1921 Indianapolis 500

The 9th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes Race was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Monday, May 30, 1921.

9th Indianapolis 500

Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Indianapolis 500
Sanctioning body	AAA
Date	May 30, 1921
Winner	Tommy Milton
Winning Entrant	Louis Chevrolet
Average speed	89.621 mph (144.231 km/h)
Pole position	Ralph DePalma
Pole speed	100.750 mph (162.141 km/h)
Most laps led	Ralph DePalma (108)
Pre-race
Pace car	H.C.S. 6
Pace car driver	Harry C. Stutz
Starter	Thomas J. Hay[1]
Honorary referee	David Beecroft[1]
Estimated attendance	135,000-150,000[2] ("last year was 125k")
Chronology
Previous Next 1920 1922

Ralph DePalma dominated another early running of the 500, but again failed to win. He led 109 laps, and had a two-lap lead at the halfway point. A connecting rod broke, and he dropped out on lap 112. DePalma retired with one win, and 612 laps led in the "500." His laps led record would not be matched for 67 years until Al Unser, Sr. broke it in 1993.

Tommy Milton won the first of two 500 victories. He was accompanied by riding mechanic Harry Franck. The only European car to finish was a 1921 Grand Prix Sunbeam driven by Ora Haibe who was placed fifth.

Time trials

Time trials was scheduled for five days, May 25-29. Four-lap (10 mile) qualifying runs were utilized. A short field of only 26 cars submitted entries, but only 23 cars arrived and prepared to qualify. Mervin Headley's entry was disallowed because only half the entry fee was paid.[3][4] Two other entries were no-shows.

Ralph De Palma completed his qualifying run on Wednesday May 25, at an average speed of 100.75 mph. He won the pole position as the only driver over the 100 mph mark. None of his four laps matched the track record (104.78 mph) set in 1919.

This would be the first 500 that featured the familiar starting grid of rows of cars three-abreast.

Qualifying Results
Date	Driver	Lap 1 (mph)	Lap 2 (mph)	Lap 3 (mph)	Lap 4 (mph)	Average Speed (mph)
5/26/1921	Ralph DePalma	100.89	100.53	100.56	101.00	100.75

Results

Finish	Start	No	Name	Qual	Rank	Laps	Led	Time/Retired
1	20	2	Tommy Milton	93.050	11	200	90	5:34:44.65
2	2	6	Roscoe Sarles	98.350	2	200	1	5:38:34.03
3	8	23	Percy Ford  R	87.000	19	200	0	5:52:15.30
4	9	5	Eddie Miller  R	83.850	20	200	0	5:54:24.98
5	13	16	Ora Haibe	93.500	10	200	0	5:57:45.83
6	14	9	Albert Guyot	87.800	16	200	0	6:01:17.07
7	10	3	Ira Vail	82.350	22	200	0	6:14:17.47
8	15	21	Bennett Hill	87.780	17	200	0	6:19:06.74
9	21	8	Ralph Mulford	91.700	12	177	0	Flagged
10	17	15	René Thomas  W	83.750	21	144	0	Water hose
11	18	27	Tom Alley	80.500	23	133	0	Rod
12	1	4	Ralph DePalma  W	100.750	1	112	108	Rod
13	4	1	Eddie Hearne	96.180	6	111	0	Oil line
14	19	24	Jimmy Murphy	93.600	9	107	0	Crash T4
15	16	17	Riley Brett  R	87.750	18	91	0	Hit wall
16	23	28	C. W. Van Ranst  R	88.350	14	87	0	Water hose
17	3	7	Joe Boyer	96.650	4	74	1	Rear axle
18	6	19	Jean Chassagne	91.000	13	65	0	Lost hood
19	5	22	Jules Ellingboe  R	95.400	8	49	0	Steering
20	11	14	André Boillot	97.600	3	41	0	Rod bearing
21	7	18	Louis Fontaine  R	88.300	15	33	0	Crash FS
22	22	25	Joe Thomas	96.250	5	25	0	Crash T3
23	12	10	Howdy Wilcox  W	96.000	7	22	0	Rod
[5][6]

Race details

• For 1921, riding mechanics were required.[7]
• First alternate: none[8]

References

1. 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.
2. "Race Throngs Upset Records". The Indianapolis Star. May 31, 1921. p. 1. Retrieved June 3, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
3. The Talk of Gasoline Alley - 1070-AM WIBC, May 5, 2004
4. Local Indy 500 links from long ago
5. "Indianapolis 500 1921". Ultimate Racing History. Archived from the original on 16 January 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
6. Ikert, B. M. (1921-06-02). Motor Age: American Cars Dominate 500-Mile Race. Class Journal Company. p. 1.
7. Blazier, John E.; Rollings, Tom (1994). Forgotten Heroes of the Speedways: The Riding Mechanics.
8. The Talk of Gasoline Alley - 1070-AM WIBC, May 14, 2004