1935 Indianapolis 500

The 23rd International 500-Mile Sweepstakes Race was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Thursday, May 30, 1935. Despite attempts to improve participant safety by requiring crash helmets and installing green and yellow lights around the track, the event that year would prove to be one of the worst in terms of fatalities.^[3]

23rd Indianapolis 500

Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Indianapolis 500
Sanctioning body	AAA
Date	May 30, 1935
Winner	Kelly Petillo
Winning Entrant	Kelly Petillo
Average speed	106.240 mph
Pole position	Rex Mays
Pole speed	120.736 mph
Most laps led	Kelly Petillo (102)
Pre-race
Pace car	Ford V8
Pace car driver	Harry Mack
Starter	Seth Klein[1]
Honorary referee	Amelia Earhart[1]
Estimated attendance	157,000[2]
Chronology
Previous Next 1934 1936

Kelly Petillo won the race, accompanied by riding mechanic Jimmy Dunham. Pete DePaolo, the 1925 winner, was the team principal, becoming the first individual to win the race separately as a driver and an owner.

The race was part of the 1935 AAA Championship Car season.

Pre-race and qualifying

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

On May 21, nine days before the race, three prospective participants lost their lives. Rookie Johnny Hannon, on just his first lap at racing speed, had his car go over the outside retaining wall and was killed from a fractured skull. Later that day, driver Hartwell "Stubby" Stubblefield also had his car go over the outside wall, and both he and his riding mechanic Leo Whitaker died from injuries they received being thrown from the vehicle.^[4] Kelly Petillo, the eventual winner, had his own difficulties getting into the field. His initial qualifying run (a record-breaking 121.687 mph) was voided when his car was ruled to have exceeded the fuel limit. Returning to the track, he had an engine blow, before finally having a qualifying run of 115.095 that placed him 22nd in the field.^[5]

Qualifying Results
Date	Driver	Lap 1 (mph)	Lap 2 (mph)	Lap 3 (mph)	Lap 4 (mph)	Lap 5 (mph)	Lap 6 (mph)	Lap 7 (mph)	Lap 8 (mph)	Lap 9 (mph)	Lap 10 (mph)	Average Speed (mph)
Sat 5/18/1935	Rex Mays	121.310	121.425	121.819	120.773	121.212	121.359	120.208	119.936	119.506	119.856	120.736

Starting grid

Row	Inside		Middle		Outside
1	33	Rex Mays	6	Al Gordon	22	Floyd Roberts  R
2	36	Louis Meyer  W	1	Bill Cummings  W	44	Tony Gulotta
3	21	Ralph Hepburn	19	Fred Frame  W	18	Chet Gardner
4	2	Mauri Rose	3	Russ Snowberger	17	Babe Stapp
5	16	Deacon Litz	37	George Connor  R	8	Doc MacKenzie
6	15	Cliff Bergere	34	Chet Miller	66	Harry McQuinn
7	9	Shorty Cantlon	14	Wilbur Shaw	4	Al Miller
8	5	Kelly Petillo	7	Lou Moore	41	Frank Brisko
9	45	Clay Weatherly  R	43	Ted Horn  R	42	Johnny Seymour
10	27	Freddie Winnai	35	George Bailey	39	Jimmy Snyder  R
11	62	Harris Insinger  R	26	Louis Tomei  R	46	Bob Sall  R

R Indianapolis 500 rookie

W Indianapolis 500 winner

Alternates

• First alternate: Dave Evans^[6]

Failed to Qualify

• Emil Andres  R  (#52, #56)
• Herb Ardinger (#24)
• George Barringer (#23)
• L. L. Corum  W  (#49)
• Wesley Crawford (#48)
• Dusty Fahrnow (#53)
• Johnny Hannon  R  (#45) - Fatal accident
• Gene Haustein (#28)
• Harry Hunt  R  (#25)
• Herschell McKee  R  (#51)
• Zeke Meyer (#31)
• Duke Nalon  R  - Withdrew
• Floyd O'Neal  R  (#57)
• Roy Painter  R  (#51)
• Johnny Rae  R  (#47)
• Johnny Sawyer (#63)
• Phil Shafer (#31)
• Overton Snell  R  (#58)
• Stubby Stubblefield (#29) - Fatal accident
• Doc Williams  R  (#64)
• Robert Wilson  R  (#59)
• Billy Winn (#10)^[7]

