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 would be killed in an accident 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 1950s or early 1960s.

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 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): Intermittent showers, and the holdout of several ASPAR drivers, meant that only four cars completed qualifying runs. Ted Horn claimed the pole position with a speed of 126.564 mph. Novi teammates Cliff Bergere and Doc Williams both suffered spins during the afternoon. Both rebounded to qualify, with Bergere taking the middle of the front row. Williams completed a rather slow run (120.733 mph), not noticing his crew, who was trying to signal him to abort the run. Williams would be replaced by Herb Ardinger on race day. Sunday May 18: Three cars qualified, bringing the field to seven cars. Shorty Cantlon (121.462 mph) was the fastest of the day. Saturday May 24 Sunday May 25 Wednesday May 28: The final scheduled 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 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 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. 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 RowInsideMiddleOutside1 Ted Horn Cliff Bergere Mauri Rose 2 Herb Ardinger* Shorty Cantlon ✝ Russ Snowberger3 Les Anderson Bill Holland Ken Fowler4 Jimmy Jackson Milt Fankhouser Roland Free5 George Connor Walt Brown Frank Wearne6 Hal Robson Pete Romcevich Duke Nalon7 Al Miller Rex Mays Paul Russo8 Joie Chitwood Fred Agabashian Charles Van Acker 9 Tony Bettenhausen Henry Banks Duke Dinsmore10 Cy Marshall Mel Hansen Emil Andres

Failed to Qualify

Walt Ader (#6) Zora Arkus-Duntov (#49) Bud Bardowski Tommy Boggs (#23) Frank Brisko Leslie Brooke (#35) Jim Brubaker (#86) Red Byron (#22) Duane Carter (#32) Hal Cole - Withdrew due to ASPAR dispute Charles Crawford (#67) Billy Devore (#17) Louis Durant (#23) Sam Grecco (#51) Sam Hanks (#54) Tommy Hinnershitz (#5) - Did not arrive Norm Houser (#69) Danny Kladis - Withdrew due to ASPAR dispute Johnny Mauro (#64) Harry McQuinn George Metzler (#55) Chet Miller - 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 - Withdrew due to ASPAR dispute Hal Stetson - Did not appear Joel Thorne - Withdrew due to ASPAR dispute Louis Tomei (#44, #57) Steve Truchan (#28) George Weaver (#44) Doc Williams (#54)

Race summary Late in the race, Lou Moore teammates Bill Holland and Mauri Rose 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 Shorty Cantlon.

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.

Box score FinishStartNoNameChassisEngineLapsTime/Retired1327 Mauri Rose Diedt Offenhauser200 116.338 mph2816 Bill Holland Diedt Offenhauser200 +32.12311 Ted Horn Maserati Maserati200 +3:00.384454 Herb Ardinger(Cliff Bergere Laps 70–200) Kurtis Kraft Novi200 +6:40.355107 Jimmy Jackson Miller Offenhauser200 +8:00.486209 Rex Mays Kurtis Kraft Winfield200 +12:16.3371433 Walt Brown Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo200 +36:49.4082834 Cy MarshallA.R.-WeilAlfa Romeo197 -3 laps92341 Fred Agabashian Kurtis KraftDuray191 -9 laps102710 Duke Dinsmore(Billy Devore Laps 79–118)WetterothOffenhauser167 -33 laps11758 Les Anderson MaseratiOffenhauser131 -69 laps121757 Pete Romcevich MillerFord168Oil line13303 Emil Andres(George Connor Laps 70–150)LenckiLencki150Magneto141531 Frank Wearne(Louis Tomei Laps 54–103)MillerOffenhauser128Spun T315947 Ken FowlerAlfa RomeoAlfa Romeo121Axle161846 Duke NalonMercedes-Benz W154Mercedes-Benz119Piston171242 Roland FreeWetterothMiller87Spun182529 Tony BettenhausenStevensOffenhauser79Timing gear19625 Russ SnowbergerMaseratiMaserati74Oil pump201652 Hal RobsonAdamsOffenhauser67Universal joint21218 Cliff BergereKurtis KraftNovi62Piston22228 Joie ChitwoodWetterothOffenhauser51Gears23524 Shorty Cantlon ✝SnowbergerMiller40Fatal crash T1242643 Henry BanksMillerOffenhauser36Oil line251966 Al MillerMillerMiller33Magneto261314 George ConnorKurtis KraftOffenhauser32Fuel leak272938 Mel HansenAdamsSparks32Disqualified, Pushed282115 Paul RussoShawOffenhauser24Crash FS292444 Charles Van Acker StevensLencki24Crash FS301153 Milt Fankhouser StevensOffenhauser15Stalled

Note: Relief drivers in parentheses

Former Indianapolis 500 winner

Indianapolis 500 Rookie

All entrants utilized Firestone tires.

Race statistics

Lap Leaders Laps Leader1–23 Cliff Bergere24–59 Bill Holland60–85 Mauri Rose86–192 Bill Holland193–200 Mauri Rose

Total laps led Driver LapsBill Holland 143Mauri Rose 34Cliff Bergere 23

Yellow Lights Laps* Reason24 Milt Fankhouser off course in turn 1Charles Van Acker, Paul Russo, crash on frontstretch (4:38)40 Shorty Cantlon crash in turn 188 Roland Free spin in turn 1 * – Approximate lap counts

Broadcasting Radio The race was carried live on the Mutual Broadcasting System, the precursor to the IMS Radio Network. 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 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.

Mutual Broadcasting SystemBooth AnnouncersTurn ReportersPits/roving reportersAnnouncer: Bill Slater Analyst: Gene Kelly Press Paddock: Larry RichardsonSouth turns: Mike Dunn Mainstretch: Gordon Graham North turns: Jim Shelton Norman PerryBarry Lake

See also 1947 AAA Championship Car season

Notes Works cited

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

References