# 1947 Indianapolis 500

The 31st International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Friday, May 30, 1947. It was the opening round of the 11 races that comprised the 1947 AAA Championship Car season. The 1946 winner, George Robson, had been killed on September 2, 1946 in a racing incident. Driver Shorty Cantlon would be killed in an accident during the race.
Beginning in 1947 the Speedway issued "Bronze" and "Silver" badges. Bronze badges allowed gate and garage access during the month and silver badges did the same but also allowed pit access. On race day, one needed a Back Up Card Early bronze badges were indeed bronze, but silver badges were only a silver colored pot metal. Bronze badges began being made of a bronze colored pot metal sometime in the late 1950s or early 1960s.

## Time trials & ASPAR boycott

Time trials was scheduled for five days. The minimum speed to qualify was set at 115 mph. In the months leading up to the race, several top drivers that were members of a union, the American Society of Professional Auto Racing (ASPAR), threatened to boycott the race over the purse size. The AAA Contest Board refused to heed their demands, and when the entry list was closed on May 8, many of the top drivers, particularly several popular west coast drivers, were not on the list. A total of 35 cars were entered, but at least nine had no driver listed, and 13 of the entries were inexperienced novice drivers. After the practice began for the month, officials decreed that the boycotting drivers would not be allowed late entry. After several weeks of dispute, an agreement was made for the ASPAR drivers to participate midway through the month.
* Saturday May 17 (Pole Day): Intermittent showers, and the holdout of several ASPAR drivers, meant that only four cars completed qualifying runs. Ted Horn claimed the pole position with a speed of 126.564 mph. Novi teammates Cliff Bergere and Doc Williams both suffered spins during the afternoon. Both rebounded to qualify, with Bergere taking the middle of the front row. Williams completed a rather slow run (120.733 mph), not noticing his crew, who was trying to signal him to abort the run. Williams would be replaced by Herb Ardinger on race day.
* Sunday May 18: Three cars qualified, bringing the field to seven cars. Shorty Cantlon (121.462 mph) was the fastest of the day.
* Saturday May 24
* Sunday May 25
* Wednesday May 28: The final scheduled day of qualifying closed with 28 cars in the field.
When qualifying closed at 6 p.m. on Wednesday May 28, the field had only been filled to 28 cars. Duke Dinsmore was the final qualifier, completing his run amidst some scoring confusion by the officials, just as the time had run out. Race officials initially stressed that Wednesday would be the final day available to qualify. However, a day later, they re-opened qualifying for one hour late on Thursday May 29 in an effort to fill the field. Mel Hansen and Emil Andres were the only two cars to complete attempts, and after approval by the other entries, were added to the grid to bring the field to 30 cars.
The heartbreak story of the day belonged to driver Billy Devore. After failing to make the field on Wednesday, the Bill Schoof crew worked diligently to make repairs to their car, hoping that officials would re-open qualifying. When word was announced that additional time trials would be held Thursday, the crew scrambled to get the car prepared. Late in the evening, with about 20 minutes left until closing, the crew drove the race car from their garage about six miles away to the track with a police escort. When they arrived at the gate at 6:58 p.m., however, officials closed time trials, and DeVore was not permitted to qualify.

## Starting grid

| Row | Inside | Middle | Outside |
| 1 | Ted Horn 126.564 mph (203.685 km/h) | Cliff Bergere 124.957 mph (201.099 km/h) | Mauri Rose W 124.040 mph (199.623 km/h) |
| 2 | Herb Ardinger* 120.733 mph (194.301 km/h) | Shorty Cantlon ✝ 121.462 mph (195.474 km/h) | Russ Snowberger 121.331 mph (195.263 km/h) |
| 3 | Les Anderson R 118.425 mph (190.587 km/h) | Bill Holland R 128.755 mph (207.211 km/h) | Ken Fowler 123.423 mph (198.630 km/h) |
| 4 | Jimmy Jackson 122.266 mph (196.768 km/h) | Milt Fankhouser R 119.932 mph (193.012 km/h) | Roland Free 119.526 mph (192.358 km/h) |
| 5 | George Connor 124.874 mph (200.965 km/h) | Walt Brown R 118.355 mph (190.474 km/h) | Frank Wearne 117.716 mph (189.446 km/h) |
| 6 | Hal Robson 122.096 mph (196.494 km/h) | Pete Romcevich R 117.218 mph (188.644 km/h) | Duke Nalon 128.082 mph (206.128 km/h) |
| 7 | Al Miller 124.848 mph (200.923 km/h) | Rex Mays 124.412 mph (200.222 km/h) | Paul Russo 123.967 mph (199.506 km/h) |
| 8 | Joie Chitwood 123.157 mph (198.202 km/h) | Fred Agabashian R 121.478 mph (195.500 km/h) | Charles Van Acker R 121.049 mph (194.809 km/h) |
| 9 | Tony Bettenhausen 120.980 mph (194.698 km/h) | Henry Banks 120.923 mph (194.607 km/h) | Duke Dinsmore 119.840 mph (192.864 km/h) |
| 10 | Cy Marshall 115.644 mph (186.111 km/h) | Mel Hansen 117.298 mph (188.773 km/h) | Emil Andres 116.781 mph (187.941 km/h) |

