Wikipedia

1926 Indianapolis 500

The 14th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes Race was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Monday, May 31, 1926. Louis Chevrolet drove the Chrysler pace car for the start.[3]

14th Indianapolis 500
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Indianapolis 500
Sanctioning bodyAAA
DateMay 31, 1926
WinnerFrank Lockhart
Winning EntrantPete Kreis
Average speed95.904 mph (154.343 km/h)
Pole positionEarl Cooper
Pole speed111.735 mph (179.820 km/h)
Most laps ledFrank Lockhart (95)
Pre-race
Pace carChrysler Imperial 80
Pace car driverLouis Chevrolet
StarterSeth Klein[1]
Honorary refereeArthur Brisbane[1]
Estimated attendance135,000[2]
Chronology
Previous Next
1925 1927

Rain halted the race at lap 72, and officials waited for the track to dry out. The race was resumed over an hour later. Rain fell again, and the race was called at the 400 mile mark (160 laps).

Rookie Frank Lockhart moved up from 20th to fifth by lap 5, having had passed 14 cars on that lap alone.[4] He moved up to second on Lap 16.[4] After the rain delay, Lockhart and Dave Lewis battled for the lead for about 20 laps, until Lewis dropped out.[4] After Lewis retired with a broken valve, Harry Hartz closed on Lockhart and briefly took the lead at about 250 miles as the crowd roared. But soon afterward Hartz was forced to make an unscheduled pit stop. [5] Lockhart then stretched out a two-lap lead when the race was called, and he was declared the winner. It was the first rain-shortened race in "500" history, and Lockhart was the fourth rookie to win the race. Lockhart may have actually completed as many as 163 laps (407.5 miles), but official scoring results reverted to the completion of lap 160.

Time trials

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Four-lap (10 mile) qualifying runs were utilized. Earl Cooper won the pole position. Frank Lockhart set a new 1-lap track record during his first attempt at 115.488 mph, but the run was aborted after a tire failure on the second lap. He later blew an engine during another attempt, and finally put a car in the field 20th on the grid.[6]

Qualifying Results
Date Driver Lap 1
(mph)		 Lap 2
(mph)		 Lap 3
(mph)		 Lap 4
(mph)		 Average Speed
(mph)
5/27/1926 Earl Cooper 113.68 112.97 111.32 109.09 111.735

Starting grid

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Row Inside Middle Outside
1 5   Earl Cooper 3   Harry Hartz 10   Leon Duray
2 1   Dave Lewis 4   Phil Shafer 7   Jules Ellingboe
3 16   Bennett Hill 6   Frank Elliott 34   Bon MacDougall  R 
4 22   W. E. Shattuc 9   Cliff Durant 31   Tony Gulotta  R 
5 8   Fred Comer 36   Cliff Woodbury  R  19   Ralph Hepburn
6 14   Norman Batten  R  27   Douglas Hawkes 29   Ben Jones  R 
7 29   Albert Guyot 15   Frank Lockhart  R  33   Thane Houser  R 
8 24   Steve Nemesh  R  43   Ernest Eldridge  R  23   L. L. Corum  W 
9 28   Jack McCarver  R  17   Fred Lecklider  R  12   Pete DePaolo  W 
10 18   John Duff  R 
R Indianapolis 500 rookie
W Indianapolis 500 winner

Box score

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1926 Indianapolis 500 pace car
 
