5 Interesting Facts about the Indy 500

5 Interesting Facts about the Indy 500

By: Brian H Cotnoir

I may not talk about it a lot, but I'm a huge fan of IndyCar.  Memorial Day Weekend to me means three things: Saluting our fallen troops, barbecue, and watching the Indy 500!   I've been watching the Indy 500 loyally since about 2004 and you can bet, I'll be watching it this year too.   I've been looking up stats on the Indy 500 trying to improve my winner's prediction rate of 2-out-of-18, and during that research I came across some interesting facts, and here are five of them I came across

1.)  Ralph Depalma, Most Laps Led in the Indy 500 without winning

Lots of drivers have come close winning the Indy 500 but have come up short.  Scott Goodyear in 1992, Marco Andretti in 2006, and J.R. Hillenbrand in 2011 are a few iconic moments in the History of the 500, but in 1912 Ralph DePalma had victory in his sight only for it to be cruelly snatched away.  In the second year of the race's existence, Italian born Ralph DePalma took over the lead on lap 3 and held onto that lead for 196 laps!   On lap 199, DePalma's Mercedes suffered a broken connecting rod that tore a hole in the crankcase.  DePalma and his riding mechanic jumped out of the car and began to frantically push their Mercedes.   However, they would be passed by local driver Joe Dawson on the last two laps and would have to settle for an 11th place finish.   After the race DePalma would say "No race is one until, the tape is crossed, and I realized that all the time.  It's hard luck, but it's all in the game".  Three years later, DePalma would get his redemption when he won the 1915 Indianapolis 500.  

So close, and yet so far away

2.)  Co-Drivers won in 1924 and 1941

In the earliest running's of the Indy 500 it wasn't uncommon for drivers to race with their mechanics that way if the car broke down the Mechanic could go to work on it.   And sometimes drivers were just plain tired.   This was during a time when the race would take anywhere between 5-6 hours, and many drivers fell victim to fatigue.   L.L Corum drove his #15 Duesenberg for the first 111 laps, he was relieved by fellow Duesenberg driver Joe Boyer, who drove the remaining 89 laps of the race to secure the victory.   Corum and Boyer were credited as Co-winners, and strangely enough Boyer was also credited with 18th place in the race for his original entry.

1941 co-Indy 500 Champions

The feat would be repeated in 1941, when driver Floyd Davis and Mauri Rose were declared co-winners.   The team's owner, Lou Moore, was apparently unhappy with way his driver Floyd Davis was running.   When Davis pit on lap 72, he was replaced by driver Mauri Rose who dropped out of the race earlier after issues with his cars spark plugs.  The last time a driver relieved another Indy 500 driver mid-race was in 2004, when Jacques Lazier replaced Robby Gordon during a Red Flag so, Gordon could fly to Charlotte that night to race in the Coca Cola 600.

3.)  #3 is the Winningest Number in Indy 500 History

The only number that matters in racing is 1st.   The #1 is the most prestigious number in racing and in some racing series it is only reserved for the defending series champion.  You'd think it'd be the winningest number used by racers in the Indy 500, but it's not.  Drivers racing with car #3 have won the Indy 500 an astounding 11 times.   The first time a car #3 won the Indy 500 was with Howard Wilcox in 1919, in in the 100 years since the #3 has been taken to Victory Lane by drivers Mauri Rose, Roger Ward, Bobby Unser, Bobby Rahal, Rick Mears, Al Unser Jr. and Helio Castroneves!  Coincidentally enough, the second most used number to win the Indy 500 is #2, and #1 is the 3rd most successful number at the Indy 500.

3, it's a magical number

4.)  Jim Clark was the first European driver to win in 45 years

In 1920, Frenchman Gaston Chevrolet won the famed Indy 500, and then it would be 45 years before another non-American won the race.  F1 Champion and racing legend Jim Clark had been competing at Indianapolis since 1963and in his 3rd attempt Clark became the first European in 45 years to win the Indy 500.   The following year his Fellow countryman Graham Hill would also win the Indy 500.   In recent years drivers from Europe, Asia, Australia, and South America have had success in the Indy 500, but American's have still won the race an astounding 70% of the time.

5.)  Offenhauser has almost double the number of wins of any other Engine Manufacturer

There was a time where Offenhauser was the most dominant engine in the Indy 500.   Kelly Petillo drove his Offenhauser powered car to Victory in the 1935 Indy 500 and following World War II the really went on a tear.  Every Indy 500 from 1947-1964 was powered by an Offenhauser engine.   Offenhauser won its final race at the Indy 500 in 1976 with Johnny Rutherford, and still holds the title of most wins by an engine manufacturer at the Indy 500.  Offenhauser's 27 wins in the Indy 500 is 9 more than the second most successful engine company, Honda.


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