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.Seattle Daily Times, June 1, 1926, Page 18.
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.Biography at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America, Retrieved March 15, 2007 He moved up to second on Lap 16. After the rain delay, Lockhart and Dave Lewis battled for the lead for about 20 laps, until Lewis dropped out. 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.Book "The Indianapolis 500: A Complete Pictorial History p.70-71 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 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.The Lockhart Legend/ At the height of the Roaring Twenties Frank Lockhart was America's racing superstar
Qualifying Results Date Driver Lap 1(mph) Lap 2(mph) Lap 3(mph) Lap 4(mph) Average Speed(mph)5/27/1926 Earl Cooper113.68112.97111.32109.09111.735
Starting grid RowInsideMiddleOutside 15 Earl Cooper3 Harry Hartz10 Leon Duray 21 Dave Lewis4 Phil Shafer7 Jules Ellingboe 316 Bennett Hill6 Frank Elliott34 Bon MacDougall 422 W. E. Shattuc9 Cliff Durant31 Tony Gulotta 58 Fred Comer36 Cliff Woodbury 19 Ralph Hepburn 614 Norman Batten 27 Douglas Hawkes29 Ben Jones 729 Albert Guyot15 Frank Lockhart 33 Thane Houser 824 Steve Nemesh 43 Ernest Eldridge 23 L. L. Corum 928 Jack McCarver 17 Fred Lecklider 12 Pete DePaolo 1018 John Duff
Box score
FinishStartNoNameEntrantCarQualRankLapsStatus12015 Frank Lockhart Pete KreisMiller95.78019160 95.904 mph223 Harry HartzHarry HartzMiller109.5422158Flagged31436 Cliff Woodbury Cliff R. WoodburyMiller105.10910158Flagged4138 Fred Comer(Wade Morton 71–139)Harry HartzMiller100.61216155Flagged52712 Pete DePaolo Duesenberg BrothersDuesenberg96.70918153Flagged686 Frank Elliott(Leon Duray Laps 76–104)Frank ElliottMiller105.8738152Flagged71614 Norman Batten Norman BattenMiller101.42815151Flagged81519 Ralph Hepburn(Bob McDonogh Laps 25–65)Ralph HepburnMiller102.51714151Flagged92818 John Duff Al CoteyMiller95.54920147Flagged1054 Phil Shafer(Fred Lecklider Laps 52–54)(Fred Lecklider Laps 113–146)Phil ShaferMiller106.6475146Flagged111231 Tony Gulotta Harry HartzMiller102.78913142Flagged12716 Bennett Hill(Jules Ellingboe Laps 39–40)(Jules Ellingboe Laps 78–113)Harry A. MillerMiller105.8767136Flagged132133 Thane Houser George G. AbellMiller93.67222102Flagged141727 Douglas Hawkes(Ernest Eldridge Laps 57–73)E. A. D. EldridgeEldridge–Anzani94.9772191Camshaft1541 Dave Lewis(Earl Cooper Laps 90–91) Harry A. MillerMiller107.009491Valve1615 Earl CooperHarry A. MillerMiller111.735173Transmission17119 Cliff Durant(Eddie Hearne 42–60) R. Cliff DurantFengler–Locomobile104.8551260Fuel tank leak181829 Ben Jones Duesenberg BrothersDuesenberg92.1422454Crash192326 Ernest Eldridge (Herschel McKee Laps 22–32)E. A. D. EldridgeEldridge–Anzani89.7772545Tie rod202423 L. L. Corum Albert SchmidtSchmidt–Argyll88.8492644Shock absorbers212224 Steve Nemesh Albert SchmidtSchmidt–Argyll92.9372341Transmission2267 Jules EllingboeF. P. CramerMiller106.376639Supercharger23310 Leon DurayR. Cliff DurantFengler–Locomobile109.186333Broken axle242617 Fred Lecklider Earl DevoreMiller100.3981724Rod252528 Jack McCarver Chevrolet BrothersFronty-Ford T86.4182823Rod26934 Bon MacDougall R. G. McDougallMiller105.180919Valve271022 W. E. ShattucDr. W. E. Shattuc, M.D.Miller104.9771115Valve281939 Albert GuyotAlbert SchmidtSchmidt–Argyll88.580278Piston
Note: Relief drivers in parentheses
Former Indianapolis 500 winner
Indianapolis 500 Rookie
Race statistics
Lap Leaders Laps Leader1-15 Phil Shafer16–21 Dave Lewis22 Phil Shafer23–59 Dave Lewis60–100 Frank Lockhart101–106 Harry Hartz107–160 Frank Lockhart
Total laps led Leader LapsFrank Lockhart 95Dave Lewis 43Phil Shafer 16Harry Hartz 6
Race details For 1926, riding mechanics were optional, however, no teams utilized them. First alternate: noneThe Talk of Gasoline Alley - 1070-AM WIBC, May 14, 2004 This would be the first Indy 500 where a driver from the inaugural Indy 500 did not compete.
References