The 1926 winning car
Finish Start No Name Entrant Chassis Engine Qual Rank Laps Status
1 20 15   Frank Lockhart  R  Pete Kreis Miller Miller 95.780 19 160 Running
2 2 3   Harry Hartz Harry Hartz Miller Miller 109.542 2 158 Flagged
3 14 36   Cliff Woodbury  R  Cliff R. Woodbury Miller Miller 105.109 10 158 Flagged
4 13 8   Fred Comer
(Wade Morton 71–139) 		Harry Hartz Miller Miller 100.612 16 155 Flagged
5 27 12   Pete DePaolo  W  Duesenberg Brothers Duesenberg Duesenberg 96.709 18 153 Flagged
6 8 6   Frank Elliott
(Leon Duray Laps 76–104) 		Frank Elliott Miller Miller 105.873 8 152 Flagged
7 16 14   Norman Batten  R  Norman Batten Miller Miller 101.428 15 151 Flagged
8 15 19   Ralph Hepburn
(Bob McDonogh Laps 25–65) 		Ralph Hepburn Miller Miller 102.517 14 151 Flagged
9 28 18   John Duff  R  Al Cotey Miller Miller 95.549 20 147 Flagged
10 5 4   Phil Shafer
(Fred Lecklider Laps 52–54)
(Fred Lecklider Laps 113–146) 		Phil Shafer Miller Miller 106.647 5 146 Flagged
11 12 31   Tony Gulotta  R  Harry Hartz Miller Miller 102.789 13 142 Flagged
12 7 16   Bennett Hill
(Jules Ellingboe Laps 39–40)
(Jules Ellingboe Laps 78–113) 		Harry A. Miller Miller Miller 105.876 7 136 Flagged
13 21 33   Thane Houser  R  George G. Abell Miller Miller 93.672 22 102 Flagged
14 17 27   Douglas Hawkes
(Ernest Eldridge Laps 57–73) 		E. A. D. Eldridge Eldridge Anzani 94.977 21 91 Camshaft
15 4 1   Dave Lewis
(Earl Cooper Laps 90–91) 		Harry A. Miller Miller Miller 107.009 4 91 Valve
16 1 5   Earl Cooper Harry A. Miller Miller Miller 111.735 1 73 Transmission
17 11 9   Cliff Durant
(Eddie Hearne 42–60) 		R. Cliff Durant Fengler Locomobile 104.855 12 60 Fuel tank leak
18 18 29   Ben Jones  R  Duesenberg Brothers Duesenberg Duesenberg 92.142 24 54 Crash
19 23 26   Ernest Eldridge  R 
(Herschel McKee Laps 22–32) 		E. A. D. Eldridge Eldridge Anzani 89.777 25 45 Tie rod
20 24 23   L. L. Corum  W  Albert Schmidt Schmidt Argyll 88.849 26 44 Shock absorbers
21 22 24   Steve Nemesh  R  Albert Schmidt Schmidt Argyll 92.937 23 41 Transmission
22 6 7   Jules Ellingboe F. P. Cramer Miller Miller 106.376 6 39 Supercharger
23 3 10   Leon Duray R. Cliff Durant Fengler Locomobile 109.186 3 33 Broken axle
24 26 17   Fred Lecklider  R  Earl Devore Miller Miller 100.398 17 24 Rod
25 25 28   Jack McCarver  R  Chevrolet Brothers Ford T Fronty-Ford 86.418 28 23 Rod
26 9 34   Bon MacDougall  R  R. G. McDougall Miller Miller 105.180 9 19 Valve
27 10 22   W. E. Shattuc Dr. W. E. Shattuc, M.D. Miller Miller 104.977 11 15 Valve
28 19 39   Albert Guyot Albert Schmidt Schmidt Argyll 88.580 27 8 Piston
[7][8]

Note: Relief drivers in parentheses[9]

 W  Former Indianapolis 500 winner

 R  Indianapolis 500 Rookie

Race statistics

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Race details

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  • For 1926, riding mechanics were optional,[10] however, no teams utilized them.
  • First alternate: none[11]
  • This would be the first Indy 500 where a driver from the inaugural Indy 500 did not compete.

References

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  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. ^ "Youthful Driver Declared Victor After 400 Miles". The Indianapolis Star. June 1, 1926. p. 1. Retrieved June 3, 2017 – via Newspapers.com. 
  3. ^ Seattle Daily Times, June 1, 1926, Page 18.
  4. ^ a b c Biography at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America, Retrieved March 15, 2007
  5. ^ Book "The Indianapolis 500: A Complete Pictorial History p.70-71
  6. ^ The Lockhart Legend/ At the height of the Roaring Twenties Frank Lockhart was America's racing superstar
  7. ^ "Indianapolis 500 1926". Ultimate Racing History. Archived from the original on 17 September 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  8. ^ Popely, Rick; Riggs, L. Spencer (1998). The Indianapolis 500 Chronicle. Lincolnwood, Illinois: Publications International, Ltd. ISBN 0-7853-2798-3.
  9. ^ "International 500 Mile Sweepstakes - May 31, 1926". ChampCarStats.com.
  10. ^ Blazier, John E.; Rollings, Tom (1994). Forgotten Heroes of the Speedways: The Riding Mechanics.
  11. ^ The Talk of Gasoline Alley - 1070-AM WIBC, May 14, 2004


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