The 13th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes Race was held at the

Indianapolis Motor Speedway The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is an automobile racing circuit located in Speedway, Indiana, an enclave suburb of Indianapolis, Indiana. It is the home of the Indianapolis 500 and the Verizon 200, and and formerly the home of the United State ...

on Saturday, May 30, 1925. Race winner

Peter DePaolo Pete DePaolo (April 6, 1898 – November 26, 1980) was an American race car driver who won the 1925 Indianapolis 500. Biography Peter DePaolo was born on April 6, 1898, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Pete saw his first race in 1919, where he w ...

became the first driver to complete the 500 miles in under five hours, and have an average over 100 mph.

Norman Batten Norman Batten (April 30, 1893 – November 12, 1928) was an American racecar driver active in the 1920s. He is one of two drivers that won the Indy500 the year before becoming a Rookie in the Indy500, when Norman provided relief help for Peter D ...

drove 21 laps of relief (laps 106-127) while DePaolo had his hands bandaged due to blisters and bruises.

Time trials

Four-lap (10 mile) qualifying runs were utilized. Leon Duray won the pole position with a 4-lap track record of 113.196 mph.

, who qualified second, set the 1-lap track record at 114.285 mph.

Race summary and results

DePaolo jumped into the lead at the start, with

Earl Cooper Earl Cooper (2 December 1886 Broken Bow, Nebraska – 22 October 1965 Atwater, California) was an American racecar driver. Racing career He began his racing career in 1908 in San Francisco in a borrowed car. He won the race, but lost his j ...

close behind.

Phil Shafer Phil "Red" Shafer (November 13, 1891 Des Moines, Iowa – January 29, 1971 Des Moines, Iowa) was an American racecar driver. He made 30 AAA Championship Car American open-wheel car racing, also known as Indy car racing, is a category o ...

led briefly, but DePaolo returned to the lead by half-distance. On lap 106, DePaolo came in for relief from

while his bloody, blistered hands were bandaged. Dave Lewis then took over the lead in a front-wheel-drive Miller. The front wheels providing good grip in the turns, Lewis began to pull away. Batten soon pitted and DePaolo returned to the cockpit, and set his sights on Lewis. At about 400 miles, Lewis began to slow, physically exhausted from the grind over the bricks. His crew called him in, but he overshot his pit stall and had to continue for another lap. When he finally stopped, crewmen lifted him out and Bennett Hill climbed in, now 1 1/2 laps behind DePaolo after the botched pit entry and eventual stop. Hill sped after DePaolo, unlapping himself with about 25 laps to go and gaining several seconds with each lap. But DePaolo crossed the finish line with a record sub-5-hour 500 57 seconds ahead of Hill.

Race details

*For 1925,

riding mechanic A riding mechanic was a mechanic that rode along with a race car during races, and who was tasked with maintaining, monitoring, and repairing the car during the race. The various duties included manually pumping oil and fuel, checking tire wear, ...

s were optional, however, no teams utilized them. *First alternate: none'' The Talk of Gasoline Alley'' - 1070-AM WIBC, May 14, 2004 *

Ralph DePalma Raffaele "Ralph" De Palma (December 19, 1882 – March 31, 1956) was an Italian-American racecar driving champion who won the 1915 Indianapolis 500. His entry at the International Motorsports Hall of Fame estimates that he won about 2,0 ...

would be the only driver in the race who had competed in the first Indy 500 in 1911. *Though

Pete DePaolo Pete DePaolo (April 6, 1898 – November 26, 1980) was an American race car driver who won the 1925 Indianapolis 500. Biography Peter DePaolo was born on April 6, 1898, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Pete saw his first race in 1919, where he w ...

is widely recognized as the first driver to complete (and win) the Indianapolis 500 in under five hours (over 100 mph average speed), he was not eligible for the prestigious Champion Spark Plug 100 mph Club founded in 1935. Since DePaolo briefly received relief help from

during the race, DePaolo failed the strict criteria for the club. He never managed to complete the full 500 miles again, and accomplish the feat solo. *The race marked the first appearance of a front-wheel-drive car. Harry Miller built the car on the suggestion of driver Jimmy Murphy, who thought the concept would be quick on Indy's bricks while having less tire wear. The "Junior 8", without a driveshaft to the rear wheels, was only 36 inches tall, and a flyweight sub-1500 lbs. It showed its effectiveness and began a wave of front-drive cars for the next quarter-century. Murphy never got to drive it; he was killed in a crash at Syracuse the previous September. Miller hired Dave Lewis for the 500. Book "The Indianapolis 500: A Complete Pictorial History" p. 63

Gallery

File:1925 Miller Junior Eight.JPG, 1925 Miller File:Indy500pacecar1925.jpg, 1925 Indianapolis 500 pace car

References

{{Indy 500 Indianapolis 500 races

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...