1921 Indianapolis 500
The 9th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes Race was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Monday, May 30, 1921.
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| Indianapolis Motor Speedway | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indianapolis 500 | |||||
| Sanctioning body | AAA | ||||
| Date | May 30, 1921 | ||||
| Winner | Tommy Milton | ||||
| Winning Entrant | Louis Chevrolet | ||||
| Average speed | 89.621 mph (144.231 km/h) | ||||
| Pole position | Ralph DePalma | ||||
| Pole speed | 100.750 mph (162.141 km/h) | ||||
| Most laps led | Ralph DePalma (108) | ||||
| Pre-race | |||||
| Pace car | H.C.S. 6 | ||||
| Pace car driver | Harry C. Stutz | ||||
| Starter | Thomas J. Hay[1] | ||||
| Honorary referee | David Beecroft[1] | ||||
| Estimated attendance | 135,000-150,000[2] ("last year was 125k") | ||||
| Chronology | |||||
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Ralph DePalma dominated another early running of the 500, but again failed to win. He led 109 laps, and had a two-lap lead at the halfway point. A connecting rod broke, and he dropped out on lap 112. DePalma retired with one win, and 612 laps led in the "500." His laps led record would not be matched for 67 years until Al Unser, Sr. broke it in 1993.
Tommy Milton won the first of two 500 victories. He was accompanied by riding mechanic Harry Franck. The only European car to finish was a 1921 Grand Prix Sunbeam driven by Ora Haibe who was placed fifth.
Time trials
Time trials was scheduled for five days, May 25-29. Four-lap (10 mile) qualifying runs were utilized. A short field of only 26 cars submitted entries, but only 23 cars arrived and prepared to qualify. Mervin Headley's entry was disallowed because only half the entry fee was paid.[3][4] Two other entries were no-shows.
Ralph De Palma completed his qualifying run on Wednesday May 25, at an average speed of 100.75 mph. He won the pole position as the only driver over the 100 mph mark. None of his four laps matched the track record (104.78 mph) set in 1919.
This would be the first 500 that featured the familiar starting grid of rows of cars three-abreast.
| Qualifying Results | ||||||
| Date | Driver | Lap 1 (mph) | Lap 2 (mph) | Lap 3 (mph) | Lap 4 (mph) | Average Speed (mph) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5/26/1921 | Ralph DePalma | 100.89 | 100.53 | 100.56 | 101.00 | 100.75 |
Results
| Finish | Start | No | Name | Qual | Rank | Laps | Led | Time/Retired |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 | 2 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Tommy Milton |
93.050 | 11 | 200 | 90 | 5:34:44.65 |
| 2 | 2 | 6 | Roscoe Sarles |
98.350 | 2 | 200 | 1 | 5:38:34.03 |
| 3 | 8 | 23 | Percy Ford R |
87.000 | 19 | 200 | 0 | 5:52:15.30 |
| 4 | 9 | 5 | Eddie Miller R |
83.850 | 20 | 200 | 0 | 5:54:24.98 |
| 5 | 13 | 16 | Ora Haibe |
93.500 | 10 | 200 | 0 | 5:57:45.83 |
| 6 | 14 | 9 |  Albert Guyot |
87.800 | 16 | 200 | 0 | 6:01:17.07 |
| 7 | 10 | 3 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Ira Vail |
82.350 | 22 | 200 | 0 | 6:14:17.47 |
| 8 | 15 | 21 | Bennett Hill |
87.780 | 17 | 200 | 0 | 6:19:06.74 |
| 9 | 21 | 8 | Ralph Mulford |
91.700 | 12 | 177 | 0 | Flagged |
| 10 | 17 | 15 | René Thomas W |
83.750 | 21 | 144 | 0 | Water hose |
| 11 | 18 | 27 | Tom Alley |
80.500 | 23 | 133 | 0 | Rod |
| 12 | 1 | 4 | Ralph DePalma W |
100.750 | 1 | 112 | 108 | Rod |
| 13 | 4 | 1 | Eddie Hearne |
96.180 | 6 | 111 | 0 | Oil line |
| 14 | 19 | 24 | Jimmy Murphy |
93.600 | 9 | 107 | 0 | Crash T4 |
| 15 | 16 | 17 | Riley Brett R |
87.750 | 18 | 91 | 0 | Hit wall |
| 16 | 23 | 28 | C. W. Van Ranst R |
88.350 | 14 | 87 | 0 | Water hose |
| 17 | 3 | 7 | Joe Boyer |
96.650 | 4 | 74 | 1 | Rear axle |
| 18 | 6 | 19 | Jean Chassagne |
91.000 | 13 | 65 | 0 | Lost hood |
| 19 | 5 | 22 | Jules Ellingboe R |
95.400 | 8 | 49 | 0 | Steering |
| 20 | 11 | 14 | André Boillot |
97.600 | 3 | 41 | 0 | Rod bearing |
| 21 | 7 | 18 | Louis Fontaine R |
88.300 | 15 | 33 | 0 | Crash FS |
| 22 | 22 | 25 | Joe Thomas |
96.250 | 5 | 25 | 0 | Crash T3 |
| 23 | 12 | 10 | Howdy Wilcox W |
96.000 | 7 | 22 | 0 | Rod |
| [5][6] | ||||||||
Race details
- For 1921, riding mechanics were required.[7]
- First alternate: none[8]
References
- 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.
- "Race Throngs Upset Records". The Indianapolis Star. May 31, 1921. p. 1. Retrieved June 3, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
- The Talk of Gasoline Alley - 1070-AM WIBC, May 5, 2004
- Local Indy 500 links from long ago
- "Indianapolis 500 1921". Ultimate Racing History. Archived from the original on 16 January 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
- Ikert, B. M. (1921-06-02). Motor Age: American Cars Dominate 500-Mile Race. Class Journal Company. p. 1.
- 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
| 1920 Indianapolis 500 Gaston Chevrolet |
1921 Indianapolis 500 Tommy Milton |
1922 Indianapolis 500 Jimmy Murphy |