1940 Indianapolis 500

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28th Indianapolis 500
Indy500winningcar1939-1940.JPG
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Indianapolis 500
Sanctioning bodyAAA
DateMay 30, 1940
WinnerWilbur Shaw
Winning Entrant
Average speed114.277 mph
Pole positionRex Mays
Pole speed127.850 mph
Most laps ledWilbur Shaw (136)
Pre-race
Pace carStudebaker Champion
Pace car driverAb Jenkins
StarterSeth Klein[1]
Honorary refereeRoscoe Turner[1]
Estimated attendance150,000[2]
Chronology
Previous Next
1939 1941

The 28th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes Race was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 30, 1940. The winner was Wilbur Shaw in the same Maserati 8CTF he had driven to victory in 1939. Shaw became the first driver in the history of the race to win in consecutive years. It also marked Shaw's third win in four years, making him the second three-time winner of the race. Shaw's average speed was 114.277 mph, slowed by rain which caused the last 50 laps to be run under caution.[3] Shaw took home $31,875 (equivalent to $588,817 in 2020) in prize winnings, plus additional prizes that included a car and a refrigerator.[4]

Fourth place finisher Ted Horn was flagged due to the rain shower after completing only 199 laps - one lap short of the full distance. This marked the only blemish on his noteworthy record of nine consecutive races completing every lap. He eventually completed 1,799 out of a possible 1,800 laps from 1936 to 1948.

The top four starting positions finished in the top four places, albeit in shuffled order.

Results[]

Finish Start No Name Qual Rank Laps Led Status
1 2 1 United States Wilbur Shaw  W  127.065 2 200 136 Running
2 1 33 United States Rex Mays 127.850 1 200 59 Running
3 3 7 United States Mauri Rose 125.624 3 200 5 Running
4 4 3 United States Ted Horn 125.545 4 199 0 Flagged
5 10 8 United States Joel Thorne 122.434 20 197 0 Flagged
6 20 32 United States Bob Swanson 124.882 6 196 0 Flagged
7 7 9 United States Frank Wearne 123.216 12 195 0 Flagged
8 5 31 United States Mel Hansen 124.753 7 194 0 Flagged
9 8 16 United States Frank Brisko 122.716 16 193 0 Flagged
10 31 49 France René Le Bègue  R 
(Approx. laps 1-50 and 101-150)
France René Dreyfus
(Approx. laps 51-100 and 151-192)
118.981 33 192 0 Flagged
11 15 41 United States Harry McQuinn 122.486 19 192 0 Flagged
12 22 25 United States Emil Andres 122.963 15 192 0 Flagged
13 14 28 United States Sam Hanks  R  123.064 13 192 0 Flagged
14 16 6 United States George Barringer 121.889 22 191 0 Flagged
15 26 42 United States Joie Chitwood  R  121.757 25 190 0 Flagged
16 18 26 United States Louis Tomei 119.980 32 190 0 Exhaust pipe
17 27 34 United States Chet Miller 121.392 27 189 0 Flagged
18 32 14 United States Billy Devore 122.197 21 181 0 Flagged
19 28 44 United States Al Putnam 120.818 28 179 0 Flagged
20 33 61 United States Floyd Davis 120.797 30 157 0 Flagged
21 13 35 United States Kelly Petillo  W  125.331 5 128 0 Bearing
22 25 21 United States Duke Nalon 121.790 24 120 0 Rod
23 23 17 Canada George Robson  R  122.562 18 67 0 Shock absorber
24 12 24 United States Babe Stapp 123.367 11 64 0 Oil line
25 19 36 United States Doc Williams 122.963 14 61 0 Oil line
26 17 10 United States George Connor 124.585 8 52 0 Rod
27 6 5 United States Cliff Bergere 123.673 10 51 0 Oil line
28 29 38 United States Paul Russo  R  120.809 29 48 0 Oil leak
29 21 54 United States Ralph Hepburn 123.860 9 47 0 Steering
30 30 58 United States Al Miller 120.288 31 41 0 Clutch
31 11 19 United States Russ Snowberger 121.564 26 38 0 Water pump
32 9 27 United States Tommy Hinnershitz  R  122.614 17 32 0 Crash FS
33 24 29 Argentina Raúl Riganti 121.827 23 24 0 Crash T2
[5]

Note: The race was run under caution from lap 150 to 200 due to rain.

Alternates[]

Failed to qualify[]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b 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. ^ Brooks, Ralph L. (May 31, 1940). "Nearly 150,000 Fans Eat, Nap, Cheer, And Even Watch Race at '40 Classic". The Indianapolis Star. p. 1. Retrieved June 2, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.open access
  3. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-05-14. Retrieved 2008-06-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ^ The New York Times, "First Place Nets $31,875 for Shaw", June 1, 1940, Sports page 16
  5. ^ "Indianapolis 500 1940". Ultimate Racing History. Archived from the original on 17 January 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  6. ^ The Talk of Gasoline Alley - 1070-AM WIBC, May 14, 2004
  7. ^ "1940 International 500 Mile Sweepstakes". ChampCarStats.com. Retrieved 28 June 2015.


1939 Indianapolis 500
Wilbur Shaw
1940 Indianapolis 500
Wilbur Shaw
1941 Indianapolis 500
Mauri Rose
Floyd Davis
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