### Failed to Qualify

* Walt Ader R (#6)
* Zora Arkus-Duntov R (#49)
* Bud Bardowski R
* Tommy Boggs R (#23)
* Frank Brisko
* Leslie Brooke R (#35)
* Jim Brubaker R (#86)
* Red Byron R (#22)
* Duane Carter R (#32)
* Hal Cole - Withdrew due to ASPAR dispute
* Charles Crawford (#67)
* Billy Devore (#17)
* Louis Durant (#23)
* Sam Grecco R (#51)
* Sam Hanks (#54)
* Tommy Hinnershitz (#5) - Did not arrive
* Norm Houser R (#69)
* Danny Kladis - Withdrew due to ASPAR dispute
* Johnny Mauro R (#64)
* Harry McQuinn
* George Metzler R (#55)
* Chet Miller - Withdrew due to ASPAR dispute
* Wally Mitchell R - Withdrew due to ASPAR dispute
* Overton Phillips - Withdrew due to ASPAR dispute
* Buddy Rusch R
* Art Scovell R
* Bill Sheffler - Withdrew due to ASPAR dispute
* Hal Stetson R - Did not appear
* Joel Thorne - Withdrew due to ASPAR dispute
* Louis Tomei (#44, #57)
* Steve Truchan R (#28)
* George Weaver R (#44)
* Doc Williams (#54)

## Race summary

Late in the race, Lou Moore teammates Bill Holland and Mauri Rose were running 1st and 2nd. The pit crew displayed a confusing chalkboard sign with the letters "EZY" to Holland, presumably meaning for him to take the final laps at a reduced pace to safely make it to the finish. Mauri Rose ignored the board, and charged to catch up to Holland. Holland believed he held a lap lead over Rose, and allowed him to catch up. The two drivers waved as Rose passed Holland, with Holland believing it was not more than a congratulatory gesture.
In reality, the pass Rose made was for the lead, and he led the final 8 laps to take the controversial victory. The race was marred by a 41st lap crash that claimed the life of Shorty Cantlon.
Rose's distance finish time of 4:17:52.17 was the second fastest finish of the Indianapolis 500 ever, at the time. Only the 1938 Indianapolis 500 had been completed in a faster total time as of 1947. After Rose completed the 500 mile distance, approximately 40 minutes was given for additional drivers to finish, before any remaining drivers who had not completed the distance by then were flagged off the track. The 1947 race was also the coldest on record, with an average temperature of 50 degrees and morning low of 37.

