange R silver(Louis Schwitzer)Jackson Automobile CompanyJacksonJackson455922200 +39:421110 USA 1908 Gil Andersen orange R silverIdeal Motor Car CompanyStutzWisconsin439010200 +40:471236 GBR Hughie Hughes orange R silverMercer Motors CompanyMercerMercer430032200 +41:241330 USA 1908 Lee Frayer orange R silver(Eddie Rickenbacker)Columbus Buggy CompanyFirestone-ColumbusFirestone-Columbus443226197Flagged1421 USA 1908 Howdy Wilcox orange R silverNational Motor Vehicle CompanyNationalNational458919194Flagged1537 USA 1908 Charles Bigelow orange R silver(W. H. Frey)(E. H. Sherwood)Mercer Motors CompanyMercerMercer430033194Flagged163 USA 1908 Harry Endicott orange R silverInter-State Automobile CompanyInter-StateInter-State43903192Flagged1741 USA 1908 Howard Hall orange R silver(Rupert Jeffkins)Velie Motors CorporationVelieVelie433436190Flagged1846 USA 1908 Billy Knipper orange R silverE. A. MorossBenzBenz444440188Flagged 1945 USA 1908 Bob Burman orange R silverE. A. MorossBenzBenz452039183Flagged2038 USA 1908 Ralph Beardsley orange R silver(Frank Goode)American SimplexAmplexAmplex459734178Flagged2118 USA 1908 Eddie Hearne orange R silver(Edward Parker)Edward A. HearneFiatFiat448716175Flagged226 USA 1908 Frank Fox orange R silver(Fred Clemons)Pope Manufacturing CompanyPope-HartfordPope-Hartford43906162Flagged2327 USA 1908 Ernest Delany orange R silverClark-Carter Automobile CompanyCuttingCutting439024160Flagged2426 USA 1908 Jack Tower orange R silver(Robert Evans)Jackson Automobile CompanyJacksonJackson443223145Flagged2523 USA 1908 Mel Marquette orange R silverSpeed Motors CompanyMcFarlanMcFarlan637720142Flagged2642 USA 1908 Bill Endicott orange R silver (John Jenkins)Cole Motor Car CompanyColeCole447137104Flagged274 USA 1908 Johnny Aitken orange R silverNational Motor Vehicle CompanyNationalNational45894125Connecting rod289 USA 1908 Will Jones orange R silverCase CorporationCaseWisconsin42849122Steering291 USA 1908 Lewis Strang orange R silver(Elmer Ray)Case CorporationCaseWisconsin42841109Steering307 USA 1908 Harry Knight orange R silverWestcott Motor Car CompanyWestcottWestcott6421790Crash FS318 USA 1908 Joe Jagersberger orange R silverCase CorporationCaseWisconsin4284887Crash FS3235 USA 1908 Herbert Lytle orange R silverApperson Brothers Automotive CompanyAppersonApperson45463182Crash in pits3319 USA 1908 Harry Grant orange R silverAmerican Locomotive CompanyAlcoAlco65801751Bearings3417 USA 1908 Charles Basle orange R silverBuick Motor CompanyBuickBuick45941546Mechanical355 USA 1908 Louis Disbrow orange R silverPope Manufacturing CompanyPope-HartfordPope-Hartford4390545Crash FS3616 USA 1908 Arthur Chevrolet orange R silverBuick Motor CompanyBuickBuick45941430Mechanical3739 USA 1908 Caleb Bragg orange R silverCaleb S. BraggFiatFiat44873524Crash in pits3824 USA 1908 Fred Ellis orange R silverJackson Automobile CompanyJacksonJackson43552122Fire damage3934 USA 1908 Teddy Tetzlaff orange R silverLozier Motor CompanyLozierLozier45443020Crash FS4044 USA 1908 Arthur Greiner orange R silverAmerican SimplexAmplexAmplex44433812Crash T2Sources:Box Scores – Indianapolis 500 – 1911 https://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com/events/indy500/history/historical-stats/race-stats/box-scores/1911 Indianapolis Motor Speedway November 28, 20231911 Indianapolis 500 – Round 5 https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/database/races/1911-indianapolis-500/ live November 28, 2023 Motor Sport August 10, 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210810085746/https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/database/races/1911-indianapolis-500/1911 International 500 https://www.racing-reference.info/race-results/1911-05/UO/ live November 28, 2023 Racing-Reference April 28, 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210428014009/https://www.racing-reference.info/race-results/1911-05/UO/ Note: Relief drivers in parenthesesChampCarStats.com https://www.champcarstats.com/races/191105.htm International 500 Mile Sweepstakes – May 30, 1911 orange R silver Indianapolis 500 Rookie NavajoWhite silver Total laps completed for finishing positions 13th through 26th are unofficial. Official laps counts were published only for cars that completed all 200 laps (500 miles), and for cars which dropped out. All other cars running at the finish were simply listed as "Flagged". Some accounts attribute this to a crash that occurred during the race which disrupted the timing and scoring stand for several minutes. Following the race, the scoring serials were reviewed and revised multiple times, then the scoring records were subsequently destroyed. In 1999, historian and statistician Phil Harms published a revised box score for the 1911 Indianapolis 500 at Motorsport.com which included lap counts for all cars. According to Harms, the lap totals for positions 13th–26th were "estimated based upon lap time charts".https://doctorindy.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Phil-Harms-1911-Indianapolis-500.pdf 1911 Championship Results Phil Harms Motorsport.com November 29, 1999 March 11, 2026 Race statistics 30% Lap Leaders Laps Leader1-4 Johnny Aitken5-9 Spencer Wishart10-13 Fred Belcher14-19 David Bruce-Brown20-23 Ralph DePalma24-72 David Bruce-Brown73-76 Johnny Aitken77-102 David Bruce-Brown103-137 Ray Harroun138-142 Ralph Mulford143-176 Ray Harroun177-181 Ralph Mulford182-200 Ray Harroun 70% Total laps led Laps Leader Ray Harroun 88 David Bruce-Brown 81 Ralph Mulford 10 Johnny Aitken 8 Spencer Wishart 5 Fred Belcher 4 Ralph DePalma 4 Statistics 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 Notes Crowd of 100,000 at the Speedway The Great Race Harroun is in Lead at 300 Harroun Only One Sure of His Place One Dead and Many Injured Train and Trolley Bear in Thousands References Works cited Who Really Won the First Indy 500? Jaslow, Russel 1997 https://www.na-motorsports.com/Journal/1997/1/RussellJ.html June 16, 2006 2006 Indianapolis 500 Official Program Summary of race at www.champcarstars.com Inaugural race 1911 Ray Harroun 1912 Joe Dawson 74.602 Inaugural race 78.719 mph(1912 Indianapolis 500) Category:Indianapolis 500 races Indianapolis 500 Indianapolis 500 Indianapolis 500 Category:May 1911 sports events in the United States