The 21st International 500-Mile Sweepstakes Race was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Tuesday, May 30, 1933.

Louis Meyer Louis Meyer (July 21, 1904 – October 7, 1995) was an American Hall of Fame race car driver who was the first three-time winner of the Indianapolis 500. Biography Born in lower Manhattan, New York on July 21, 1904, he was the son of French imm ...

defeated

Wilbur Shaw Warren Wilbur Shaw (October 31, 1902 – October 30, 1954) was an American racing driver. He was president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway from 1945 until his death in 1954. Shaw was the automotive test evaluator for '' Popular Science'' magaz ...

by a time of 401.89 seconds (6.69 minutes). The average speed of the race was while Bill Cummings achieved the pole position with a speed of . 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 A riding mechanic was a mechanic that rode along with a race car during races, and who was tasked with maintaining, monitoring, and repairing the car during the race. The various duties included manually pumping oil and fuel, checking tire wear, ...

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.

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

, with a new record average speed.

Alternates

*First alternate: Sam Palmer * Howdy Wilcox II had qualified for the race, but officials disqualified him from the field when they learned that he had

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ...

. On race day, he was replaced in the car by

Mauri Rose Maurice "Mauri" Rose (May 26, 1906 – January 1, 1981) was an American racecar driver. He started from the pole position driving a Maserati in the 1941 Indianapolis 500, but spark plug problems put him out of the race after sixty laps. He then t ...

Failed to Qualify

* Al Aspen (#42) * George Barringer (#54) * Paul Butler (#56) * Ray Carter (#63) * Terry Curley (#66) * Frank Davidson (#76) * Danny Day * Leon DeHart (#55) * Bill Denver (#42) - Fatal accident * Harry Falt (#71) * Speed Gardner (#31) * George Howie (#48) - Withdrew *L. A. Lariviere (#75) * Harry Lewis (#44) * Virgil Livengood (#69) *Jack Mertz (#79) * Roy Painter (#72) * Phil Shafer (#7) * Overton Snell (#52) * Bill Sockwell (#74) * Howdy Wilcox II (#3) - Replaced by

* Doc Williams (#66)

Race details

For 1933,

s were required. 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.

"Will Overhead"

In 1933, one of the more famous bits of Indy 500 nostalgia occurred.

Telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

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 The City of Walsenburg is the Statutory City that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Huerfano County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 3,049 at the 2020 census, down from 3,068 in 2010. History Walsenbur ...

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 The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

wire for race updates. The race took several hours to complete, and the AP wire was shut down prior to the finish. Fitzpatrick had nearly the entire story ready for print, minus the winner of the race. A helpful AP editor in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

advised him that he would send the name of the winner via

Western Union The Western Union Company is an American multinational financial services company, headquartered in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1851 as the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company in Rochester, New York, the company cha ...

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 then last half of the 500 mile grind." The true winner was

. 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.

References

1933 Indianapolis 500 - Racing Reference
{{Indy 500 Indianapolis 500 races

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...

1933 in American motorsport