Race

Driver Clay Weatherly would beg Leon Duray, the owner of Hannon's crashed car, to allow him to drive it in the race. The car would prove no luckier for Weatherly, who would be killed when the car crashed through the inner guard rail coming out of turn four on lap nine. Rex Mays would lead most of the first 300 miles (480 km) before being forced out with mechanical failure. Petillo had climbed to second, and after Mays' departure led most of the remainder other than briefly following a pit stop. Petillo easily broke the record for the fastest average speed (106.240 mph) despite being slowed somewhat by rain near the end of the race.^[8] Petillo received approximately $33,000 in winnings for the race.

Aftermath

The driver deaths in 1935 caused the Speedway to develop what is now known as the Rookie Orientation Program, which has been required for first-time drivers since 1936. Adjustments were also made to the configuration of the turns.^[5] Petillo would race in five more 500s, never again finishing higher than 18th. Six of the thirty-three drivers who started the race would end up having their lives ended in accidents at the Indy Speedway.

Box score

Finish	Start	No	Name	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	Qual	Rank	Laps	Status
1	22	5	Kelly Petillo	Kelly Petillo	Wetteroth	Offenhauser	115.095	15	200	Running
2	20	14	Wilbur Shaw	Gil Pirrung	Shaw	Offenhauser	116.854	7	200	Running
3	5	1	Bill Cummings  W	H. C. Henning	Miller	Miller	116.901	6	200	Running
4	3	22	Floyd Roberts  R	Earl Haskell	Miller	Miller	118.671	3	200	Running
5	7	21	Ralph Hepburn (Gene Haustein Laps 74–141)	Ralph Hepburn	Miller	Miller	115.156	13	200	Running
6	19	9	Shorty Cantlon (Billy Winn Laps 67–129)	William J. Cantlon	Stevens	Miller	118.205	4	200	Running
7	9	18	Chet Gardner	Alden Sampson II	Stevens	Miller	114.556	17	200	Running
8	13	16	Deacon Litz (Johnny Sawyer Laps 43–100) (Babe Stapp Laps 101–200)	A. B. Litz	Miller	Miller	114.488	18	200	Running
9	15	8	Doc MacKenzie	Gil Pirrung	Rigling	Miller	114.294	20	200	Running
10	17	34	Chet Miller	Fred Frame	Summers	Miller	113.552	24	200	Running
11	8	19	Fred Frame  W  (Frank Brisko Laps 120–200)	Harry Hartz	Wetteroth	Miller	114.701	16	200	Running
12	4	36	Louis Meyer  W	Louis Meyer	Stevens	Miller	117.938	5	200	Running
13	16	15	Cliff Bergere	Phil Shafer	Rigling	Buick	114.162	23	196	Out of gas
14	31	62	Harris Insinger  R	Mikan & Carson	Mikan-Carson	Studebaker	111.729	30	185	Flagged
15	21	4	Al Miller	H. C. Henning	Rigling	Miller	115.303	12	178	Magneto
16	26	43	Ted Horn  R	Harry A. Miller	Miller-Ford	Ford	113.213	27	145	Steering
17	1	33	Rex Mays	Paul Weirick	Adams	Miller	120.736	1	123	Spring shackle
18	23	7	Lou Moore (Tony Gulotta Laps 109–116)	Lou Moore	Miller	Miller	114.180	22	116	Rod
19	14	37	George Connor  R	Joe Marks	Stevens	Miller	114.321	19	112	Transmission
20	10	2	Mauri Rose (Paul Bost)	Four Wheel Drive Auto Company	Miller	Miller	116.470	9	103	Studs
21	6	44	Tony Gulotta	Leon Duray	Stevens	Miller	115.459	11	102	Magneto
22	30	39	Jimmy Snyder  R	Joel Thorne	Snowberger	Studebaker	112.249	29	97	Spring
23	24	41	Frank Brisko	Kenneth Schroeder	Rigling	Studebaker	113.307	26	79	Universal joint
24	27	42	Johnny Seymour (George Barringer Laps 61–71)	Harry A. Miller	Miller-Ford	Ford	112.696	28	71	Grease leak
25	12	17	Babe Stapp	Joe Marks	Adams	Miller	116.736	8	70	Radiator
26	29	35	George Bailey	Harry A. Miller	Miller-Ford	Ford	113.432	25	65	Steering
27	11	3	Russ Snowberger	H. C. Henning	Miller	Miller	114.209	21	59	Exhaust pipe
28	32	26	Louis Tomei  R	Joe Lencki	Miller	Lencki	110.794	32	47	Valve
29	33	46	Bob Sall  R	Harry A. Miller	Miller-Ford	Ford	110.519	33	47	Steering
30	2	6	Al Gordon	William S. White	Weil	Miller	119.481	2	17	Crash T4
31	28	27	Freddie Winnai	Harry Hartz	Duesenberg	Miller	115.138	14	16	Rod
32	25	45	Clay Weatherly  R  ✝	Leon Duray	Stevens	Miller	115.902	10	9	Fatal accident at T4
33	18	66	Harry McQuinn	Michael DeBaets	Rigling	Miller	111.111	31	4	Rod
[9][10]

