1937 Indianapolis 500

25th Indianapolis 500

Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Indianapolis 500
Sanctioning body	AAA
Date	May 31, 1937
Winner	Wilbur Shaw
Winning Entrant	Shaw-Gilmore
Average speed	113.580 mph
Pole position	Bill Cummings
Pole speed	123.343 mph
Most laps led	Wilbur Shaw (131)
Pre-race
Pace car	LaSalle Series 50
Pace car driver	Ralph DePalma
Starter	Seth Klein
Honorary referee	William S. Knudsen
Estimated attendance	170,000
Chronology
Previous Next 1936 1938

The 25th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Monday, May 31, 1937. With temperatures topping out at 92 °F (33 °C), it is one of the hottest days on record for the Indy 500.

Speedway legend Wilbur Shaw won the first of his three "500" victories. In the waning laps, Shaw's car was leaking oil, and was suffering from critically low oil pressure. He had to nurse his car to the finish line. Second place Ralph Hepburn, aware of Shaw's troubles, began closing dramatically. Shaw held off Hepburn at the checkered flag by 2.16 seconds, the closest finish in Indy history to that point. It was a record that would stand until 1982.

Time trials

Ten-lap (25 mile) qualifying runs were utilized. During the time trials held on May 28, the car of Overton Phillips burst into flames when his crankshaft broke and punctured the gas tank. He then crashed into the pit area, killing spectator George Warford of Indianapolis. Injured were Phillips and his riding mechanic, Walter King, Anthony Caccia, the brother of Joe Caccia, who died in practice for the 1931 race, and Otto Rohde of Toledo, Ohio, a crew member for Champion Spark Plug. Rohde succumbed to his injuries on June 1, 1937.

On the same day, having completed four of ten scheduled qualifying laps, Frank McGurk's car plunged through an inner rail, overturned and ejected both McGurk, who was hospitalized in serious condition but survived, and his riding mechanic, Albert Opalko, who was killed. The crash was caused by a broken connecting rod.

Qualifying Results
Date	Driver	Lap 1 (mph)	Lap 2 (mph)	Lap 3 (mph)	Lap 4 (mph)	Lap 5 (mph)	Lap 6 (mph)	Lap 7 (mph)	Lap 8 (mph)	Lap 9 (mph)	Lap 10 (mph)	Average Speed (mph)
Sat 5/15/1937	Bill Cummings	123.677	123.779	120.016	122.951	123.626	123.830	123.848	123.305	123.389	125.139*	123.455

* Bill Cummings' tenth lap of 125.139 mph was a one-lap Speedway track record at the time.

Starting grid

Row	Inside		Middle		Outside
1	16	Bill Cummings  W	6	Wilbur Shaw	54	Herb Ardinger
2	10	Billy Winn	2	Louis Meyer  W	8	Ralph Hepburn
3	38	Tony Gulotta	1	Mauri Rose	31	Chet Gardner
4	23	Ronney Householder  R	35	Deacon Litz	17	George Connor
5	7	Chet Miller	28	Billy Devore  R	24	Frank Brisko
6	45	Cliff Bergere	62	Floyd Roberts	53	Louis Tomei
7	5	Jimmy Snyder	25	Kelly Petillo  W	33	Bob Swanson  R
8	47	Harry McQuinn	14	Rex Mays	32	Floyd Davis  R
9	34	Shorty Cantlon	42	Al Miller	26	Tony Willman  R
10	43	George Bailey	41	Ken Fowler  R	12	Russ Snowberger
11	15	Babe Stapp	3	Ted Horn	44	Frank Wearne  R

R Indianapolis 500 rookie

W Indianapolis 500 winner

Alternates

• First alternate: Emil Andres (part of an elaborate scheme caught by AAA officials, see below)
• Second alternate: Joel Thorne  R  — Thorne purchased the entry of the first alternate, and planned to buy the qualified car of Cliff Bergere. He then planned to withdraw both of those cars in order to elevate his own car (the second alternate) into the starting field. After the officials heard word of the solicitations, they forced him to stop the effort of effectively "buying his way in" to the field, and threatened suspension.

