The 31st International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Friday, May 30, 1947. It was the opening round of the 11 races that comprised the 1947 AAA Championship Car season. The 1946 winner, George Robson, had been killed on September 2, 1946 in a racing incident. Driver

Shorty Cantlon William A. "Shorty" Cantlon (October 8, 1903 – May 30, 1947) was an American racecar Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto r ...

would be killed in a racing incident during the race. Beginning in 1947 the Speedway issued "Bronze" and "Silver" badges. Bronze badges allowed gate and garage access during the month and silver badges did the same but also allowed pit access. On race day, one needed a Back Up Card Early bronze badges were indeed bronze, but silver badges were only a silver colored pot metal. Bronze badges began being made of a bronze colored pot metal sometime in the late 1950's or early 1960's.

Time trials & ASPAR boycott

Time trials was scheduled for five days. The minimum speed to qualify was set at 115 mph. In the months leading up to the race, several top drivers that were members of a union, the American Society of Professional Auto Racing (ASPAR), threatened to boycott the race over the purse size. The

AAA Contest Board AAA, Triple A, or Triple-A is a three-letter initialism or abbreviation which may refer to: Airports * Anaa Airport in French Polynesia (IATA airport code AAA) * Logan County Airport (Illinois) (FAA airport code AAA) Arts, entertainment, and m ...

refused to heed their demands, and when the entry list was closed on May 8, many of the top drivers, particularly several popular west coast drivers, were not on the list. A total of 35 cars were entered, but at least nine had no driver listed, and 13 of the entries were inexperienced novice drivers. After the practice began for the month, officials decreed that the boycotting drivers would not be allowed late entry. After several weeks of dispute, an agreement was made for the ASPAR drivers to participate midway through the month. *Saturday May 17 - Pole Day **Rain, and the holdout of several ASPAR drivers, meant only seven cars completed qualifying runs.

Ted Horn Ted Horn (February 27, 1909 – October 10, 1948), born Eylard Theodore Von Horn, was an American racecar driver. He won the AAA National Championship in 1946, 1947 and 1948 and collected 24 wins, 12 second-place finishes and 13 third-place ...

claimed the pole position with a speed of 126.564 mph. *Sunday May 18 **Three cars qualified, bringing the field to 10 cars. *Saturday May 24 *Sunday May 25 *Wednesday May 28 **The final day of qualifying closed with 28 cars in the field. When qualifying closed at 6 p.m. on Wednesday May 28, the field had only been filled to 28 cars.

Duke Dinsmore J. Carlyle "Duke" Dinsmore (April 10, 1913 – October 13, 1985) was an American racecar driver. Complete AAA/USAC Championship Car results Indianapolis 500 results * Shared drive with Rodger Ward and Andy Linden. Dinsmore drove ten ...

was the final qualifier, completing his run amidst some scoring confusion by the officials, just as the time had run out. Race officials initially stressed that Wednesday would be the final day available to qualify. However, a day later, they re-opened qualifying for one hour late on Thursday May 29 in an effort to fill the field.

Mel Hansen Melvin Lloyd Hansen (born July 11, 1911, Redfield, South Dakota – Died June 5, 1963, San Bernardino, California) was an American racecar driver. Hansen was nicknamed the "Firecracker Kid" because he loved to throw the explosive devices unde ...

and Emil Andres were the only two cars to complete attempts, and after approval by the other entries, were added to the grid to bring the field to 30 cars. The heartbreak story of the day belonged to driver

Billy Devore Louis Wiley "Billy" Devore (12 September 1910, St. John, Kansas – 12 August 1985, Indianapolis, Indiana) was an American racecar driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving th ...

. After failing to make the field on Wednesday, the Bill Schoof crew worked diligently to make repairs to their car, hoping that officials would re-open qualifying. When word was announced that additional time trials would be held Thursday, the crew scrambled to get the car prepared. Late in the evening, with about 20 minutes left until closing, the crew drove the race car from their garage about six miles away to the track with a police escort. When they arrived at the gate at 6:58 p.m., however, officials closed time trials, and DeVore was not permitted to qualify.

Starting grid

Failed to Qualify

* Walt Ader (#6) *

Zora Arkus-Duntov Zora Arkus-Duntov (December 25, 1909 – April 21, 1996) was a Belgian-born American engineer whose work on the Chevrolet Corvette earned him the nickname "Father of the Corvette." He is sometimes erroneously referred to as the inventor of the Co ...

(#49) * Bud Bardowski *

Tommy Boggs Thomas Winton Boggs (October 25, 1955 – October 5, 2022) was an American professional baseball player and college baseball coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher for the Texas Rangers (1976–1977, 1985) and the ...

(#23) * Frank Brisko * Leslie Brooke (#35) * Jim Brubaker (#86) *

Red Byron Robert Nold "Red" Byron (March 12, 1915 – November 11, 1960) was an American stock car racing driver, who was successful in NASCAR competition in the sanctioning body's first years. He was NASCAR's first Modified champion (and its first c ...

(#22) *

Duane Carter Duane Carter (May 5, 1913 – March 7, 1993) was an American racecar driver. He raced midget cars, sprint cars, and IndyCars.Hal Cole Harold "Hal" Cole (November 20, 1912 in Tacoma, Washington – November 12, 1970 in Los Angeles, California) was an American racecar Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the rac ...

