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1936 Indianapolis 500

The 24th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes Race was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday, May 30, 1936. The race was part of the 1936 AAA Championship Car season. The race is remembered for three noteworthy Indy traditions getting their start.

Louis Meyer became the first three-time winner of the Indianapolis 500. He notably celebrated in victory lane with a bottle of buttermilk, which later started the famous tradition of serving milk in victory lane at Indianapolis.

Lawson Harris served as Meyer's riding mechanic. Harris, who also rode with Meyer in 1933, became the first two-time Indianapolis 500 winning riding mechanic.

The Borg-Warner Trophy debuted for the winner in 1936. Also, pace car driver Tommy Milton suggested that the race winner should be awarded the official pace car as part of his complement of prizes. Louis Meyer was given the keys to the Packard after the race, and it has been a tradition ever since (with only a handful of exceptions).

Ten-lap (25 mile) qualifying runs were utilized. Rex Mays won the pole position for the second consecutive year.

Row	Inside		Middle		Outside
1	33	Rex Mays	21	Babe Stapp	18	Chet Miller
2	10	Doc MacKenzie	38	George Connor	44	Herb Ardinger
3	42	Cliff Bergere	27	Louis Tomei	3	Wilbur Shaw
4	7	Shorty Cantlon	22	Ted Horn	35	Freddie Winnai
5	2	Bill Cummings  W	17	George Barringer	4	Floyd Roberts
6	43	Jimmy Snyder	12	Al Miller	6	Chet Gardner
7	5	Billy Winn	14	Frank Brisko	47	Johnny Seymour
8	52	Frank McGurk  R	54	Doc Williams  R	9	Ralph Hepburn
9	41	Ray Pixley  R	15	Deacon Litz	28	Harry McQuinn
10	8	Louis Meyer  W	32	Lou Moore	36	Mauri Rose
11	46	Fred Frame  W	53	Zeke Meyer	19	Emil Andres  R

• First alternate: Al Putman  R ^[3]

Finish	Start	No	Name	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	Qual	Rank	Laps	Status
1	28	8	Louis Meyer  W	Louis Meyer	Stevens	Miller	114.171	18	200	Running
2	11	22	Ted Horn	Harry Hartz	Wetteroth	Miller	116.564	8	200	Running
3	4	10	Doc MacKenzie (Kelly Petillo Laps 142–200)	Kelly Petillo	Wetteroth	Offenhauser	116.961	5	200	Running
4	30	36	Mauri Rose	Four Wheel Drive Auto Company	Miller	Miller	113.890	21	200	Running
5	3	18	Chet Miller	Boyle Motor Products	Summers	Miller	117.675	3	200	Running
6	25	41	Ray Pixley  R	Clarence Felker	Miller	Miller	116.703	7	200	Running
7	9	3	Wilbur Shaw	W. Wilbur Shaw	Shaw	Offenhauser	117.503	4	200	Running
8	14	17	George Barringer	Phil Shafer	Rigling	Offenhauser	112.700	27	200	Running
9	32	53	Zeke Meyer	Boyle Motor Products	Cooper	Studebaker	111.476	30	200	Running
10	5	38	George Connor	Joe Marks	Adams	Miller	116.269	9	200	Running
11	12	35	Freddie Winnai	Midwest Racing Team	Stevens	Offenhauser	116.221	10	199	Flagged
12	24	9	Ralph Hepburn	Ralph Hepburn	Miller	Offenhauser	112.673	28	196	Flagged
13	27	28	Harry McQuinn	Alden Sampson II	Stevens	Miller	114.118	19	196	Out of gas
14	10	7	Shorty Cantlon	William S. White	Weil	Miller	116.912	6	194	Out of gas
15	1	33	Rex Mays	Paul Weirick	Adams	Sparks	119.644	1	192	Out of gas
16	23	54	Doc Williams  R	Race Car Corporation	Cooper	Miller	112.837	26	192	Out of gas
17	29	32	Lou Moore (Cliff Bergere Laps 77–134)	Lou Moore	Miller	Offenhauser	113.996	20	185	Out of gas
18	33	19	Emil Andres  R  (Jimmy Snyder Laps 51–112)	J. Stewart Carew	Whippet	Cragar	111.455	31	184	Flagged
19	15	4	Floyd Roberts	Joe Lencki	Stevens	Offenhauser	112.403	29	183	Out of gas
20	20	14	Frank Brisko	Elgin Piston Ring Company	Miller	Brisko	114.213	17	180	Out of gas
21	17	12	Al Miller	Boyle Motor Products	Smith	Miller	116.138	11	119	Crash FS
22	7	42	Cliff Bergere (Tony Gulotta Laps 60–114) (Herb Ardinger Laps 115–116)	Bowes Seal Fast Corporation	Stevens	Miller	113.377	22	116	Engine support
23	26	15	Deacon Litz (Louis Tomei Laps 59–107)	A. B. Litz	Miller	Miller	115.997	13	108	Crankshaft
24	2	21	Babe Stapp	Gil Pirrung	Shaw	Offenhauser	118.945	2	89	Crankshaft
25	19	5	Billy Winn	James W. Winn	Miller	Miller	114.648	16	78	Crankshaft
26	22	52	Frank McGurk  R	Charles Worley	Adams	Cragar	113.102	24	51	Crankshaft
27	8	27	Louis Tomei	Babe Stapp	Wetteroth	Miller	111.078	33	44	Engine support
28	6	44	Herb Ardinger	Bowes Seal Fast Corporation	Stevens	Miller	115.082	15	38	Transmission
29	18	6	Chet Gardner	Chester L. Gardner	Duesenberg	Offenhauser	116.000	12	38	Clutch
30	16	43	Jimmy Snyder	Murrell Belanger	Stevens	Miller	111.291	32	21	Oil leak
31	21	47	Johnny Seymour	William L. Cantlon	Stevens	Miller	113.169	23	13	Clutch
32	31	46	Fred Frame  W	Moore & Fengler	Miller	Miller	112.877	25	4	Piston
33	13	2	Bill Cummings  W	Boyle Motor Products	Miller	Offenhauser	115.939	14	0	Clutch
[5][6]