Failed to Qualify

• Henry Banks  R  (#49)
• Tom Cosman  R  (#63)
• Dave Evans (#21)
• Ira Hall (#37, #56)
• Luther Johnson (#66)
• Milt Marion  R  (#65)
• Frank McGurk (#39)
• Zeke Meyer (#52)
• Duke Nalon  R  (#21)
• Lee Oldfield  R  (#72)
• Vern Ornduff  R  (#67)
• Overton Phillips  R  (#66)
• Al Putnam  R  (#46)
• Johnny Seymour (#51)
• Lou Webb  R  (#58)
• Doc Williams (#57)
• Woody Woodford  R  (#61)
• Ray Yeagar  R  (#61)

Race details

For 1937, riding mechanics were required. Jigger Johnson served as Wilbur Shaw's riding mechanic. Johnson, who also rode with 1931 winner Louis Schneider, became the second two-time Indianapolis 500 winning riding mechanic. Johnson would be the final winning riding mechanic in Indy history. Starting in the 1938 Indianapolis 500, riding mechanics were made optional, and would no longer be utilized in the race by any entrants.

After being banned for several years, superchargers were once again permitted.

Jimmy Snyder

One of the more notable performances of the 1937 race belonged to Jimmy Snyder. During time trials on May 22, Snyder took to the track for his 10-lap attempt late in the day, nearing sundown. He ran his first lap at a track record of 130.492 mph. His second lap (129.422 mph) and third lap (127.334 mph) dropped off, and then officials waved off the run due to darkness. Snyder's run was officially incomplete, but the single-lap track record stood.

The following day, Snyder returned to the track, and while he did not match his speed from the day before, he finished his run at 125.287 mph, the fastest qualifier in the field. He would line up 19th on race day.

At the start, Snyder blew by most of the field, and was running as high as 6th at the conclusion of the first lap. By the fourth lap he was in the lead, and proceeded to lead 24 laps. On lap 27, however, he dropped out with mechanical trouble.

Late Race Summary

Late in the race, Wilbur Shaw held a comfortable lead, and had lapped second place Ralph Hepburn. With about 20 laps to go, however, Shaw's car had been leaking oil, and had nearly lost nearly all of the oil out of the crankcase. In addition, the right rear tire was heavily worn. Shaw slowed down considerably in an effort to nurse his car to the finish line. Shaw and his riding mechanic John "Jigger" Johnson were both suffering from burns due to the leaking oil. Second place Hepburn realized Shaw's problems, and began a charge to catch him. He unlapped himself, and went on a tear in hopes of victory.

As the laps dwindled down, Ralph Hepburn was closing dramatically. Shaw was largely defenseless, as he was carefully nursing the car around. As the car went in and out of the turns, the oil pressure was rising and dropping, and Shaw was calculating how much time he could give up per lap and still maintain the lead. Hepburn closed to a straightaway deficit, then was nearly in reach. On the final lap Hepburn pulled to within a few seconds, and by the last turn he was directly behind Shaw and looking to pass him for the win.

With nothing to lose, Shaw floored the accelerator and pulled away down the final straight. He held off Hepburn for the win by 2.16 seconds, the closest finish in Indy 500 history to that point. The margin would stand as the closest finish ever at Indy until 1982.

