The 21st International 500-Mile Sweepstakes Race was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Tuesday, May 30, 1933. Louis Meyer defeated Wilbur Shaw by a time of 401.89 seconds (6.69 minutes). The average speed of the race was 104.162 miles per hour (167.632 km/h) while Bill Cummings achieved the pole position with a speed of 118.521 miles per hour (190.741 km/h). The race was part of the 1933 AAA Championship Car season.

Meyer was accompanied by riding mechanic Lawson Harris.

The 1933 month of May at Indianapolis was the deadliest running of the 500. Five participants were fatally injured. During practice, Bill Denver and his riding mechanic Bob Hurst were killed in a crash. On race day, Mark Billman was killed in a crash on lap 79 while Lester Spangler and his riding mechanic G.L. "Monk" Jordan were killed in a crash on lap 132. It was the fifth straight year at least one competitor died in a crash during the month.

Time trials

Ten-lap (25 mile) qualifying runs were utilized. 42 cars averaged faster than the designated 100mph mark, making for the largest starting field in the race's history.

Race summary and results

Bill Cummings led early on from the pole, turning laps of 113 mph. He faded from the front and dropped out with mechanical problems. Louis Meyer came from 7th starting position to first lead at 325 miles. By 400 miles, he had a commanding lead and was signaled "E-Z" by his pit crew to slow from his 110 mph pace. He cruised to the checkered with a lead of over 5 laps over Wilbur Shaw, with a new record average speed. ^[3]

Finish	Start	No	Name	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	Qual	Rank	Laps	Led	Status
1	6	36	Louis Meyer  W	Louis Meyer	Miller	Miller	116.977	7	200	71	Running
2	23	17	Wilbur Shaw	Leon Duray	Stevens	Miller	115.497	12	200	0	Running
3	4	37	Lou Moore	Maley & Scully	Duesenberg	Miller	117.843	4	200	0	Running
4	15	21	Chet Gardner	Alden Sampson II	Stevens	Miller	112.319	22	200	0	Running
5	10	8	Stubby Stubblefield	Phil Shafer	Rigling	Buick	114.784	13	200	0	Running
6	36	38	Dave Evans	Arthur E. Rose	Rigling	Studebaker	109.448	36	200	0	Running
7	12	34	Tony Gulotta	The Studebaker Corporation	Rigling	Studebaker	113.578	15	200	0	Running
8	17	4	Russ Snowberger	Russell Snowberger	Snowberger	Studebaker	110.769	27	200	0	Running
9	16	9	Zeke Meyer	The Studebaker Corporation	Rigling	Studebaker	111.099	25	200	0	Running
10	20	46	Luther Johnson	The Studebaker Corporation	Rigling	Studebaker	110.097	31	200	0	Running
11	9	6	Cliff Bergere	The Studebaker Corporation	Rigling	Studebaker	115.643	11	200	0	Running
12	18	47	L. L. Corum  W	The Studebaker Corporation	Rigling	Studebaker	110.465	29	200	0	Running
13	40	49	Willard Prentiss  R	J. W. Kleinschmidt	Rigling	Duesenberg	107.776	41	200	0	Running
14	27	14	Raúl Riganti	Raúl Riganti	Chrysler	Chrysler	108.081	39	200	0	Running
15	28	29	Gene Haustein	Lawrence J. Martz	Hudson	Hudson	107.603	42	197	0	Flagged
16	14	26	Deacon Litz	A. B. Litz	Miller	Miller	113.138	17	197	0	Flagged
17	31	18	Joe Russo	F. P. Duesenberg	Duesenberg	Duesenberg	112.531	20	192	0	Flagged
18	39	51	Doc MacKenzie	Ray T. Brady	Duesenberg	Studebaker	108.073	40	192	0	Rear axle
19	25	27	Kelly Petillo	William M. Yahr	Smith	Miller	113.037	18	168	0	Spun & stalled
20	32	28	Chet Miller	R. G. "Buddy" Marr	Hudson	Hudson	112.025	23	163	0	Rod
21	24	19	Al Miller	R. G. "Buddy" Marr	Hudson	Hudson	109.799	35	161	0	Rod
22	19	68	Bennett Hill	S. C. Goldberg	Cooper	Cooper	110.264	30	158	0	Rod
23	29	45	Babe Stapp	M. J. Boyle	Miller	Miller	116.626	9	156	60	Out of gas
24	26	32	Wesley Crawford	Frank Brisko	Stevens	Miller	109.862	33	147	0	Crash T1
25	1	5	Bill Cummings	M. J. Boyle	Miller	Miller	118.521	1	136	32	Radiator
26	7	15	Lester Spangler  R  ✝	Harry Hartz	Miller	Miller	116.903	8	132	0	Died in crash at T1
27	35	65	Freddie Winnai	James Kemp	Duesenberg	Duesenberg	111.018	26	125	0	Engine trouble
28	30	57	Malcolm Fox	William Richards	Studebaker	Studebaker	112.922	19	121	0	Crash T1
29	3	12	Fred Frame  W	Harry Hartz	Wetteroth	Miller	117.864	3	85	37	Valve
30	22	64	Mark Billman  R  ✝	James Kemp	Duesenberg	Duesenberg	112.410	21	79	0	Died in crash at T2
31	34	53	Johnny Sawyer  R	Lencki & Unger	Miller	Miller	110.590	28	77	0	Clutch
32	11	2	Pete Kreis	Fred Frame	Summers	Miller	114.370	14	63	0	Universal joint
33	5	16	Ernie Triplett	William S. White	Weil	Miller	117.685	5	61	0	Piston
34	13	25	Shorty Cantlon	William Cantlon	Stevens	Miller	113.384	16	50	0	Rod
35	42	3	Mauri Rose  R	Joe Marks	Stevens	Miller	117.649	6	48	0	Timing gears
36	2	58	Frank Brisko	F.W.D. Auto Company	Miller	Miller	118.388	2	47	0	Oil too hot
37	8	10	Ira Hall	Denny Duesenberg	Stevens	Duesenberg	115.739	10	37	0	Piston
38	41	23	Ralph Hepburn	S. C. Goldberg	Cooper	Cooper	110.001	32	33	0	Rod bearing
39	37	59	Ray Campbell	Tulio Gulotta	Hudson	Hudson	108.650	37	24	0	Oil leak
40	33	24	Paul Bost	Fred Frame	Duesenberg	Miller	111.330	24	13	0	Oil line
41	38	61	Rick Decker	Bessie Decker	Miller	Miller	108.280	38	13	0	Manifold
42	21	22	Louis Schneider  W	W. R. Blackburn	Stevens	Miller	109.850	34	1	0	Stalled
[4][5]

