1934 Indianapolis 500

22nd Indianapolis 500

Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Indianapolis 500
Sanctioning body	AAA
Date	May 30, 1934
Winner	Bill Cummings
Winning Entrant	H. C. Henning
Average speed	104.863 mph
Pole position	Kelly Petillo
Pole speed	119.329 mph
Most laps led	Frank Brisko (69)
Pre-race
Pace car	LaSalle Model 350
Pace car driver	Willard "Big Boy" Rader
Starter	Seth Klein [1]
Honorary referee	Roy D. Chapin [1]
Estimated attendance	140,000 [2]
Chronology
Previous Next 1933 1935

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]

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

Background

In an effort to improve safety, the maximum field size was capped at 33 cars. 33 starters has remained the maximum field size since, with the exception of the 1979 and 1997 races. After several consecutive 500s with multiple fatalities, efforts were also made to reduce speeds through fuel limits; entries were limited to 2.5 U.S. gallons (9.5 L) of fuel for qualification and 45 U.S. gallons (170 L) of fuel for the race. ^{[5] [6]}

For 1934, riding mechanics were required. ^[7]

Time trials

Ten-lap (25 mile) qualifying runs were utilized. Kelly Petillo earned the pole position with a speed of 119.329 mph (192.041 km/h). Babe Stapp and Charles Tramison were both disqualifed for exceeding the fuel limit in their qualifying runs.

During a qualification attempt, driver Pete Kreis lost control in turn 1, climbed over the wall, and struck a tree outside of the track. He and his riding mechanic were fatally injured.

Starting grid

Row	Inside		Middle		Outside
1	17	Kelly Petillo	3	Wilbur Shaw	32	Frank Brisko
2	9	Mauri Rose	4	Chet Gardner	26	Phil Shafer
3	8	Tony Gulotta	36	Al Miller	10	Russ Snowberger
4	7	Bill Cummings	31	Ralph Hepburn	18	George Barringer  R
5	1	Louis Meyer  W	24	Herb Ardinger  R	15	Shorty Cantlon
6	58	George Bailey  R	51	Al Gordon	22	Cliff Bergere
7	12	Deacon Litz	2	Lou Moore	41	Johnny Sawyer
8	6	Dave Evans	35	Rex Mays  R	16	Joe Russo
9	42	Dusty Fahrnow  R	73	Doc MacKenzie	45	Rick Decker
10	49	Charles Crawford  R	5	Stubby Stubblefield	63	Harry McQuinn  R
11	29	Gene Haustein	46	Chet Miller	33	Johnny Seymour

R Indianapolis 500 rookie

W Indianapolis 500 winner

Alternates

• First alternate: Willard Prentiss ^[8]

Failed to Qualify

• Bill Chittum  R  (#59)
• Maynard Clark  R  (#56)
• George Connor  R  (#39)
• Wesley Crawford (#44)
• Danny Day  R  (#62)
• Pete DePaolo (#27) - Withdrew
• Leon Duray (#54)
• Fred Frame (#34)
• Sam Hoffman  R  (#47)
• Ted Horn  R  (#53)
• Harry Hunt  R  (#43)
• Pete Kreis (#14) - Fatal accident
• Harry Lewis  R  (#52)
• Tee Linn  R  (#62)
• Milt Marion  R  (#57)
• Vern Ornduff  R  (#62)
• Jack Petticord (#52)
• Harold Shaw  R  (#65) - Driver refused
• Orville Smith  R  (#61) - Driver rejected
• Babe Stapp (#44, #54)
• Al Theisen  R  (#53)
• Charles Tramison  R  (#72)
• Bob Wallace  R  (#53)
• Doc Williams  R  (#38) - Driver rejected ^[9]

Race summary and results

At the start, polesitter Petillo took the lead for the first 4 laps. But the pace was 8 mph off the record of the previous year, owing to new fuel regulations that limited cars to 45 gallons for the entire race. Frank Brisko lead much of the first half of the race, but began to fall back as the race approached half-distance. By half-distance, Mauri Rose was leading, but close behind him was Cummings. "Wild Bill" first assumed the lead at 325 miles as Rose pitted for fuel, then lost it as he too made a stop. Cummings then closed on Rose and passed him with 70 miles to go. Both drivers, confident that they had enough fuel, then upped their pace to reach 140 mph on the straights. Cummings and Rose were never more than 30 seconds apart in the last part of the race. Cummings took the checkered with a new record average speed, despite the new fuel limitations. Rose was second, 27 seconds behind. ^[10]

