Indianapolis 500 1912

The 1912 Indianapolis 500-Mile Race (also International 500-Mile Sweepstakes Race ) was the second Indianapolis 500 in history. It took place on May 30, 1912 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway .

background

After Ray Harroun won the first Indianapolis 500 as the only driver in a single-seater Marmon Wasp the year before, new rules were introduced. Now it was compulsory for a mechanic, a so-called "riding mechanic", to ride in the passenger seat. The maximum displacement of 600 cubic inches (9.83 liters) was retained. The qualification has been changed. In 1911 the qualification went over a distance of 0.75 miles . Now the drivers had to show that they could do a full lap (2.5 miles) at a speed of at least 75  mph (120.7  km / h ). 29 vehicles were registered for the race, with 24 vehicles qualifying for the race.David Bruce-Brown completed the fastest lap with an average speed of 88.45 mph (142.35 km / h). However, it was also the case this year that qualification only allowed participation. The starting grid was determined according to the date of receipt of the registration. The starting grid was also changed for the race. Five drivers started again in a row, with the last row being filled with the remaining four drivers.

The prize money was almost doubled compared to the previous year and amounted to 50,000 US dollars (according to today's purchasing power 1,304,390 US dollars).

run

At the start, Teddy Tetzlaff , who started in the middle of the front row, took the lead, staying in first place for two laps in his Fiat before being overtaken by Ralph DePalma's Mercedes . DePalma (with mechanic Rupert Jeffkins as co-driver) dominated the race at will and remained in the lead for the next 194 laps without any problems, with an advantage of five and a half laps, i.e. eleven minutes, over the leader. However, on lap 197, misfires began to occur and the car began to slow down as it exited turn 4. De Palma began to take care of the car on lap 198 and only drove at a significantly reduced speed, but on the back straight on lap 199 the engine stopped completely after a defective connecting rod tore a hole in the crankcase . With the help of the momentum, DePalma managed to let the car roll through turns three and four before they came to a stop on the start-finish straight. DePalma and Jeffkins got out of their car and, to the applause of 80,000 spectators, began to bump into their vehicle. Joe Dawson and his mechanic Harry Martin, who started in 16th position but drove in second for most of the race, overtook DePalma and Jeffkins, who were still pushing their cars, to take victory. Dawson had only run two laps. This remained until 2011 and the victory of Dan Wheldon , the record for the fewest leading laps of an Indianapolis 500 winner at all. At the same time, DePalma set the record for most leading laps without a win (196 laps) in the race, which is still valid today.

Joe Dawson crossing the finish line

Dawson won the race by more than ten minutes over the now runner-up Tetzlaff. DePalma and Jeffkins got their car over the line, but the rules said that only laps that the car had completed independently are counted. Even though they pushed the car into the final lap, the 198th lap was counted as the final lap of the two.

The winning vehicle is now in the track museum.

Joe Dawson after the race

Dawson completed the 500 miles in 6:21:06 hours, an average speed of 78.719 mph (126.686 km / h). From lap 108 to lap 144, Don Herr , as a so-called "relief driver", took over the vehicle from Dawson before he got behind the wheel again. But since Dawson had started the race and was behind the wheel at the finish line, Herr was not listed as the winner (unlike the Indianapolis 500 1924 , in which both the main driver and the "relief driver" were listed as the winner).

The winner received $ 20,000 in prize money. Prize money was paid out to the ten best-placed drivers, but only if they had completed all 200 laps. After Ralph Mulford , who had been to the pits several times due to clutch problems, was told in tenth place in the pits that he had to complete the full distance, he continued his journey. At the time he was the only driver still in the race. So he switched to softer shock absorbers at the pits to make the ride more comfortable. In addition, according to some reports, Mulford had also stopped to take fried chicken and ice cream for dinner on the trip. The then President of Indianapolis Motor Speedways, Carl Graham Fisher and the starter of the race Fred Wagner began to discuss. Wagner was of the opinion that Mulford should be waved with the checkered flag , whereas Fisher opposed it. By the time Mulford had completed the 200th round, however, both Fisher and Wagner, as well as most of the spectators, had gone home. With a total time of 8:53 hours, Mulford still holds the record for the slowest time in which the 500 miles were ever completed.

