The 1935 Indianapolis 500 held at Indianapolis

Indianapolis Motor Speedway

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, located in Speedway, Indiana in the United States, is the home of the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race and the Brickyard 400....

 on Thursday, May 30, 1935. Despite attempts to improve participant safety by requiring crash helmets and installing green and yellow lights around the track, the event that year would prove to be one of the worst in terms of fatalities.

Pre-race and qualifying

On May 21, nine days before the race, three prospective participants lost their lives. Rookie Johnny Hannon, on just his first lap at racing speed, had his car go over the outside retaining wall and was killed from a fractured skull. Later that day, driver Hartford "Stubby" Stubblefield

Stubby Stubblefield

Wilburn Hartwell Stubblefield , nicknamed "Stubby", was an American racecar driver. He was killed in a practice crash for the 1935 Indianapolis 500.-Career award:...

 also had his car go over the outside wall, and both he and his riding mechanic Leo Whittaker died from injuries they received being thrown from the vehicle. Kelly Petillo

Kelly Petillo

Cavino Michele "Kelly" Petillo, was an American race car driver....

, the eventual winner, had his own difficulties getting into the field. His initial qualifying run (a record-breaking 121.687 miles per hour (54.4 m/s) was voided when his car was ruled to have exceeded the fuel limit. Returning to the track, he had an engine blow, before finally having a qualifying run of 115.095 that placed him 22nd in the field.

Race

Driver Clay Weatherly

Clay Weatherly

Clay Weatherly was an American racecar driver. He was killed in the 1935 Indy 500.-Indy 500 results:-See also:*List of Indianapolis fatalities...

 would beg Leon Duray, the owner of Hannon's crashed car, to allow him to drive it in the race. The car would prove no luckier for Weatherly, who would be killed when the car hit the outer wall on lap nine. Rex Mays

Rex Mays

Rex Mays is a former AAA Championship Car race driver from Riverside, California. He made his Indianapolis 500 debut in 1934 and won the pole in 1935, 1936, and again in 1940 and finished second, he returned the next year and finished second again. Mays won the AAA National Championship in 1940...

 would lead most of the first 300 miles (482.8 km) before being forced out with mechanical failure. Petillo had climbed to second, and after Mays' departure led most of the remainder other than briefly following a pit stop. Petillo easily broke the record for the fastest average speed (115.095 mph) despite being slowed somewhat by rain near the end of the race. Petillo received approximately $33,000 in winnings for the race.

Aftermath

The driver deaths in 1935 caused the Speedway to develop a program to test rookie drivers which was instituted in 1936. Adjustments were also made to the configuration of the turns. Petillo would race in five more 500s, never again finishing higher than 18th. Six of the thirty-three drivers who started the race would end up having their lives ended in accidents at the Indy Speedway.

