1946 Indianapolis 500

30th Indianapolis 500

Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Indianapolis 500
Sanctioning body	AAA
Date	May 30, 1946
Winner	George Robson
Winning Entrant	Thorne Engineering
Average speed	114.820 mph (184.785 km/h)
Pole position	Cliff Bergere
Pole speed	126.471 mph (203.535 km/h)
Most laps led	George Robson (138)
Pre-race
Pace car	Lincoln Continental
Pace car driver	Henry Ford II
Chronology
Previous Next 1942-45 (cancelled-WWII) 1947

The 30th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Thursday, May 30, 1946. This was the first Indianapolis 500 presided over by new track owner Tony Hulman. The track had closed in late 1941 due to World War II, and over the next four years, the facility fell into a terrible state of disrepair. Hulman purchased the Speedway in November 1945, and quickly went to work cleaning up the grounds, which had become overwhelmed by overgrowth and weeds. The Speedway re-opened, and the 1946 race was considered a rousing success.

Race winner George Robson would be killed in a racing crash just months after the victory.

The 1946 running of the 500 was the first of sixty-one consecutive years (1946-2006) that featured popular fixture Tom Carnegie on the Speedway public address system.^[1]

During the pre-race ceremonies, James Melton performed the song "Back Home Again in Indiana." It was the first time the traditional song had been performed before the start of the race.^[2]

Event details

Time trials

The first day of time trials was held on Saturday May 18. Wind and rain kept the cars off the track for over four hours. Cliff Bergere was the first car to qualify,^[3][4] and his four-lap qualifying speed clinched the pole position.

On Sunday, May 26, Ralph Hepburn, driving a brand-new Novi Governor front-drive special, shattered the one and four-lap track records with speeds of 134.449 and 133.944 miles per hour, respectively. He would start the race in 19th position.

Race

At the start, Mauri Rose tied an Indy record by leading the first lap from the 9th starting position. Attrition was high in the first race after WWII, as three of the first four cars on the grid were out before the 50 mile mark.

George Robson took the lead for good on lap 93, and led the rest of the way. Robson's six-cylinder Sparks was the first 6-cylinder winning car since Ray Harroun in 1911. Rookie Jimmy Jackson finished second, at the relatively close margin of 44 seconds.

Ted Horn made two lengthy pit stops and fell seven laps behind the last running car. Horn returned to the track, and charged all the way up third place at the finish. Horn was the fastest car on the track in the second half, and he completed the entire 500 miles, but was 12 minutes behind Robson.

A mild controversy came about after the race, as race winner George Robson was accused of breaking the rules by not exiting the cockpit of the car during pit stops. A protest was filed, but it was later dismissed.^[5]

Results

Finish	Start	No	Name	Qual	Rank	Laps	Led	Status
1	15	16	George Robson	125.541	5	200	138	Running
2	5	61	Jimmy Jackson (R)	120.257	24	200	5	Running
3	7	29	Ted Horn	123.980	11	200	0	Running
4	11	18	Emil Andres	121.139	20	200	0	Running
5	12	24	Joie Chitwood	119.816	28	200	0	Running
6	6	33	Louis Durant (R)	118.973	31	200	0	Running
7	28	52	Luigi Villoresi (R)	121.249	18	200	0	Running
8	29	7	Frank Wearne	121.233	19	197	0	Flagged
9	25	39	Bill Sheffler (R)	120.611	23	139	0	Flagged
10	31	17	Billy Devore	119.876	27	167	0	Throttle
11	27	4	Mel Hansen	121.431	17	143	0	Crankshaft
12	10	25	Russ Snowberger	121.593	15	134	0	Differential
13	18	14	Harry McQuinn	124.499	9	124	0	Out of oil
14	19	2	Ralph Hepburn	133.944	1	121	44	Stalled
15	13	12	Al Putnam	116.283	33	120	0	Magneto
16	1	3	Cliff Bergere	126.471	3	82	2	Out of oil
17	8	45	Duke Dinsmore (R)	123.279	12	82	0	Rod
18	17	5	Chet Miller	124.649	8	64	0	Oil line
19	16	63	Jimmy Wilburn (R)	125.113	6	52	0	Engine
20	26	42	Tony Bettenhausen (R)	123.094	13	47	0	Rod
21	33	59	Danny Kladis (R)	118.890	32	46	0	Towed
22	32	54	Duke Nalon	119.682	29	45	0	Universal joint
23	9	8	Mauri Rose	124.065	10	40	8	Crash T3
24	30	38	George Connor	120.006	26	38	0	Piston
25	23	48	Hal Robson (R)	121.466	16	37	0	Rod
26	22	15	Louis Tomei	119.193	30	34	0	Oil line
27	21	31	Henry Banks	120.220	25	32	0	Pinion shaft
28	20	64	Shorty Cantlon	122.432	14	28	0	Clutch
29	24	26	George Barringer	120.628	22	27	0	Gears
30	14	1	Rex Mays	128.861	2	26	3	Manifold
31	3	32	Sam Hanks	124.762	7	18	0	Oil line
32	4	47	Hal Cole (R)	120.728	21	16	0	Fuel leak
33	2	10	Paul Russo	126.183	4	16	0	Crash T3
[6]