Alternates

• First alternate: Sam Palmer  R ^[6]
• Howdy Wilcox II had qualified for the race, but officials disqualified him from the field when they learned that he had diabetes. On race day, he was replaced in the car by Mauri Rose.^[7]

Failed to Qualify

Race details

For 1933, riding mechanics were required.^[9]

Despite the deadly month, three rules were installed to make the racing safer. Cars were allowed a maximum of 6 quarts of oil, and could not add oil during the race (a rule still in place today). These changes meant to send "leakers" to the garage and not make the track slippery. Also, fuel tanks were a maximum of 15 gallons, instead of 40 gallons or more. Cars would have to pit more often for fuel and crews could inspect tire wear and other problems. ^[10]

"Will Overhead"

In 1933, one of the more famous bits of Indy 500 nostalgia occurred. Telegraph was still being used to transmit race information to newspapers and other outlets across the United States. George Zanaon, a typesetter for The World-Independent newspaper in the town of Walsenburg, Colorado was preparing a story for that day's Indianapolis 500. Since Memorial Day was a holiday, his young editor John B. Kirkpatrick was alone monitoring the Associated Press wire for race updates. The race took several hours to complete, and the AP wire was shut down prior to the finish. Kirkpatrick had nearly the entire story ready for print, minus the winner of the race. A helpful AP editor in Denver advised him that he would send the name of the winner via Western Union telegraph.

The telegraph Kirkpatrick received, in typical newspaper shorthand lingo was: "WILL OVERHEAD WINNER OF INDIANAPOLIS 500," meaning that he would send the information by telegraph when the information was available. The young editor misunderstood the jargon in the message, and interpreted it as saying a driver named Will Overhead was the winner. The headline read "Will Overhead won the Indianapolis Memorial Day race today. At the two hundred fifty mile post Babe Stapp was leading the string of racing cars, but gave way to Overhead on the last half of the 500 mile grind." The true winner was Louis Meyer. The gaffe put the town of Walsenburg, and The World-Independent newspaper (now known as the Huerfano World Journal), on the map in racing circles.^[11][12][13]