15th Indianapolis 500

Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Indianapolis 500
Sanctioning body	AAA
Date	May 30, 1927
Winner	George Souders
Winning Entrant	William S. White
Average speed	97.545 mph (156.983 km/h)
Pole position	Frank Lockhart
Pole speed	120.100 mph (193.282 km/h)
Most laps led	Frank Lockhart (110)
Pre-race
Pace car	LaSalle V-8 Series 303
Pace car driver	Willard "Big Boy" Rader
Starter	George Townsend[1]
Honorary referee	Charles F. Kettering[1]
Estimated attendance	135,000[2]
Chronology
Previous Next 1926 1928

The 15th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes Race was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Monday, May 30, 1927.

First-time starter George Souders won by eight laps, the largest margin since 1913. Souders became the first driver to win the full-500 mile race solo, with neither help from a relief driver, nor accompanied by a riding mechanic.

Time trials

Four-lap (10 mile) qualifying runs were utilized. Frank Lockhart won the pole position with a speed of 120.10 mph. Lockhart set a new 1-lap track record on his final lap.

For the first time, all 33 qualifiers exceeded 100 mph for average speed. ^[3]

Race summary and results

At the start, polesitter Lockhart took the lead and dominated the first half of the race. At the halfway point, he had won almost $10,000 in lap prize money. But on lap 120, his Miller broke a connecting rod, and he was out of the race. He reportedly stepped out, shrugged, smiled, and asked for a hot dog.^[4]

After Lockhart's retirement, Pete DePaolo took the lead, driving in relief for Bob McDonogh after his own car dropped out. But a supercharger problem required an extended, unscheduled pit stop to repair. With 60 laps to go, George Souders first took the lead. He steadily pulled away from Babe Stapp, both in Duesenbergs, and cruised to victory by over 12 minutes. Stapp (driving relief for Benny Shoaff), seemingly on his way to second place, broke a rear axle with a lap and a half to go, and the car finished out of the top ten.^[5]

Finish	Start	No	Name	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	Qual	Rank	Laps	Led	Status
1	22	32	George Souders  R	William S. White	Duesenberg	Duesenberg	111.551	12	200	51	Running
2	15	10	Earl Devore	F. P. Cramer	Miller	Miller	107.497	23	200	0	Running
3	27	27	Tony Gulotta	Anthony Gulotta	Miller	Miller	107.765	22	200	0	Running
4	19	29	Wilbur Shaw  R	Fred Clemons	Miller	Miller	104.465	32	200	0	Running
5	28	21	Dave Evans  R	David E. Evans	Duesenberg	Duesenberg	107.360	25	200	0	Running
6	7	14	Bob McDonogh	Cooper Engineering Company	Cooper	Miller	113.175	8	200	0	Running
7	18	16	Eddie Hearne	Harry Hartz	Miller	Miller	105.115	31	200	0	Running
8	25	6	Tommy Milton  W	Tommy Milton	Detroit	Miller	108.758	20	200	0	Running
9	14	25	Cliff Bergere  R	Muller Brothers	Miller	Miller	108.820	19	200	0	Running
10	13	5	Frank Elliott	Frank Elliott	Miller	Miller	109.682	17	200	0	Running
11	33	31	Fred Frame  R	O. B. Dolfinger	Miller	Miller	106.859	27	199	0	Flagged
12	32	42	Jim Hill  R	Earl Devore	Miller	Miller	107.392	24	197	0	Flagged
13	31	24	Benny Shoaff  R	Duesenberg Brothers	Duesenberg	Duesenberg	110.152	13	198	0	Rear end gears
14	26	41	Wade Morton	Duesenberg Brothers	Duesenberg	Duesenberg	108.075	21	152	0	Crash
15	20	44	Al Melcher  R	Charles Haase	Miller	Miller	102.918	33	144	0	Supercharger
16	23	43	Louis Schneider  R	Fred Lecklider	Miller	Miller	109.910	15	137	0	Timing gears
17	12	9	Pete Kreis	Cooper Engineering Company	Cooper	Miller	109.900	16	123	0	Front axle
18	1	2	Frank Lockhart  W	Frank S. Lockhart	Miller	Miller	120.100	1	120	110	Rod
19	6	15	Cliff Woodbury	Cliff Woodbury	Miller	Miller	113.200	7	108	0	Supercharger
20	17	26	Dutch Bauman  R	Harry S. Miller	Miller	Miller	106.078	29	90	9	Pinion shaft
21	29	35	Al Cotey  R	Al Cotey	Miller	Miller	106.295	28	87	0	Universal joint
22	16	17	W. E. Shattuc	Dr. W. E. Shattuc, M.D.	Miller	Miller	107.060	26	83	0	Valve
23	30	23	Fred Lecklider	Henry Kohlert	Miller	Miller	105.729	30	49	0	Crash T1
24	5	19	Ralph Hepburn	Cliff Woodbury	Miller	Miller	114.209	5	39	0	Fuel tank leak
25	4	1	Harry Hartz	Harry Hartz	Miller	Miller	116.739	4	38	0	Crankshaft
26	2	3	Peter DePaolo  W	Peter DePaolo	Miller	Miller	119.510	2	31	30	Supercharger
27	3	12	Leon Duray	Leon Duray	Miller	Miller	118.788	3	26	0	Fuel tank leak
28	9	4	Bennett Hill	Cooper Engineering Company	Miller	Miller	112.013	10	26	0	Shackle bolt
29	21	18	Jules Ellingboe	Earl Cooper	Miller	Miller	113.239	6	25	0	Crash T4
30	10	8	Norman Batten	Norman K. Batten	Fengler	Miller	111.940	11	24	0	Caught fire
31	24	38	Babe Stapp  R	Duesenberg Brothers	Duesenberg	Duesenberg	109.555	18	24	0	Universal joint
32	11	22	Jack Petticord  R	Cliff Woodbury	Miller	Miller	109.920	14	22	0	Supercharger
33	8	7	Dave Lewis	Dave Lewis	Miller	Miller	112.275	9	21	0	Front axle
[6][7]

Race details

For 1927, riding mechanics were optional;^[8] however, no teams utilized them.

Eddie Hearne was the only driver in the field who had competed at the inaugural Indy 500. This would be the final time a driver from the inaugural race would compete.

References