31st running of the Indianapolis 500
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 1950's or early 1960's.
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.[3] 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.[4]
- 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.[5][6]
- Sunday May 18: Three cars qualified, bringing the field to seven cars. Shorty Cantlon (121.462 mph) was the fastest of the day.[7][8]
- 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.[9] Duke Dinsmore was the final qualifier, completing his run amidst some scoring confusion by the officials, just as the time had run out.[10] 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.[11]
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.
[12]
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.[14] 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.[15] The 1947 race was also the coldest on record, with an average temperature of 50 degrees and morning low of 37.[16]
Results
* Cliff Bergere relieved Herb Ardinger after his own car retired from the race, and completed the race distance in the #54 car.
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.
