The race began at 10 a.m. with George Hunt driving the
Studebaker President Roadster
pace car. Theodore "Pop" Meyers rode as a passenger in the pace car. Among the notable guests and celebrities in attendance were
Governor Harry G. Leslie,
Glenn Curtiss,
Horace E. Dodge,
Harvey S. Firestone,
William S. Knudsen, and
Ray Harroun. In addition, former Speedway president
Carl G. Fisher was on hand.
William Haines,
Anita Page,
Ernest Torrence, and
Karl Dane were on hand, as filming continued on the film
Speedway. During the pace lap,
Ralph Hepburn's car stalled. His crew was able to push-start the car, and he caught up to re-join the field. The pace lap was run at about 60-70 mph, and the field was released for the start.
Start Leon Duray took the lead from the middle of the front row. On lap 4, pole-sitter
Cliff Woodbury suffered a failure in the right rear wheel. In turn three, the car skidded, then spun in turn four, backing the car into the outside wall, punching a section of the wall down. Woodbury became the first driver in Indy history to start on the pole position and finish last (33rd). Woodbury was credited with only 3 laps completed, but was uninjured, and immediately returned to the pits to drive relief for other cars. Leon Duray led the first seven laps, with
Ray Keech second. The pace was about 109 mph. On lap 8,
Deacon Litz was running third behind Duray and Keech when he realized his hand-brake had fallen off. Barreling down the backstretch, Litz veered to the inside apron to avoid crashing and possibly collecting the two other leaders. He skidded by both Duray and Keech, gathered control, and remarkably was able to take the lead cleanly. Litz was quickly able to adapt, and started pulling out to a sizable lead. On lap 10,
Bill Spence crashed in turn two. Spence had already been in the pits to change out all eight spark plugs. The car hit the wall and turned over several times and Spence was thrown from the cockpit. He was taken unconscious from the track, but died en route to the hospital from a fractured skull. It was the first
fatal accident to occur during the race in ten years.
First half After troubles on the pace lap,
Ralph Hepburn (running as high as second) dropped out on lap 14 with transmission trouble.
Ray Keech made a 30-second pit stop to change a right rear tire on lap 21, and fell back to tenth position. Back out on the track, Keech began charging to catch up to the leaders. Attrition took a huge toll on the field in the first 75 laps.
Peter DePaolo dropped out with a broken steering knuckle, and
Babe Stapp suffered a broken universal joint. By lap 65, seven of the top ten qualifiers were out – including all of the top five qualifiers.
Jules Moriceau crashed in turn three after completing 30 laps. He spun around four times, hitting the wall each time, then bounced back across the track. The car came to rest pointing forward, and was towed back to the pits. Moriceau was not injured, and walked back to the pits planning to drive relief.
Deacon Litz continued to set the pace until lap 56.
Lou Moore was in second, followed by
Leon Duray, and
Ray Keech.
Billy Arnold and
Tony Gulotta were also running in the top five. At the 100-mile mark (40 laps), Litz set a record average speed of 107.17 mph. After his early crash,
Cliff Woodbury was already back behind the wheel around lap 30, driving relief for Billy Arnold. Arnold came to the pits with broken goggles and a cut eye, and needed relief while his injuries were tended to.
Deacon Litz dropped out while leading with a broken rod on lap 56. According to Litz, "something the size of a brick" exploded out of the side of the crankcase. That handed the lead to
Lou Moore. Running in second was now
Louis Meyer. Moore and Meyer traded time in the lead until the halfway point.
Second half Barney Kleopfer took over as relief driver for
Lou Moore for the second half.
Ray Keech and
Louis Meyer, however, would go the distance without relief help.
Ray Keech made his second and final pit stop on lap 109. The team changed three tires and refueled in just over three minutes.
Fred Frame led eleven laps at the halfway point. Frame's challenge at the front of the field was short-lived, and he eventually fell back and finished 10th.
Louis Meyer took the lead once again on lap 109, and led until lap 157. With Meyer leading, Keech second, and Kleopfer (driving for Moore) third, car numbers #1, #2, and #3 were running 1st-2nd-3rd.
Louis Meyer came to the pits on lap 157, but had a disastrous seven-minute pit stop. The engine stalled and the crew worked diligently on the carburetor to get him back out on the track. By the time he got back in the race, he had fallen to third place.
Ray Keech was now firmly in control with Kleopfer (driving for Moore) in second.
Finish In the closing laps,
Ray Keech led Barney Kleopfer (driving for
Lou Moore).
Louis Meyer was charging hard in third place, desperate to make up for lost time in the pits. The Kleopfer car was running low on oil, and sputtering. Keech held a lead of about 1 minute and 14 seconds with ten laps to go. Third place was another 4 minutes behind. The rest of the field was many laps down. While Keech cruised to victory, the race now came down to who was going to finish second. Barney Kleopfer pulled Lou Moore's car into the pits with two laps to go. The engine was clanking, suffering from burned out bearings.
Lou Moore got back in the car, attempting to nurse the final two laps out of the machine. Still holding a lead of at least a few minutes over third place, he was able to crank the car one more time, and pulled away. He only got as far as turn two, and the engine threw a
rod down the backstretch. Due to the rules at the time, all cars that were running at the finish were ranked ahead of cars that dropped out, regardless of total lap count. Since Moore was not running at the finish, he was scored behind all finishers. He fell all the way back to 13th position, behind three cars that actually had fewer laps than he had. But more frustrating for Moore was the loss of over $12,000 in prize money. His lap prize money $2,200 and 13th place purse of $462 was of little consolation. Ray Keech took home a purse of $31,350 for the victory. A hard-charging
Louis Meyer snatched second place after the Moore car's misfortunes. Meyer finished 6 minutes and 24 second behind, and collected $20,400.
Jimmy Gleason finished third, nursing a sore ankle from an injury the previous fall. After suffering a crash in practice just before time trials,
Carl Marchese came home fourth. After showing strength in qualifying, the only front-wheel drive car to go the distance belonged to
Cliff Bergere, credited with 9th place. The final few laps were also dramatic for Billy Arnold. After suffering a cut eye early in the going, Arnold was back in the car for the finish, but ran out of gas on lap 196. One of his mechanics ran to his aid with a gas can, and Arnold was able to finish. The delay, however, cost Arnold two positions, and he dropped from 6th to 8th in the final standings. Sources:
The Indianapolis News ==Box score==