1948 Indianapolis 500
 | |||||
| Indianapolis Motor Speedway | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indianapolis 500 | |||||
| Sanctioning body | AAA | ||||
| Date | May 31, 1948 | ||||
| Winner | Mauri Rose | ||||
| Winning Entrant | Lou Moore | ||||
| Average speed | 119.814 mph (192.822 km/h) | ||||
| Pole position | Rex Mays | ||||
| Pole speed | 130.577 mph (210.143 km/h) | ||||
| Most laps led | Mauri Rose (81) | ||||
| Pre-race | |||||
| Pace car | Chevrolet Fleetmaster | ||||
| Pace car driver | Wilbur Shaw | ||||
| Starter | Seth Klein[1] | ||||
| Honorary referee | Albert G. Feeney[1] | ||||
| Estimated attendance | 200,000[2] | ||||
| Chronology | |||||
| |||||
The 32nd International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Monday, May 31, 1948.
For the second year in a row, the Blue Crown Spark Plug teammates Mauri Rose and Bill Holland finished 1st-2nd. Rose became the second driver to win the Indianapolis 500 in consecutive years. Unlike the previous year's race, no controversy surrounds the results. Coupled with his co-victory in 1941, Rose became the third three-time winner at Indy.
Fourth place finisher Ted Horn completed a noteworthy record of nine consecutive races from 1936-1948 completing 1,799 out of a possible 1,800 laps. His nine consecutive finishes of 4th or better (however, with no victories) is the best such streak in Indy history. The only lap he missed in 1940 was due to being flagged for a rain shower.
Duke Nalon's third-place finish would be the best-ever result for the popular Novi engine.[3]
Results[]
| Finish | Start | No | Name | Qual | Rank | Laps | Led | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 3 |  Mauri Rose W
|
129.129 | 4 | 200 | 81 | Running |
| 2 | 2 | 2 | Bill Holland
|
129.515 | 3 | 200 | 0 | Running |
| 3 | 11 | 54 | Duke Nalon
|
131.603 | 1 | 200 | 9 | Running |
| 4 | 5 | 1 | Ted Horn
|
126.565 | 9 | 200 | 74 | Running |
| 5 | 21 | 35 | Mack Hellings R
|
127.968 | 6 | 200 | 0 | Running |
| 6 | 14 | 63 | Hal Cole
|
124.391 | 18 | 200 | 0 | Running |
| 7 | 28 | 91 | Lee Wallard R
|
128.420 | 5 | 200 | 0 | Running |
| 8 | 27 | 33 | Johnny Mauro R (Relieved by Louis Durant)
|
121.790 | 33 | 198 | 0 | Flagged |
| 9 | 23 | 7 | Tommy Hinnershitz
|
125.122 | 14 | 198 | 0 | Flagged |
| 10 | 4 | 61 | Jimmy Jackson
|
127.510 | 7 | 193 | 0 | Spindle |
| 11 | 12 | 4 |  Charles Van Acker
|
125.440 | 13 | 192 | 0 | Flagged |
| 12 | 20 | 19 | Billy Devore
|
123.967 | 21 | 190 | 0 | Flagged |
| 13 | 8 | 98 | Johnny Mantz R
|
122.791 | 27 | 185 | 0 | Flagged |
| 14 | 22 | 6 | Tony Bettenhausen
|
126.396 | 10 | 167 | 0 | Clutch |
| 15 | 18 | 64 | Hal Robson
|
122.796 | 26 | 164 | 0 | Valve |
| 16 | 7 | 36 | Bill Cantrell R
|
123.733 | 22 | 161 | 0 | Steering |
| 17 | 10 | 55 | Joie Chitwood (Relieved by Paul Russo)(Relieved by )
|
124.619 | 15 | 138 | 0 | Fuel leak |
| 18 | 24 | 53 | Bill Sheffler
|
124.529 | 17 | 132 | 0 | Spark plugs |
| 19 | 1 | 5 | Rex Mays
|
