1934 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 (168.761 km/h) | ||||
| Pole position | Kelly Petillo | ||||
| Pole speed | 119.329 mph (192.041 km/h) | ||||
| Most laps led | Frank Brisko (69) | ||||
| Pre-race | |||||
| Pace car | LaSalle Model 350 | ||||
| Pace car driver | "Big Boy" Rader | ||||
| Chronology | |||||
| |||||
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.[1] 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.[2]
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 |
| [3] | ||||||||
Alternates
- First alternate: Willard Prentiss[4]
Failed to Qualify
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Race details
For 1934, riding mechanics were required.[6]
References
- ↑
- ↑ 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)
- ↑ "Indianapolis 500 1934". Ultimate Racing History. Archived from the original on 16 January 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
- ↑ The Talk of Gasoline Alley - 1070-AM WIBC, May 14, 2004
- ↑ "1934 International 500 Mile Sweepstakes". ChampCarStats.com. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
- ↑ Blazier, John E. and 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) |