## Box score

| Finish | Start | No | Name | Chassis | Engine | Laps | Time/Retired |
| 1 | 3 | 27 | Mauri Rose W | Diedt | Offenhauser | 200 | 116.338 mph |
| 2 | 8 | 16 | Bill Holland R | Diedt | Offenhauser | 200 | +32.12 |
| 3 | 1 | 1 | Ted Horn | Maserati | Maserati | 200 | +3:00.38 |
| 4 | 4 | 54 | Herb Ardinger (Cliff Bergere Laps 70–200) | Kurtis Kraft | Novi | 200 | +6:40.35 |
| 5 | 10 | 7 | Jimmy Jackson | Miller | Offenhauser | 200 | +8:00.48 |
| 6 | 20 | 9 | Rex Mays | Kurtis Kraft | Winfield | 200 | +12:16.33 |
| 7 | 14 | 33 | Walt Brown R | Alfa Romeo | Alfa Romeo | 200 | +36:49.40 |
| 8 | 28 | 34 | Cy Marshall | A.R.-Weil | Alfa Romeo | 197 | -3 laps |
| 9 | 23 | 41 | Fred Agabashian R | Kurtis Kraft | Duray | 191 | -9 laps |
| 10 | 27 | 10 | Duke Dinsmore (Billy Devore Laps 79–118) | Wetteroth | Offenhauser | 167 | -33 laps |
| 11 | 7 | 58 | Les Anderson R | Maserati | Offenhauser | 131 | -69 laps |
| 12 | 17 | 57 | Pete Romcevich R | Miller | Ford | 168 | Oil line |
| 13 | 30 | 3 | Emil Andres (George Connor Laps 70–150) | Lencki | Lencki | 150 | Magneto |
| 14 | 15 | 31 | Frank Wearne (Louis Tomei Laps 54–103) | Miller | Offenhauser | 128 | Spun T3 |
| 15 | 9 | 47 | Ken Fowler | Alfa Romeo | Alfa Romeo | 121 | Axle |
| 16 | 18 | 46 | Duke Nalon | Mercedes | Mercedes | 119 | Piston |
| 17 | 12 | 42 | Roland Free | Wetteroth | Miller | 87 | Spun |
| 18 | 25 | 29 | Tony Bettenhausen | Stevens | Offenhauser | 79 | Timing gear |
| 19 | 6 | 25 | Russ Snowberger | Maserati | Maserati | 74 | Oil pump |
| 20 | 16 | 52 | Hal Robson | Adams | Offenhauser | 67 | Universal joint |
| 21 | 2 | 18 | Cliff Bergere | Kurtis Kraft | Novi | 62 | Piston |
| 22 | 22 | 8 | Joie Chitwood | Wetteroth | Offenhauser | 51 | Gears |
| 23 | 5 | 24 | Shorty Cantlon ✝ | Snowberger | Miller | 40 | Fatal crash T1 |
| 24 | 26 | 43 | Henry Banks | Miller | Offenhauser | 36 | Oil line |
| 25 | 19 | 66 | Al Miller | Miller | Miller | 33 | Magneto |
| 26 | 13 | 14 | George Connor | Kurtis Kraft | Offenhauser | 32 | Fuel leak |
| 27 | 29 | 38 | Mel Hansen | Adams | Sparks | 32 | Disqualified, Pushed |
| 28 | 21 | 15 | Paul Russo | Shaw | Offenhauser | 24 | Crash FS |
| 29 | 24 | 44 | Charles Van Acker R | Stevens | Lencki | 24 | Crash FS |
| 30 | 11 | 53 | Milt Fankhouser R | Stevens | Offenhauser | 15 | Stalled |
Note: Relief drivers in parentheses
W Former Indianapolis 500 winner
R Indianapolis 500 Rookie
All entrants utilized Firestone tires.

### Race statistics

Lap Leaders :
| Laps | Leader |
| 1–23 | Cliff Bergere |
| 24–59 | Bill Holland |
| 60–85 | Mauri Rose |
| 86–192 | Bill Holland |
| 193–200 | Mauri Rose |
Total laps led :
| Driver | Laps |
| Bill Holland | 143 |
| Mauri Rose | 34 |
| Cliff Bergere | 23 |
Yellow Lights :
| Laps* | Reason |
| 24 | Milt Fankhouser off course in turn 1 Charles Van Acker, Paul Russo, crash on frontstretch (4:38) |
| 40 | Shorty Cantlon crash in turn 1 |
| 88 | Roland Free spin in turn 1 |
| * – Approximate lap counts ||

## 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.
Barry Lake served as "roving reporter," stationed on an Army Jeep. Larry Richardson was stationed in the new Press Paddock (constructed underneath the Paddock Penthouse upper deck) on the outside of the mainstretch, relaying scoring and official information.
Mutual Broadcasting System :
| Booth Announcers | Turn Reporters | Pits/roving reporters |
| Announcer: Bill Slater Analyst: Gene Kelly Press Paddock: Larry Richardson | South turns: Mike Dunn Mainstretch: Gordon Graham North turns: Jim Shelton | Norman Perry Barry Lake |