Finish	Start	No	Name	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	Qual	Rank	Laps	Led	Status
1	10	7	Bill Cummings	H. C. Henning	Miller	Miller	116.116	6	200	57	Running
2	4	9	Mauri Rose	Leon Duray	Stevens	Miller	116.044	7	200	68	Running
3	20	2	Lou Moore	California Racers, Inc.	Miller	Miller	113.442	16	200	0	Running
4	19	12	Deacon Litz	A. B. Litz	Miller	Miller	113.731	14	200	0	Running
5	24	16	Joe Russo	Joe E. Russo	Duesenberg	Duesenberg	113.115	18	200	0	Running
6	8	36	Al Miller	Phil Shafer	Rigling	Buick	113.307	17	200	0	Running
7	18	22	Cliff Bergere	William S. White	Weil	Miller	115.243	8	200	0	Running
8	9	10	Russ Snowberger	Russell Snowberger	Snowberger	Studebaker	111.428	23	200	0	Running
9	3	32	Frank Brisko	F.W.D. Auto Company	Miller	Miller	116.894	4	200	69	Running
10	14	24	Herb Ardinger  R	Angelo Lucenti	Graham	Graham	111.722	22	200	0	Running
11	1	17	Kelly Petillo	Joe Marks	Adams	Miller	119.329	1	200	6	Running
12	29	5	Stubby Stubblefield	Cummins Engine Company	Duesenberg	Cummins	105.921	32	200	0	Running
13	28	49	Charles Crawford  R	Detroit Gasket & Manufacturing	Ford	Ford V8	108.784	30	110	0	In pits
14	11	31	Ralph Hepburn	Ralph Hepburn	Miller	Miller	114.321	10	164	0	Connecting rod
15	12	18	George Barringer  R	H. C. Henning	Miller	Miller	113.859	11	161	0	Bent front axle
16	6	26	Phil Shafer	Phil Shafer	Rigling	Buick	113.816	12	130	0	Camshaft drive
17	7	8	Tony Gulotta	Floyd Smith	Cooper	Studebaker	113.733	13	94	0	Rod
18	13	1	Louis Meyer  W	Louis Meyer	Stevens	Miller	112.332	20	92	0	Oil tank
19	22	6	Dave Evans	Cummins Engine Company	Duesenberg	Cummins	102.414	33	81	0	Transmission
20	15	15	Shorty Cantlon	William J. Cantlon	Stevens	Miller	117.875	2	76	0	Crankshaft
21	5	4	Chet Gardner	Alden Sampson II	Stevens	Miller	114.786	9	72	0	Rod
22	17	51	Al Gordon	Paul Weirick	Adams	Miller	116.273	5	66	0	Crash T1
23	23	35	Rex Mays  R	Fred Frame	Duesenberg	Miller	113.639	15	53	0	Front axle
24	25	42	Dusty Fahrnow  R	Irving Goldberg	Cooper	Cooper	113.070	19	28	0	Rod
25	21	41	Johnny Sawyer	Lencki & Unger	Miller	Lencki	109.808	27	27	0	Rod
26	33	33	Johnny Seymour	Fred Frame	Adams	Miller	108.591	31	22	0	Pinion gear
27	27	45	Rick Decker	Rickliffe Decker	Miller	Miller	110.895	26	17	0	Clutch
28	2	3	Wilbur Shaw	Joe Marks	Stevens	Miller	117.647	3	15	0	Lost oil
29	26	73	Doc MacKenzie	Mikan & Carson	Mikan-Carson	Studebaker	111.933	21	15	0	Crash NC
30	31	29	Gene Haustein	Lawrence J. Martz	Hudson	Hudson	109.426	28	13	0	Crash T4
31	30	63	Harry McQuinn  R	Michel DeBaets	Rigling	Miller	111.067	24	13	0	Rod
32	16	58	George Bailey  R	Roy Scott	Snowberger	Studebaker	111.063	25	12	0	Crash T3
33	32	46	Chet Miller	Bohn Aluminum and Brass Corporation	Ford	Ford V8	109.252	29	11	0	Crash T1
[11] < [5]

Race statistics

Lap Leaders Laps Leader 1–6 Kelly Petillo 7–71 Frank Brisko 72–78 Bill Cummings 79–109 Mauri Rose 110–113 Frank Brisko 114–124 Mauri Rose 125–148 Bill Cummings 149–174 Mauri Rose 175–200 Bill Cummings

Total laps led Driver Laps Frank Brisko 69 Mauri Rose 68 Bill Cummings 57 Kelly Petillo 6

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.
3. "Reference at www.indy500.com". Archived from the original on 2008-05-14. Retrieved 2008-06-19.
4. "CUMMINGS VICTOR IN 500-MILE RACE". The New York Times. 31 May 1934.Associated Press as printed in the New York Times May 31, 1934, page 26, sports. (requires subscription to read full article)
5. Popely, Rick; Riggs, L. Spencer (1998). The Indianapolis 500 Chronicle. Lincolnwood, Illinois: Publications International, Ltd. ISBN   0-7853-2798-3.
6. Book "The Indianapolis: A Complete Pictorial History" p.103
7. Blazier, John E.; Rollings, Tom (1994). Forgotten Heroes of the Speedways: The Riding Mechanics.
8. The Talk of Gasoline Alley - 1070-AM WIBC, May 14, 2004
9. "1934 International 500 Mile Sweepstakes". ChampCarStats.com. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
10. Book "The Indianapolis 500: A Complete Pictorial History" p. 193
11. "Indianapolis 500 1934". Ultimate Racing History. Archived from the original on 17 January 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2012.

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)