1934 Indianapolis 500

The 22nd International 500-Mile Sweepstakes Race was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 30, 1934. The winner was the number seven car driven by Bill Cummings, an Indianapolis native, at an average speed of 104.863 miles per hour. Cummings led for 57 laps total, including the last 26.[3] Of the 33 cars that began the race, only 12 were running at the finish, although there were no crashes resulting in serious injuries. One serious incident involved George Bailey, whose car went over the outside wall, but resulted in only a broken wrist to the driver. The finish was the closest in the history of the race to that point, with second-place finisher Mauri Rose within 100 yards of Cummings at the finish (officially 27.25 seconds behind). Rose would also file a protest that Cummings had illegally gained ground during a "slow-down" period following a crash.[4]

22nd Indianapolis 500
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Indianapolis 500
Sanctioning bodyAAA
DateMay 30, 1934
WinnerBill Cummings
Winning EntrantH.C. Henning
Average speed104.863 mph
Pole positionKelly Petillo
Pole speed119.329 mph
Most laps ledFrank Brisko (69)
Pre-race
Pace carLaSalle Model 350
Pace car driver"Big Boy" Rader
StarterSeth Klein[1]
Honorary refereeRoy D. Chapin[1]
Estimated attendance140,000[2]
Chronology
Previous Next
1933 1935

Cummings was accompanied by riding mechanic Earl Unversaw. The race was part of the 1934 AAA Championship Car season.

Time trials

Ten-lap (25 mile) qualifying runs were utilized.

Results
Finish Start No Name Qual Rank Laps Led Status
1 10 7 Bill Cummings 116.116 6 200 57 Running
2 4 9 Mauri Rose 116.044 7 200 68 Running
3 20 2 Lou Moore 113.442 16 200 0 Running
4 19 12 Deacon Litz 113.731 14 200 0 Running
5 24 16 Joe Russo 113.115 18 200 0 Running
6 8 36 Al Miller 113.307 17 200 0 Running
7 18 22 Cliff Bergere 115.243 8 200 0 Running
8 9 10 Russ Snowberger 111.428 23 200 0 Running
9 3 32 Frank Brisko 116.894 4 200 69 Running
10 14 24 Herb Ardinger  R  111.722 22 200 0 Running
11 1 17 Kelly Petillo 119.329 1 200 6 Running
12 29 5 Stubby Stubblefield 105.921 32 200 0 Running
13 28 49 Charles Crawford  R  108.784 30 110 0 In pits
14 11 31 Ralph Hepburn 114.321 10 164 0 Connecting rod
15 12 18 George Barringer  R  113.859 11 161 0 Bent front axle
16 6 26 Phil Shafer 113.816 12 130 0 Camshaft drive
17 7 8 Tony Gulotta 113.733 13 94 0 Rod
18 13 1 Louis Meyer  W  112.332 20 92 0 Oil tank
19 22 6 Dave Evans 102.414 33 81 0 Transmission
20 15 15 Shorty Cantlon 117.875 2 76 0 Crankshaft
21 5 4 Chet Gardner 114.786 9 72 0 Rod
22 17 51 Al Gordon 116.273 5 66 0 Crash T1
23 23 35 Rex Mays  R  113.639 15 53 0 Front axle
24 25 42 Dusty Fahrnow  R  113.070 19 28 0 Rod
25 21 41 Johnny Sawyer 109.808 27 27 0 Rod
26 33 33 Johnny Seymour 108.591 31 22 0 Pinion gear
27 27 45 Rick Decker 110.895 26 17 0 Clutch
28 2 3 Wilbur Shaw 117.647 3 15 0 Lost oil
29 26 73 Doc MacKenzie 111.933 21 15 0 Crash NC
30 31 29 Gene Haustein 109.426 28 13 0 Crash T4
31 30 63 Harry McQuinn  R  111.067 24 13 0 Rod
32 16 58 George Bailey  R  111.063 25 12 0 Crash T3
33 32 46 Chet Miller 109.252 29 11 0 Crash T1
[5]

Alternates

Failed to Qualify

Race details

For 1934, riding mechanics were required.[8]

References
  1. 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.
  2. Ogle, Carl F. (May 31, 1934). "Boy Who Listened to Racers' Drone In 1914 Realizes Childhood Ambition". The Indianapolis Star. p. 1. Retrieved June 3, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. CUMMINGS VICTOR IN 500-MILE RACE Associated Press as printed in the New York Times May 31, 1934, page 26, sports. (requires subscription to read full article)
  5. "Indianapolis 500 1934". Ultimate Racing History. Archived from the original on 17 January 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  6. The Talk of Gasoline Alley - 1070-AM WIBC, May 14, 2004
  7. "1934 International 500 Mile Sweepstakes". ChampCarStats.com. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
  8. Blazier, John E.; Rollings, Tom (1994). Forgotten Heroes of the Speedways: The Riding Mechanics.
1933 Indianapolis 500
Louis Meyer		 1934 Indianapolis 500
Bill Cummings		 1935 Indianapolis 500
Kelly Petillo
Preceded by
104.162 mph
(1933 Indianapolis 500)		 Record for the fastest average speed
104.863 mph		 Succeeded by
106.240 mph
(1935 Indianapolis 500)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.