Results

Starting grid

driver			Far inside			Inside Center			center			Outside Center			Far Outside
time	speed
	(mph)	(km / h)
row 1			Gil Andersen			Len Zengel (R)			Teddy Tetzlaff			Ralph DePalma			Eddie Hearne
			0: 01: 51.21	80.93	130.24	0: 01: 54.14	78.85	126.90	0: 01: 46.84	84.24	135.57	0: 01: 44.63	86.02	138.44	0: 01: 49.96	81.85	131.72
Row 2			Spencer Wishart			Joe Dawson			Howard Wilcox			Harry Knight			Bert Dingley (R)
			0: 01: 47.21	83.95	135.10	0: 01: 44.49	86.13	138.61	0: 01: 43.21	87.20	140.33	0: 01: 58.55	75.92	122.18	0: 01: 51.43	80.77	129.99
Row 3			Johnny Jenkins (R)			Bob Burman			Eddie Rickenbacker (R) qualified by Lee Frayer			Billy Liesaw (R)			Bill Endicott
			0: 01: 51.36	80.82	130.07	0:01:47.00	84.11	135.36	0: 01: 56.43	77.30	124.40	0: 01: 56.11	77.51	124.74	0: 01: 51.70	80.57	129.66
Row 4			Ralph Mulford			Hughie Hughes			Joe Horan (R)			Mel Marquette			Len Ormsby (R)
			0: 01: 42.41	87.88	141.43	0: 01: 50.01	81.81	131.66	0: 01: 51.83	80.48	129.52	0: 01: 55.27	78.08	125.66	0: 01: 47.03	84.09	135.33
Row 5			Joe Matson (R)			Charlie Merz			David Bruce-Brown			Louis Disbrow
			0: 01: 52.64	79.90	128.59	0: 01: 54.10	78.88	126.95	0: 01: 41.75	88.45	142.35	0: 01: 57.59	76.54	123.18

Race result

Item	driver	constructor	Round	Time (h: m: s)	begin	Failure reason
01	Joe Dawson	National	200	6:21:06	7th
02	Teddy Tetzlaff	Fiat	200	+ 0:10:23	3
03	Hughie Hughes	Mercer	200	+ 0:12:03	17th
04th	Charlie Merz	Stutz	200	+ 0:13:34	22nd
05	Bill Endicott	Manhole	200	+ 0:25:22	5
06th	Len Zengel	Stutz	200	+ 0:29:22	2
07th	Johnny Jenkins	White	200	+ 0:31:32	11
08th	Joe Horan	Lozier	200	+ 0:38:32	18th
09	Howard Wilcox	National	200	+ 0:50:24	8th
10	Ralph Mulford	Knox	200	+ 2:31:54	16
11	Ralph DePalma	Mercedes	198	DNF	4th	Crankcase
12	Bob Burman	Cutting	157	DNF	12	accident
13	Bert Dingley	simplex	116	DNF	10	Crankcase
14th	Joe Matson	Lozier	110	DNF	21st	crankshaft
15th	Spencer Wishart	Mercedes	82	DNF	6th	water
16	Gil Andersen	Stutz	80	DNF	1	accident
17th	Billy Liesaw	Marquette Buick	72	DNF	14th	Fire
18th	Louis Disbrow	Case	67	DNF	24	differential
19th	Mel Marquette	McFarlan	63	DNF	19th	tires
20th	Eddie Hearne	Case	55	DNF	5	Blown warehouse
21st	Eddie Rickenbacker	Firestone-Columbus	43	DNF	13	Inlet valve
22nd	David Bruce-Brown	National	25th	DNF	23	Valve
24	Harry Knight	Lexington	6th	DNF	9	engine
24	Len Ormsby	Opel	5	DNF	20th	Crankcase

Web links

Commons : Indianapolis 500 1912  - Collection of Images, Videos, and Audio Files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/drivers/bio/bruce_brown
2. ↑ http://racing-reference.info/race/1912-01/X
3. ^ Tanya A. Bailey: The First American Grand Prix. McFarland, 2014, ISBN 978-0-786-47697-8 , p. 102 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
4. ↑ http://www.historicracing.com/driver_detail.cfm?driverID=2048