Note: Relief drivers in parentheses^[11]

 W  Former Indianapolis 500 winner

 R  Indianapolis 500 Rookie

Race statistics

Lap Leaders Laps Leader 1–63 Rex Mays 64–67 Babe Stapp 68–73 Kelly Petillo 74–99 Rex Mays 100–139 Kelly Petillo 140–144 Wilbur Shaw 145–200 Kelly Petillo

Total laps led Driver Laps Kelly Petillo 102 Rex Mays 89 Wilbur Shaw 5 Babe Stapp 4

Yellow Lights Laps Reason 177–189 Rain * – Approximate lap counts[12]

Race details

For 1935, riding mechanics were required.^[13]

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. Kellum, Robert W. (May 31, 1935). "Ever See Such A Mob? -- Nobody Had". The Indianapolis Star. p. 1. Retrieved June 3, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
3. Fatalities – May 1935 Archived 2009-03-30 at the Wayback Machine, indymotorspeedway.com
4. Three Auto Racers Killed, One Injured, In Memorial Day Trials at Indianapolis Associated Press, May 22, 1935, as seen on page 1 of the New York Times
5. Reed, Terry Indy. The Race and Ritual of the Indianapolis 500. Potomac Books 2005. ISBN 1-57488-907-9.
6. The Talk of Gasoline Alley - 1070-AM WIBC, May 14, 2004
7. "1935 International 500 Mile Sweepstakes". ChampCarStats.com. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
8. 155,000 See Petillo Capture Indianapolis Auto Race; One Driver Is Killed. Associated Press, May 31, 1935, as seen on sports page 19 of the New York Times
9. "Indianapolis 500 1935". Ultimate Racing History. Archived from the original on 5 February 2013. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
10. Popely, Rick; Riggs, L. Spencer (1998). The Indianapolis 500 Chronicle. Lincolnwood, Illinois: Publications International, Ltd. ISBN 0-7853-2798-3.
11. "International 500 Mile Sweepstakes – May 30, 1935". ChampCarStats.com.
12. Hoffman, John C. (May 31, 1935). "Wet Track Is No Detriment For Champion". The Times. p. 36. Retrieved April 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
13. Blazier, John E.; Rollings, Tom (1994). Forgotten Heroes of the Speedways: The Riding Mechanics.

1934 Indianapolis 500 Bill Cummings	1935 Indianapolis 500 Kelly Petillo	1936 Indianapolis 500 Louis Meyer
Preceded by 104.863 mph (1934 Indianapolis 500)	Record for the fastest average speed 106.240 mph	Succeeded by 109.069 mph (1936 Indianapolis 500)