130.577 | 2 | 129 | 36 | Fuel leak |
| 20 | 19 | 31 | Chet Miller (Had relief help) |
127.249 | 8 | 108 | 0 | Oil trouble |
| 21 | 13 | 52 | Jack McGrath R
|
124.580 | 16 | 70 | 0 | Stalled |
| 22 | 29 | 16 | Duane Carter R
|
126.015 | 11 | 59 | 0 | Lost wheel |
| 23 | 32 | 26 | Fred Agabashian
|
122.737 | 28 | 58 | 0 | Oil line |
| 24 | 9 | 34 | Les Anderson
|
122.337 | 30 | 58 | 0 | Gears |
| 25 | 33 | 17 | Mel Hansen
|
122.117 | 32 | 42 | 0 | Too slow |
| 26 | 15 | 76 | Sam Hanks
|
124.266 | 19 | 34 | 0 | Clutch |
| 27 | 30 | 51 | Spider Webb R
|
125.545 | 12 | 27 | 0 | Oil line |
| 28 | 17 | 9 | George Connor
|
123.018 | 25 | 24 | 0 | Drive shaft |
| 29 | 6 | 74 | Doc Williams
|
124.151 | 20 | 19 | 0 | Clutch |
| 30 | 31 | 86 | Mike Salay R
|
123.393 | 24 | 13 | 0 | Stalled |
| 31 | 16 | 8 | Emil Andres
|
123.550 | 23 | 11 | 0 | Steering |
| 32 | 25 | 25 | Paul Russo
|
122.595 | 29 | 7 | 0 | Oil leak |
| 33 | 26 | 65 | Harry McQuinn
|
122.154 | 31 | 1 | 0 | Supercharger |
| [4] | ||||||||
Alternates[]
- First alternate: R (#48)[5]
Failed to Qualify[]
- Walt Ader R (#15, #45)
- Manny Ayulo R (#88)
- Henry Banks (#38)
- Cliff Bergere (#12, #85)
- Walt Brown (#69)
- R (#14)
- Red Byron R (#43)
- R (#44)
- Louis Durant (#29)
- Milt Fankhouser (#23)
- Myron Fohr R (#32)
- Ken Fowler (#41)
- Roland Free (#73)
- Andy Granatelli R (#39, #59)
- R (#27)
- Ralph Hepburn (#12) - Fatal accident
- Jackie Holmes R (#24, #93)
- Ronney Householder (#68)
- George Lynch R (#56)
- George Metzler R (#47)
- Al Miller (#66)
- R (#45)
- Johnnie Parsons R (#39)
- R (#62)
- R (#87)
- R (#89)
- Pete Romcevich (#49)
- R (#71)
- Joel Thorne (#57)
- Louis Tomei (#10)
- R (#21)[6]
Broadcasting[]
Radio[]
The race was carried live on the Mutual Broadcasting System, the precursor to the IMS Radio Network. The broadcast was sponsored by Perfect Circle Piston Rings and Bill Slater served as the anchor. The broadcast feature live coverage of the start, the finish, and live updates throughout the race.
Sid Collins, from WIBC, joined the crew for the first time, serving as a turn reporter at the south end of the track.
Gallery[]
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1948 Indianapolis 500. |
Johnny Mauro's 1948 Alfa Romeo 308
1948 Novi
See also[]
Notes[]
Works cited[]
References[]
- ^ 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.
- ^ Stranahan, Bob (June 1, 1948). "Noses Out Teammate, Duke Nalon". The Indianapolis Star. p. 1. Retrieved June 1, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ The Talk of Gasoline Alley - 1070-AM WIBC, May 20, 2007
- ^ "Indianapolis 500 1948". Ultimate Racing History. Archived from the original on 17 January 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
- ^ The Talk of Gasoline Alley - 1070-AM WIBC, May 14, 2004
- ^ ""1948 International 500 Mile Sweepstakes"". ChampCarStats.com. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
- Indianapolis 500 races
- 1948 in motorsport
- 1948 in sports in Indiana
- 1948 in American motorsport