1933 Indianapolis 500

The 21st International 500-Mile Sweepstakes Race was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Tuesday, May 30, 1933. Louis Meyer defeated Wilbur Shaw by a time of 401.89 seconds (6.69 minutes). The average speed of the race was 104.162 miles per hour (167.632 km/h) while Bill Cummings achieved the pole position with a speed of 118.521 miles per hour (190.741 km/h). The race was part of the 1933 AAA Championship Car season.

21st Indianapolis 500
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Indianapolis 500
Sanctioning bodyAAA
DateMay 30, 1933
WinnerLouis Meyer
Winning EntrantTydol-Meyer
Average speed104.162 mph
Pole positionBill Cummings
Pole speed118.530 mph
Most laps ledLouis Meyer (71)
Pre-race
Pace carChrysler Imperial
Pace car driverByron Foy
StarterRoscoe Turner[1]
Honorary refereeLarry P. Fisher[1]
Estimated attendance100,000[2]
Chronology
Previous Next
1932 1934

Meyer was accompanied by riding mechanic Lawson Harris.

The 1933 month of May at Indianapolis was the deadliest running of the 500. Five participants were fatally injured. During practice, Bill Denver and his riding mechanic Bob Hurst were killed in a crash. On race day, Mark Billman was killed in a crash on lap 79 while Lester Spangler and his riding mechanic G.L. "Monk" Jordan were killed in a crash on lap 132. It was the fifth straight year at least one competitor died in a crash during the month.

Time trials

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

Results
Finish Start No Name Qual Rank Laps Led Status
1 6 36 Louis Meyer  W  116.977 7 200 71 Running
2 23 17 Wilbur Shaw 115.497 12 200 0 Running
3 4 37 Lou Moore 117.843 4 200 0 Running
4 15 21 Chet Gardner 112.319 22 200 0 Running
5 10 8 Stubby Stubblefield 114.784 13 200 0 Running
6 36 38 Dave Evans 109.448 36 200 0 Running
7 12 34 Tony Gulotta 113.578 15 200 0 Running
8 17 4 Russ Snowberger 110.769 27 200 0 Running
9 16 9 Zeke Meyer 111.099 25 200 0 Running
10 20 46 Luther Johnson 110.097 31 200 0 Running
11 9 6 Cliff Bergere 115.643 11 200 0 Running
12 18 47 L. L. Corum  W  110.465 29 200 0 Running
13 40 49 Willard Prentiss  R  107.776 41 200 0 Running
14 27 14 Raúl Riganti 108.081 39 200 0 Running
15 28 29 Gene Haustein 107.603 42 197 0 Flagged
16 14 26 Deacon Litz 113.138 17 197 0 Flagged
17 31 18 Joe Russo 112.531 20 192 0 Flagged
18 39 51 Doc MacKenzie 108.073 40 192 0 Rear axle
19 25 27 Kelly Petillo 113.037 18 168 0 Spun & stalled
20 32 28 Chet Miller 112.025 23 163 0 Rod
21 24 19 Al Miller 109.799 35 161 0 Rod
22 19 68 Bennett Hill 110.264 30 158 0 Rod
23 29 45 Babe Stapp 116.626 9 156 60 Out of gas
24 26 32 Wesley Crawford 109.862 33 147 0 Crash T1
25 1 5 Bill Cummings 118.521 1 136 32 Radiator
26 7 15 Lester Spangler  R  ✝ 116.903 8 132 0 Died in crash at T1
27 35 65 Freddy Winnai 111.018 26 125 0 Engine trouble
28 30 57 Malcolm Fox 112.922 19 121 0 Crash T1
29 3 12 Fred Frame  W  117.864 3 85 37 Valve
30 22 64 Mark Billman  R  ✝ 112.410 21 79 0 Died in crash at T2
31 34 53 Johnny Sawyer  R  110.590 28 77 0 Clutch
32 11 2 Peter Kreis 114.370 14 63 0 Universal joint
33 5 16 Ernie Triplett 117.685 5 61 0 Piston
34 13 25 Shorty Cantlon 113.384 16 50 0 Rod
35 42 3 Mauri Rose  R  117.649 6 48 0 Timing gears
36 2 58 Frank Brisko 118.388 2 47 0 Oil too hot
37 8 10 Ira Hall 115.739 10 37 0 Piston
38 41 23 Ralph Hepburn 110.001 32 33 0 Rod bearing
39 37 59 Ray Campbell 108.650 37 24 0 Oil leak
40 33 24 Paul Bost 111.330 24 13 0 Oil line
41 38 61 Rick Decker 108.280 38 13 0 Manifold
42 21 22 Louis Schneider  W  109.850 34 1 0 Stalled
[3]