Box score

Finish	Start	No	Name	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	Qual	Rank	Laps	Status
1	2	6	Wilbur Shaw	W. Wilbur Shaw	Shaw	Offenhauser	122.791	4	200	113.580 mph
2	6	8	Ralph Hepburn (Bob Swanson Laps 108–162)	Louis Meyer	Stevens	Offenhauser	118.809	15	200	+2.16
3	32	3	Ted Horn	Harry Hartz	Wetteroth	Miller	118.608	17	200	+21.07
4	5	2	Louis Meyer  W	H. C. Henning	Miller	Miller	119.619	12	200	+6:47.90
5	16	45	Cliff Bergere (George Barringer Laps 106–156)	George C. Lyons	Stevens	Offenhauser	117.546	24	200	+11:15.80
6	1	16	Bill Cummings  W  (Chet Miller Laps 134–141)	H. C. Henning	Miller	Offenhauser	123.343	3	200	+15:55.23
7	14	28	Billy Devore  R  (Fred Frame Laps 169–200)	H. E. Winn	Stevens	Miller	120.192	9	200	+16:15.37
8	7	38	Tony Gulotta (Jimmy Snyder Laps 121–152) (Rex Mays Laps 103–120)	Joe Lencki	Rigling	Offenhauser	118.788	16	200	+21:32.62
9	12	17	George Connor	Joe Marks	Adams	Miller	120.240	8	200	+24:48.20
10	18	53	Louis Tomei	S.S. Engineering Company	Rigling	Studebaker	116.437	32	200	+30:29.53
11	9	31	Chet Gardner (Billy Winn Laps 120–173)	Chester Gardner	Duesenberg	Offenhauser	117.342	28	199	Flagged
12	10	23	Ronney Householder  R  (Al Putnam Laps 50–71) (Henry Banks Laps 132–167) (Ken Fowler Laps 168–194)	Henry J. Topping, Jr.	Viglioni	Miller	116.464	31	194	Flagged
13	17	62	Floyd Roberts	Joel Thorne, Inc.	Miller	Miller	116.996	30	194	Flagged
14	11	35	Deacon Litz (Harry McQuinn Laps 59–71)	A. B. Litz	Miller	Miller	116.372	33	191	Out of oil
15	24	32	Floyd Davis  R	Joel Thorne, Inc.	Snowberger	Miller	118.942	14	190	Crash T3
16	25	34	Shorty Cantlon (Rex Mays Laps 34–89)	Bill White Race Cars, Inc.	Weil	Miller	118.555	18	182	Flagged
17	26	42	Al Miller (Emil Andres Laps 79–158) (Mauri Rose Laps 159–170)	Joel Thorne, Inc.	Snowberger	Miller	118.518	20	170	Carburetor
18	8	1	Mauri Rose	Lou Moore	Miller	Offenhauser	118.540	19	127	Oil line
19	29	41	Ken Fowler  R	E. M. "Lucky" Teeter	Wetteroth	McDowell	117.421	26	116	Pushed
20	20	25	Kelly Petillo  W	Kelly Petillo	Wetteroth	Offenhauser	124.129	2	109	Out of oil
21	28	43	George Bailey	Sims & Duray	Stevens	Miller	117.497	25	107	Clutch
22	3	54	Herb Ardinger (Jimmy Snyder Laps 71–106)	Lewis W. Welch	Welch	Offenhauser	121.983	5	106	Rod
23	15	24	Frank Brisko	Frank Brisko	Stevens	Brisko	118.213	23	105	No oil pressure
24	33	44	Frank Wearne  R	Leon Duray	Stevens	Miller	118.220	22	99	Carburetor
25	27	26	Tony Willman  R	Pete DePaolo	Miller	Miller	118.241	21	95	Rod
26	4	10	Billy Winn	James M. Winn	Miller	Miller	119.922	11	85	Oil line
27	30	12	Russ Snowberger (Johnny Seymour Laps 52–60)	Russ Snowberger	Snowberger	Packard	117.354	27	66	Clutch
28	21	33	Bob Swanson  R	Paul Weirick	Adams	Sparks	121.920	6	52	Carburetor
29	22	47	Harry McQuinn	Thomas O'Brien	Stevens	Miller	121.822	7	47	Piston
30	13	7	Chet Miller	H. C. Henning	Summers	Miller	119.213	13	36	Ignition
31	31	15	Babe Stapp	Henry J. Topping, Jr.	Maserati	Maserati	117.226	29	36	Clutch
32	19	5	Jimmy Snyder	Joel Thorne, Inc.	Adams	Sparks	125.287	1	27	Transmission
33	23	14	Rex Mays	Bill White Race Cars, Inc.	Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo	119.968	10	24	Overheating

Note: Relief drivers in parentheses

 W  Former Indianapolis 500 winner

 R  Indianapolis 500 Rookie

Race statistics

Lap Leaders
Laps	Leader
1–2	Herb Ardinger
3–26	Jimmy Snyder
27–74	Wilbur Shaw
75–83	Ralph Hepburn
84–129	Wilbur Shaw
130–163	Bob Swanson (in relief of Hepburn)
164–200	Wilbur Shaw

Total laps led
Driver	Laps
Wilbur Shaw	131
Bob Swanson	34
Jimmy Snyder	24
Ralph Hepburn	9
Herb Ardinger	2

Yellow Lights
Laps	Reason
Extra time	Floyd Davis crash in turn 3

Notes

Works cited

• Floyd Clymer's 1909–1941 Indianapolis 500 Race History
• Indianapolis 500 Chronicle