Note: Relief drivers in parentheses^[7]

 W  Former Indianapolis 500 winner

 R  Indianapolis 500 Rookie

To slow the cars, a fuel limit of 37.5 gallons of gasoline was implemented for the race distance. Engine tuners struggled to make their engines more efficient.

At the start, polesitter Rex Mays led but soon dropped out with a faulty throttle. Wilbur Shaw then took the lead, but lost time with a 17-minute pit stop to re-fasten loose rivets on his engine hood.

Louis Meyer steadily moved up through the field and took the lead by halfway. He pitted for fuel at 350 miles, allowing Ted Horn to take the point. But Meyer caught him, pulled away and became the first 3-time "500" winner. He wasn't sure his fuel would last until the end. He said, "That last lap, I held my breath."^[9]

• For 1936, riding mechanics were required.^[10]
• After numerous fatalities in the 1935 race, additional safety measures were introduced for 1936. All new drivers were required to pass a rookie test prior to qualifying. In addition, the inside wall was removed in several locations, the outside walls were angled inward to keep cars from going over them, and several portions of the track were paved over in asphalt. In a sharp contrast to previous years, the 1936 race saw zero fatalities amongst the competitors or spectators. It marked the only year from the span of 1929-1940 (the Depression Era) in which no fatalities occurred at the Speedway.
• Bill Cummings car failed to pull away from the grid due to clutch and transmission failure. He became the first driver in Indy history to line up for the grid, but fail to pull away and start the race.

1. ^ ^{a b} Fox, Jack C. (1994). The Illustrated History of the Indianapolis 500 1911-1994 (4th ed.). Carl Hungness Publishing. p. 22. ISBN 0-915088-05-3.

^ Campbell, Russell E. (May 31, 1936). "Meyer Spins Home As 170,000 Sunburn". The Indianapolis Star. p. 1. Retrieved June 3, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.

^ Miley, Jack (May 31, 1936). "Meyer Wins Speed Grind Third Time". Daily News. p. 101. Retrieved April 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.