1927 Indianapolis 500

15th Indianapolis 500

Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Indianapolis 500
Sanctioning body	AAA
Date	May 30, 1927
Winner	George Souders
Winning Entrant	William S. White
Average speed	97.545 mph (156.983 km/h)
Pole position	Frank Lockhart
Pole speed	120.100 mph (193.282 km/h)
Most laps led	Frank Lockhart (110)
Pre-race
Pace car	LaSalle V-8 Series 303
Pace car driver	Willard "Big Boy" Rader
Starter	George Townsend[1]
Honorary referee	Charles F. Kettering[1]
Estimated attendance	135,000[2]
Chronology
Previous Next 1926 1928

The 15th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes Race was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Monday, May 30, 1927.

First-time starter George Souders won by eight laps, the largest margin since 1913. Souders became the first driver to win the full-500 mile race solo, with neither help from a relief driver, nor accompanied by a riding mechanic.

Time trials

Four-lap (10 mile) qualifying runs were utilized. Frank Lockhart won the pole position with a speed of 120.10 mph. Lockhart set a new 1-lap track record on his final lap.

For the first time, all 33 qualifiers exceeded 100 mph for average speed. ^[3]

Starting grid

Row	Inside		Middle		Outside
1	2	Frank Lockhart  W	3	Pete DePaolo  W	12	Leon Duray
2	1	Harry Hartz	19	Ralph Hepburn	15	Cliff Woodbury
3	14	Bob McDonogh	7	Dave Lewis	4	Bennett Hill
4	8	Norman Batten	22	Jack Petticord  R	9	Peter Kreis
5	5	Frank Elliott	25	Cliff Bergere  R	10	Earl Devore
6	17	W. E. Shattuc	26	Dutch Baumann  R	16	Eddie Hearne
7	29	Wilbur Shaw  R	44	Al Melcher  R	18	Jules Ellingboe
8	32	George Souders  R	43	Louis Schneider  R	38	Babe Stapp  R
9	6	Tommy Milton  W	41	Wade Morton	27	Tony Gulotta
10	21	Dave Evans  R	35	Al Cotey  R	23	Fred Lecklider
11	24	Benny Shoaff  R	42	Jim Hill  R	31	Fred Frame  R

Race summary

At the start, polesitter Lockhart took the lead and dominated the first half of the race. At the halfway point, he had won almost $10,000 in lap prize money. But on lap 120, his Miller broke a connecting rod, and he was out of the race. He reportedly stepped out, shrugged, smiled, and asked for a hot dog.^[4]

After Lockhart's retirement, Pete DePaolo took the lead, driving in relief for Bob McDonogh after his own car dropped out. But a supercharger problem required an extended, unscheduled pit stop to repair. With 60 laps to go, George Souders first took the lead. He steadily pulled away from Babe Stapp, both in Duesenbergs, and cruised to victory by over 12 minutes. Stapp (driving relief for Benny Shoaff), seemingly on his way to second place, broke a rear axle with a lap and a half to go, and the car finished out of the top ten.^[5]