- Withdrew due to ASPAR dispute * Charles Crawford (#67) *

(#17) * Louis Durant (#23) * Sam Grecco (#51) *

Sam Hanks Samuel Dwight "Sam" Hanks (July 13, 1914 – June 27, 1994) was an American race car driver who won the 1957 Indianapolis 500. He was a barnstormer, and raced midget and Championship cars. Racing career Hanks was born in Columbus, Ohio and l ...

(#54) *

Tommy Hinnershitz Thomas Paul Hinnershitz (April 6, 1912 – August 1, 1999) was an American race car driver. Hinnershitz was active through the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s on dirt, asphalt and boards, driving "Big Cars" (later Sprint Cars), at that time slightly ...

(#5) - Did not arrive *

Norm Houser Norm Houser (1915–1996) was an American racecar driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the i ...

(#69) * Danny Kladis - Withdrew due to ASPAR dispute * Johnny Mauro (#64) * Harry McQuinn * George Metzler (#55) *

Chet Miller Chester Miller (July 19, 1902 – May 15, 1953) was an American racecar driver. He was killed in a crash in the south turn of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during practice for the 1953 Indianapolis 500. Yates, Brock W. "The Indianapolis 500 ...

- Withdrew due to ASPAR dispute * Wally Mitchell - Withdrew due to ASPAR dispute * Overton Phillips - Withdrew due to ASPAR dispute * Buddy Rusch * Art Scovell *

Bill Sheffler Bayard Taylor "Bill" Sheffler (23 August 1917 in El Paso, Texas – 28 June 1949 in Trenton, New Jersey) was an American racecar driver active during the 1940s. Sheffler attended the University of Southern California, where he was a pole vau ...

- Withdrew due to ASPAR dispute * Hal Stetson - Did not appear *

Joel Thorne Joel W. Thorne (16 October 1914 New York City – 17 October 1955 North Hollywood, California) was an American racecar driver, engineer, and playboy. He died when he crashed his private plane, after what witnesses described as "stunting", into ...

- Withdrew due to ASPAR dispute *

Louis Tomei Luigi Gilbert "Louis" Tomei (February 17, 1910 in Portland, Oregon – May 15, 1955 in Los Angeles) was an American racecar driver active during the 1930s and 1940s, and a stuntman active during the 1940s and 1950s. Indy 500 results S ...

(#44, #57) * Steve Truchan (#28) * George Weaver (#44) * Doc Williams (#54)

Race summary

Late in the race,

Lou Moore Lewis Henry Moore (September 12, 1904 Hinton, Oklahoma – March 25, 1956 Atlanta, Georgia) was an American racecar driver. He was most known during his racing career for qualifying on the pole position of the 1932 Indianapolis 500. He was lat ...

teammates

Bill Holland Willard Holland (December 18, 1907 – May 19, 1984)) was an American race car driver from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who won the Indianapolis 500 in 1949 and finished second in 1947, 1948 and 1950. He also was runner up in the 1947 American ...

and

Mauri Rose Maurice "Mauri" Rose (May 26, 1906 – January 1, 1981) was an American racecar driver. He started from the pole position driving a Maserati in the 1941 Indianapolis 500, but spark plug problems put him out of the race after sixty laps. He then t ...

were running 1st and 2nd. The pit crew displayed a confusing chalkboard sign with the letters "EZY" to Holland, presumably meaning for him to take the final laps at a reduced pace to safely make it to the finish. Mauri Rose ignored the board, and charged to catch up to Holland. Holland believed he held a lap lead over Rose, and allowed him to catch up. The two drivers waved as Rose passed Holland, with Holland believing it was not more than a congratulatory gesture. In reality, the pass Rose made was for the lead, and he led the final 8 laps to take the controversial victory. The race was marred by a 41st lap crash that claimed the life of

. Rose's distance finish time of 4:17:52.17 was the second fastest finish of the Indianapolis 500 ever, at the time. Only the 1938 Indianapolis 500 had been completed in a faster total time as of 1947. After Rose completed the 500 mile distance, approximately 40 minutes was given for additional drivers to finish, before any remaining drivers who had ''not'' completed the distance by then were flagged off the track. The 1947 race was also the coldest on record, with an average temperature of 50 degrees and morning low of 37.

Results

* Cliff Bergere relieved Herb Ardinger after his own car retired from the race, and completed the race distance in the #54 car.

Broadcasting

Radio

The race was carried live on the

Mutual Broadcasting System The Mutual Broadcasting System (commonly referred to simply as Mutual; sometimes referred to as MBS, Mutual Radio or the Mutual Radio Network) was an American commercial radio network in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the Old-time radio, golden ...

, the precursor to the

IMS Radio Network The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network (known typically as the IMS Radio Network or the INDYCAR Radio Network), is an in-house radio syndication arrangement which broadcasts the Indianapolis 500, the NTT IndyCar Series, and Indy Lights to ...

. 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. Barry Lake served as "roving reporter," stationed on an

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

Jeep. Larry Richardson was stationed in the new Press Paddock (constructed underneath the Paddock Penthouse upper deck) on the outside of the mainstretch, relaying scoring and official information.

Notes

Works cited

*1947 Indianapolis 500 Radio Broadcast, Mutual: ''Re-broadcast'' on "The All-Night Race Party" - WIBC-AM (May 29, 2004)

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 ...

1947 in American motorsport May 1947 sports events in the United States