1928 Indianapolis 500

The 16th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes Race was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Wednesday, May 30, 1928. This was the first Indianapolis 500 presided over by new Speedway president Eddie Rickenbacker.

Leon Duray, driving a 1926 Miller FD 5/Miller SC, took the pole with an average speed of 122.391 mph (196.969 km/h).

With twenty laps to go, Tony Gulotta led Jimmy Gleason and Louis Meyer. On lap 181, Gulotta began slowing down. A tiny leak in the fuel tank was causing his fuel pressure to drop, and his fuel line was clogged. Gulotta would need an hour-long pit stop to make repairs, and nursed the car around to 10th place finish. Gleason assumed the lead, but on lap 186 headed for the pits to take on water for the radiator. A crew member missed the radiator and accidentally douses the car's magneto with water. The engine is ruined with a cracked water jacket as well, and Gleason is out of the race in sight of victory.^[1]

Rookie driver Louis Meyer (though he had appeared as a relief driver in 1927) took the first of what would be three Indianapolis 500 wins in his career. Meyer started 13th in a 1926 Miller 91 2/Miller SC and led for 19 of the 200 laps, winning at an average speed of 99.482 mph (160.101 km/h). He took home $28,250 in prize money.

Time trials

Four-lap (10 mile) qualifying runs were utilized. Leon Duray won the pole position.

Date	Driver	Lap 1 (mph)	Lap 2 (mph)	Lap 3 (mph)	Lap 4 (mph)	Average Speed (mph)
Qualifying Results
5/26/1928	Leon Duray	122.92	123.20	121.82	121.64	122.391

Results

Louis Meyer, the winner

Finish	Start	No	Name	Qual	Rank	Laps	Led	Status
1	13	14	Louis Meyer (R)	111.352	17	200	19	Running
2	8	28	Lou Moore (R)	113.826	8	200	0	Running
3	12	3	George Souders (W)	111.444	16	200	9	Running
4	10	15	Ray Keech (R)	113.421	10	200	0	Running
5	15	22	Norman Batten	106.585	21	200	0	Running
6	5	7	Babe Stapp	116.887	5	200	7	Running
7	20	43	Billy Arnold (R)	111.926	12	200	0	Running
8	14	27	Fred Frame	107.501	20	200	0	Running
9	9	25	Fred Comer	113.690	9	200	0	Running
10	4	8	Tony Gulotta	117.031	4	200	35	Running
11	7	24	Louis Schneider	114.036	7	200	0	Running
12	23	12	Dave Evans	108.264	19	200	0	Running
13	28	29	Henry Kohlert (R)	93.545	29	180	0	Flagged
14	17	23	Deacon Litz (R)	106.213	23	161	0	Flagged
15	21	39	Jimmy Gleason (R)	111.708	13	195	55	Magneto
16	18	5	Cliff Durant	99.990	26	175	0	Supercharger
17	11	33	Johnny Seymour (R)	111.671	14	170	0	Supercharger
18	24	6	Earl Devore	109.810	18	161	0	Crash T1
19	1	4	Leon Duray	122.391	1	133	64	Overheating
20	16	38	Sam Ross (R)	106.572	22	132	0	Timing gears
21	27	26	Ira Hall (R)	96.886	27	115	0	Crash T1
22	19	32	Peter Kreis	112.906	11	73	0	Rod bearing
23	2	10	Cliff Woodbury	120.418	2	55	0	Timing gears
24	6	16	Ralph Hepburn	116.354	6	48	0	Timing gears
25	29	1	Wilbur Shaw	100.956	25	42	0	Timing gears
26	26	18	Benny Shoaff	102.409	24	35	0	Crash T1
27	25	41	C. W. Belt (R)	96.026	28	32	0	Valve
28	3	21	Cliff Bergere	119.956	3	7	0	Supercharger
29	22	34	Russ Snowberger (R)	111.618	15	4	11	Supercharger
^[2]

Race details

For 1928, riding mechanics were optional,^[3] however, no teams utilized them.

L. L. Corum and Dutch Bauman qualified for the race, but on the morning of the race, both crashed out during practice runs. Bauman instead went on to serve as a relief driver for Tony Gulotta.

Peter DePaolo crashed during practice and was injured. Wilbur Shaw qualified his car for the race on race morning.

References

↑ Sturm, William F. (May 14, 1929). "Speedway Appetizers". The Indianapolis News. p. 14. Retrieved December 16, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
↑ "Indianapolis 500 1928". Ultimate Racing History. Archived from the original on 15 January 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
↑ Blazier, John E. and Rollings, Tom (1994). Forgotten Heroes of the Speedways: The Riding Mechanics.

Grand Prix Race
Previous race: 1927 British Grand Prix	1928 Grand Prix season Grandes Épreuves	Next race: 1928 Italian Grand Prix
Previous race: 1927 Indianapolis 500	Indianapolis 500	Next race: 1929 Indianapolis 500

Indianapolis 500-Mile Race

Track and race information

Track

Statistics

Drivers

Sanctioning bodies

AAA Contest Board (1909–1955)
FIA (1950–1960)
USAC (1956–1997)
INDYCAR (1998–present)

Ownership

Officials

Broadcasting

Radio	Bill Slater Sid Collins Paul Page Lou Palmer Bob Jenkins Mike King Donald Davidson

Television	Jim McKay Jackie Stewart Chris Schenkel Chris Economaki Sam Posey Jack Arute Jim Lampley Paul Page Bob Jenkins Todd Harris Marty Reid Allen Bestwick

Other	Tom Carnegie Robin Miller Ron McQueeney

Related events

Month of May	Mini-Marathon Angie's List Grand Prix of Indianapolis Indy Lights road course Freedom 100 (Indy Lights oval)

Crown Royal 400	Crown Royal presents the Your Hero's Name Here 400 Lilly Diabetes 250

Other	U.S. Grand Prix Red Bull Grand Prix Triple Crown of Motorsport Brickyard Grand Prix Brickyard Sports Car Challenge IROC at Indy

Non-racing	Comfort Classic 500 Festival Open 500 Ladies Classic

Related area

Lore

Notable races

Indianapolis 500 race summaries and box scores

1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929

1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 ~~1942~~ 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949

1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969

1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029

There were no races in 1917 & 1918 due to WWI and from 1942 to 1945 due to WWII.

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