Box score

Finish	Start	No	Name	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	Qual	Rank	Laps	Status
1	22	32	George Souders  R	William S. White	Duesenberg	Duesenberg	111.551	12	200	Running
2	15	10	Earl Devore (Zeke Meyer Laps 97–152)	F. P. Cramer	Miller	Miller	107.497	23	200	Running
3	27	27	Tony Gulotta (Pete DePaolo Laps 86–92)	Anthony Gulotta	Miller	Miller	107.765	22	200	Running
4	19	29	Wilbur Shaw  R  (Louis Meyer Laps 77–129)	Fred Clemons	Miller	Miller	104.465	32	200	Running
5	28	21	Dave Evans  R  (Steve Nemesh Laps 57–82)	David E. Evans	Duesenberg	Duesenberg	107.360	25	200	Running
6	7	14	Bob McDonogh (Pete DePaolo Laps 113–200)	Cooper Engineering Company	Cooper	Miller	113.175	8	200	Running
7	18	16	Eddie Hearne (Harry Hartz Laps 47–81) (Leon Duray Laps 116–130) (Ira Vail Laps 131–154)	Harry Hartz	Miller	Miller	105.115	31	200	Running
8	25	6	Tommy Milton  W  (C. W. Van Ranst Laps 82–106) (Ralph Hepburn Laps 107–200)	Tommy Milton	Detroit	Miller	108.758	20	200	Running
9	14	25	Cliff Bergere  R  (Wesley Crawford Laps 96–108) (Wesley Crawford Laps 147–176)	Muller Brothers	Miller	Miller	108.820	19	200	Running
10	13	5	Frank Elliott (Fred Frame Laps 54–100)	Frank Elliott	Miller	Miller	109.682	17	200	Running
11	33	31	Fred Frame  R  (George Fernic Laps 6–68) (George Abell Laps 69–76) (George Fernic Laps 77–123) (George Abell Laps 124–127) (George Fernic Laps 128–199)	O. B. Dolfinger	Miller	Miller	106.859	27	199	Flagged
12	32	42	Jim Hill  R  (Don Ostrander Laps 30–87) (Don Ostrander Laps 108–115) (Don Ostrander Laps 176–197)	Earl Devore	Miller	Miller	107.392	24	197	Flagged
13	31	24	Benny Shoaff  R  (Babe Stapp Laps 69–103) (Babe Stapp Laps 173–198)	Duesenberg Brothers	Duesenberg	Duesenberg	110.152	13	198	Rear end gears
14	26	41	Wade Morton (Ralph Holmes Laps 34–63) (Freddie Winnai Laps 64–131) (Ralph Holmes Laps 140–152)	Duesenberg Brothers	Duesenberg	Duesenberg	108.075	21	152	Crash
15	20	44	Al Melcher  R  (Jack Petticord Laps 44–129) (Fred Lecklider Laps 130–143) (Jack Petticord Laps 143–144)	Charles Haase	Miller	Miller	102.918	33	144	Supercharger
16	23	43	Louis Schneider  R  (L. L. Corum Laps 88–97) (Dutch Baumann Laps 125–135)	Fred Lecklider	Miller	Miller	109.910	15	137	Timing gears
17	12	9	Pete Kreis	Cooper Engineering Company	Cooper	Miller	109.900	16	123	Front axle
18	1	2	Frank Lockhart  W  (Harry Hartz Laps 101–123)	Frank S. Lockhart	Miller	Miller	120.100	1	120	Rod
19	6	15	Cliff Woodbury (Ralph Hepburn Laps 71–80)	Cliff Woodbury	Miller	Miller	113.200	7	108	Supercharger
20	17	26	Dutch Baumann  R	Harry S. Miller	Miller	Miller	106.078	29	90	Pinion shaft
21	29	35	Al Cotey  R  (Eddie Burbach Laps 63–87)	Al Cotey	Miller	Miller	106.295	28	87	Universal joint
22	16	17	W. E. Shattuc	Dr. W. E. Shattuc, M.D.	Miller	Miller	107.060	26	83	Valve
23	30	23	Fred Lecklider (Henry Kohlert Laps 17–49)	Henry Kohlert	Miller	Miller	105.729	30	49	Crash T1
24	5	19	Ralph Hepburn	Cliff Woodbury	Miller	Miller	114.209	5	39	Fuel tank leak
25	4	1	Harry Hartz	Harry Hartz	Miller	Miller	116.739	4	38	Crankshaft
26	2	3	Peter DePaolo  W	Peter DePaolo	Miller	Miller	119.510	2	31	Supercharger
27	3	12	Leon Duray	Leon Duray	Miller	Miller	118.788	3	26	Fuel tank leak
28	9	4	Bennett Hill	Cooper Engineering Company	Miller	Miller	112.013	10	26	Shackle bolt
29	21	18	Jules Ellingboe	Earl Cooper	Miller	Miller	113.239	6	25	Crash T4
30	10	8	Norman Batten	Norman K. Batten	Fengler	Miller	111.940	11	24	Caught fire
31	24	38	Babe Stapp  R	Duesenberg Brothers	Duesenberg	Duesenberg	109.555	18	24	Universal joint
32	11	22	Jack Petticord  R	Cliff Woodbury	Miller	Miller	109.920	14	22	Supercharger
33	8	7	Dave Lewis	Dave Lewis	Miller	Miller	112.275	9	21	Front axle
[6][7]

Note: Relief drivers in parentheses^[8]

 W  Former Indianapolis 500 winner

 R  Indianapolis 500 Rookie

Race statistics

Race details

For 1927, riding mechanics were optional;^[9] however, no teams utilized them.

Eddie Hearne was the only driver in the field who had competed at the inaugural Indy 500. This would be the final time a driver from the inaugural race would compete.

References