Alternates

• First alternate: Buddy Rusch (R) (#37)^[7]

Failed to Qualify

Robert Arbuthnot (R) (#57) Zora Arkus-Duntov (R) (#49) Harold Bailey (R) (#58) Bud Bardowski (R) (#37) Gerald Brisko (R) (#18) Jim Brubaker (R) (#68) Arvol Brunmeier (R) (#67) Rudolf Caracciola (R) (#44, #72) Bruce Denslow (R) (#56) Louis Gerard (R) (#36)

Tommy Hinnershitz (#34) Joe Langley (R) (#55) Dioscoride Lanza (R) (#74) - Did not appear Frank McGurk (#17) Al Miller (#9) Wally Mitchell (R) (#43) "Raph" (R) (#35) - Did not arrive Ray Richards (R) (#27) Bud Rose (R) (#69) Harry Schell (R) (#46)

Joe Silvia (R) - Did not appear Joel Thorne (#44) Steve Truchan (R) (#28) Charles Van Acker (R) (#62) Achille Varzi (R) (#53) Bus Wilbert (R) Doc Williams Freddy Winnai (#71)[8]

Broadcasting

Radio

The race was carried live on the Mutual Broadcasting System, the precursor to the IMS Radio Network. The broadcast was sponsored by Perfect Circle Piston Rings and Bill Slater served as the anchor. The broadcast feature live coverage of the start, the finish, and live updates throughout the race.

Mutual Broadcasting System
Booth Announcers	Turn Reporters	Pit/garage reporters
Booth Announcer: Bill Slater Analyst: Norman Perry Commercials: Rand McFarland	South turns: E.Z. Gwynn Mainstretch: Carl Page North turns: Jim Shelton	Gene Kelly

See also

• 1946 AAA Championship Car season

Notes

Works cited

• 1946 Indianapolis 500 Radio Broadcast, Mutual: Re-broadcast on "The All-Night Race Party" - WFNI (May 28, 2011)

References

1. "Carnegie retiring after 61 years as Voice of the Speedway". USA Today. 2006-06-14. Retrieved 2012-06-19.
2. "The Talk of Gasoline Alley" - WIBC-AM, May 20, 2002
3. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=RH4yAAAAIBAJ&sjid=rLYFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3212,3963523&dq=indianapolis+speedway&hl=en
4. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=QL5TAAAAIBAJ&sjid=izgNAAAAIBAJ&pg=3794,3403507&dq=indianapolis+speedway&hl=en
5. The Talk of Gasoline Alley. May 22, 2013. WFNI.
6. "Indianapolis 500 1946". Ultimate Racing History. Archived from the original on 16 January 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
7. The Talk of Gasoline Alley - 1070-AM WIBC, May 14, 2004
8. ""1946 International 500 Mile Sweepstakes"". ChampCarStats.com.