Results

Finish	Start	No	Name	Qual	Rank	Laps	Led	Status
1	22	5	Kelly Petillo Kelly Petillo Cavino Michele "Kelly" Petillo, was an American race car driver....	115.095	15	200	102	Running
2	20	14	Wilbur Shaw Wilbur Shaw Warren Wilbur Shaw was a noted American racing driver and president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway from 1945 until his death. Shaw was the automotive test evaluator for Popular Science magazine...	116.854	7	200	5	Running
3	5	1	Bill Cummings Bill Cummings Bill Cummings knicknamed "Wild Bill", won the 1934 Indianapolis 500 and set the diesel . Cummings died driving a passenger automobile on State Road 29 in Indianapolis, when he hit a guard rail and plunged into Lick Creek...	116.901	6	200	0	Running
4	3	22	Floyd Roberts Floyd Roberts Floyd Roberts is a former Championship Car racing driver from Jamestown, North Dakota. He won the Indianapolis 500 in 1938 with a record speed of . He led for 92 laps. The following year, 1939, driving the same car, he was killed in a crash on the backstretch after hitting a wooden fence at near...	118.671	3	200	0	Running
5	7	21	Ralph Hepburn Ralph Hepburn Ralph Hepburn was a pioneer of American motorcycle racing champion and an Indianapolis 500 racing driver.Born in Somerville, Massachusetts, Hepburn's family moved to Los Angeles, California when he was ten years old...	115.156	13	200	0	Running
6	19	9	Shorty Cantlon Shorty Cantlon William "Shorty" Cantlon was an American racecar driver. He was killed on May 30, 1947, while racing in the 1947 Indianapolis 500 on lap 40 after swerving into the outside retaining wall to avoid the spinning car of Bill Holland, who recovered from the spin to finish second...	118.205	4	200	0	Running
7	9	18	Chet Gardner Chet Gardner Chet Gardner, Born "Chester Leroy Gardner" was an American racecar driver, named by promoters as "The Grand Old Man of Auto Racing"....	114.556	17	200	0	Running
8	13	16	Deacon Litz Deacon Litz Artha Benson "Deacon" Litz was an American racecar driver active primarily during the 1920s and 1930s.-Indy 500 results:...	114.488	18	200	0	Running
9	15	8	Doc MacKenzie Doc MacKenzie George "Doc" MacKenzie was an American racecar driver. After being involved in and surviving a five car accident in Indy 36, he was killed in a sprint car accident in the same year ....	114.294	20	200	0	Running
10	17	34	Chet Miller Chet Miller Chet Miller was an American racecar driver. He was killed in a crash in the south turn of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during practice for the 1953 Indianapolis 500. During his long Indy career, Miller earned the nickname "Dean of the Speedway"...	113.552	24	200	0	Running
11	8	19	Fred Frame Fred Frame Fredrick William Frame won the 1932 Indianapolis 500.-Indy 500 results:...	114.701	16	200	0	Running
12	4	36	Louis Meyer Louis Meyer Louis Meyer was an American Hall of Fame race car driver best known as the first three-time winner of the Indianapolis 500....	117.938	5	200	0	Running
13	16	15	Cliff Bergere Cliff Bergere Cliff Bergere was an American racecar driver.-Indy 500 results:...	114.162	23	196	0	Out of gas
14	31	62	Harris Insinger Harris Insinger Harris Insinger was an American racecar driver. He was killed in a racing accident.-Indy 500 results:...	111.729	30	185	0	Flagged
15	21	4	Al Miller Al Miller Al Miller II , was an American race car driver.Born Albert Krulac in Detroit, Michigan, Miller died in Mount Clemens, Michigan...	115.303	12	178	0	Magneto
16	26	43	Ted Horn Ted Horn Ted Horn , born Eylard Theodore Von Horn, was an American race car driver. He won the AAA National Championship in 1946, 1947 and 1948 and collected 24 wins, 12 second-place finishes and 13 third-place finishes in 71 major American open-wheel races prior to his death at the DuQuoin State...	113.213	27	145	0	Steering
17	1	33	Rex Mays Rex Mays Rex Mays is a former AAA Championship Car race driver from Riverside, California. He made his Indianapolis 500 debut in 1934 and won the pole in 1935, 1936, and again in 1940 and finished second, he returned the next year and finished second again. Mays won the AAA National Championship in 1940...	120.736	1	123	89	Spring shackle
18	23	7	Lou Moore Lou Moore Lewis Henry 'Lou' Moore was an American racecar driver, most known during his career for qualifying for the pole position of the 1932 Indianapolis 500. After his driving career, Moore became a legendary car owner...	114.180	22	116	0	Rod
19	14	37	George Connor George Connor (driver) George Connor was an American racecar driver.-Indy 500 results:* In 14 Indianapolis starts, Connor drove without leading a lap. This ranks 5th on the all-time list....	114.321	19	112	0	Transmission
20	10	2	Mauri Rose Mauri Rose Mauri Rose 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 took over the Wetteroth/Offenhauser car being driven by Floyd Davis that had started in 17th place....	116.470	9	103	0	Studs
21	6	44	Tony Gulotta Tony Gulotta Tony Gulotta was an American racecar driver active throughout the 1920s and 1930s....	115.459	11	102	0	Magneto
22	30	39	Jimmy Snyder Jimmy Snyder (driver) Jimmy Snyder was an American racecar driver.Snyder was part of the midget car "Chicago Gang" with Emil Andres, Tony Bettenhausen, Cowboy O'Rourke, Paul Russo, and Wally Zale. They toured tracks in the Midwest and East Coast of the United States.Snyder won the 1937 track championship at the Chicago...	112.249	29	97	0	Spring
23	24	41	Frank Brisko Frank Brisko Frank Brisko was an American racecar driver.-Indy 500 results:...	113.307	26	79	0	Universal joint
24	27	42	Johnny Seymour Johnny Seymour Johnny Seymour was an American racecar driver.-Indy 500 results:...	112.696	28	71	0	Grease leak
25	12	17	Babe Stapp Babe Stapp Elbert "Babe" Stapp was an American racecar driver active in the 1920's and 1930's.-Career award:*He was inducted in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1994....	116.736	8	70	4	Radiator
26	29	35	George Bailey George Bailey (driver) George Bailey was an American racecar driver active in the 1930s. He was killed in a crash during practice for the 1940 Indianapolis 500.-Indy 500 results:...	113.432	25	65	0	Steering
27	11	3	Russ Snowberger Russ Snowberger Russ Snowberger was an American racecar driver and owner active from the 1920s through the 1950s....	114.209	21	59	0	Exhaust pipe
28	32	26	Louis Tomei Louis Tomei Luigi Gilbert "Louis" Tomei was an American racecar driver active during the 1930's and 1940's.-Indy 500 results:-Stunt performer:...	110.794	32	47	0	Valve
29	33	46	Bob Sall Bob Sall Bob Sall was an American racecar driver. He made 4 AAA Championship Car starts from 1934 to 1937 including the 1935 Indianapolis 500 driving in a radical front wheel drive [Harry Miller |Miller]] chassis powered by a Ford V8 engine...	110.519	33	47	0	Steering
30	2	6	Al Gordon Al Gordon (driver) Al Gordon was an American racecar driver. He was killed in a racing accident.-Indy 500 results:...	119.481	2	17	0	Crash T4
31	28	27	Freddy Winnai Freddy Winnai Freddy Winnai was an American racecar driver.-Indy 500 results:...	115.138	14	16	0	Rod
32	25	45	Clay Weatherly Clay Weatherly Clay Weatherly was an American racecar driver. He was killed in the 1935 Indy 500.-Indy 500 results:-See also:*List of Indianapolis fatalities...	115.902	10	9	0	Crash T4
33	18	66	Harry McQuinn Harry McQuinn Harry McQuinn was an American racecar driver active in the 1930s and 1940s....	111.111	31	4	0	Rod