Alternates
  • First alternate: Sam Palmer  R [4]
  • Howdy Wilcox II had qualified for the race, but officials disqualified him from the field when they learned that he had diabetes. On race day, he was replaced in the car by Mauri Rose.[5]

Failed to Qualify

Race details

For 1933, riding mechanics were required.[7]

"Will Overhead"

In 1933, one of the more famous bits of Indy 500 nostalgia occurred. Telegraph was still being used to transmit race information to newspapers and other outlets across the United States. George Zanaon, a typesetter for The World-Independent newspaper in the town of Walsenburg, Colorado was preparing a story for that day's Indianapolis 500. Since Memorial Day was a holiday, his young editor John B. Kirkpatrick was alone monitoring the Associated Press wire for race updates. The race took several hours to complete, and the AP wire was shut down prior to the finish. Fitzpatrick had nearly the entire story ready for print, minus the winner of the race. A helpful AP editor in Denver advised him that he would send the name of the winner via Western Union telegraph.

The telegraph Kirkpatrick received, in typical newspaper shorthand lingo was: "WILL OVERHEAD WINNER OF INDIANAPOLIS 500," meaning that he would send the information by telegraph when the information was available. The young editor misunderstood the jargon in the message, and interpreted it as saying a driver named Will Overhead was the winner. The headline read "Will Overhead won the Indianapolis Memorial Day race today. At the two hundred fifty mile post Babe Stapp was leading the string of racing cars, but gave way to Overhead on then last half of the 500 mile grind." The true winner was Louis Meyer. The gaffe put the town of Walsenburg, and The World-Independent newspaper (now known as the Huerfano World Journal), on the map in racing circles.[8][9][10]

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. "Race Gets Late Start First Time In History; Drivers Threaten "Strike"". The Indianapolis Star. May 31, 1933. p. 9. Retrieved June 3, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. "Indianapolis 500 1933". Ultimate Racing History. Archived from the original on 17 January 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  4. The Talk of Gasoline Alley - 1070-AM WIBC, May 14, 2004
  5. "Wheeling, dealing for final spot in Indy 500 is under way". St. Joseph Gazette. 1984-05-24. Retrieved 2012-04-02.
  6. "1933 International 500 Mile Sweepstakes". ChampCarStats.com. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
  7. Blazier, John E.; Rollings, Tom (1994). Forgotten Heroes of the Speedways: The Riding Mechanics.
  8. "Will Overhead, a real no-name, once 'won' Indy 500 race". Wilington Morning Star. May 23, 1983. Retrieved January 22, 2015.
  9. The Talk of Gasoline Alley. May 5, 2003. 1070 WIBC-AM.
  10. The Talk of Gasoline Alley. May 12, 2008. WFNI.
1932 Indianapolis 500
Fred Frame		 1933 Indianapolis 500
Louis Meyer		 1934 Indianapolis 500
Bill Cummings
Preceded by
104.144 mph
(1932 Indianapolis 500)		 Record for the fastest average speed
104.162 mph		 Succeeded by
104.863 mph
(1934 Indianapolis 500)
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