# 1924 Indianapolis 500

The 12th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes Race was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Friday, May 30, 1924.
L. L. Corum started the race in the #15 entry, and was relieved during the race by Joe Boyer. Boyer proceeded to drive the car to victory, and both drivers were credited as "co-winners" for the 1924 race.
Boyer led the first lap of the race in his original #9 entry. After Boyer got out of the car and took over the #15, the #9 entry continued in the race, taken over by Ernie Ansterburg, Corum, and later Thane Houser. Houser crashed the car after 176 laps, and Boyer's original car was credited with 18th place.

## Time trials

Four-lap (10 mile) qualifying runs were utilized. Jimmy Murphy won the pole position with a speed of over 108 mph.

## Starting grid

| Row | Inside | Inside | Middle | Middle | Outside | Outside |
| 1 | 2 | Jimmy Murphy W | 4 | Harry Hartz | 5 | Tommy Milton W |
| 2 | 9 | Joe Boyer | 3 | Bennett Hill | 8 | Earl Cooper |
| 3 | 18 | Jules Ellingboe | 16 | Cliff Durant | 32 | Antoine Mourre R |
| 4 | 10 | Ernie Ansterburg R | 7 | Jerry Wunderlich | 21 | Frank Elliott |
| 5 | 12 | Pete DePaolo | 1 | Eddie Hearne | 6 | Ira Vail |
| 6 | 14 | Fred Comer R | 31 | Ora Haibe | 19 | Bob McDonogh R |
| 7 | 26 | Bill Hunt R | 28 | Alfred Moss R | 15 | L. L. Corum |
| 8 | 27 | Fred Harder R | | | | |

## Race summary

After Joe Boyer, in his original car, led the first lap, Jimmy Murphy took the lead. By half-distance, Murphy led while Earl Cooper held 2nd. Fred Duesenberg, incensed that his lead car was behind four Miller vehicles, called Boyer into the pits, as his car had fallen behind with unscheduled pit stops. He then waved in his 5th-place car, driven by L. L. Corum, and installed Boyer in it. Duesenberg reportedly told him, "Catch them," referring to the Millers, "or burn this ship!"
Boyer re-entered the race with Corum's car and soon passed Bennett Hill and Harry Hartz. With 40 laps to go, he was about 1 mile behind leader Jimmy Murphy and Earl Cooper, turning laps at up to 104 mph.
Murphy was signaled that Boyer was rapidly closing and upped his pace, but he soon cut a tire and had to pit. Cooper assumed the lead but suffered the same fate after pushing harder. Cooper sped out of the pits and closed on Boyer. With 12 laps to go, Cooper made a passing attempt in turn 1, but skidded and again cut a tire, prompting another pit stop. Boyer then eased his pace to win the 500 with a record average speed of over 98 mph.

## Box score

| Finish | Start | No | Name | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | Qual | Rank | Laps | Status |
| 1 | 21 | 15 | L. L. Corum (Laps 1–111) Joe Boyer (Laps 112–200) | Duesenberg | Duesenberg | Duesenberg | 93.330 | 16 | 200 | Running |
| 2 | 6 | 8 | Earl Cooper | Earl Cooper | Miller | Miller | 103.900 | 6 | 200 | Running |
| 3 | 1 | 2 | Jimmy Murphy W | Jimmy Murphy | Miller | Miller | 108.030 | 1 | 200 | Running |
| 4 | 2 | 4 | Harry Hartz | R. Cliff Durant | Miller | Miller | 107.130 | 2 | 200 | Running |
| 5 | 5 | 3 | Bennett Hill | Harry A. Miller | Miller | Miller | 104.840 | 5 | 200 | Running |
| 6 | 13 | 12 | Peter DePaolo | Duesenberg Brothers | Duesenberg | Duesenberg | 99.280 | 13 | 200 | Running |
| 7 | 16 | 14 | Fred Comer R (Wade Morton Laps 99–120) | R. Cliff Durant | Miller | Miller | 92.880 | 17 | 200 | Running |
| 8 | 15 | 6 | Ira Vail (C. W. Van Ranst Laps 162–200) | Ira Vail | Miller | Miller | 96.400 | 15 | 200 | Running |
| 9 | 9 | 32 | Antoine Mourre R | Antoine Mourre | Miller | Miller | 99.490 | 9 | 200 | Running |
| 10 | 18 | 19 | Bob McDonogh R | Harry A. Miller | Miller | Miller | 91.550 | 19 | 200 | Running |
| 11 | 7 | 18 | Jules Ellingboe | Harry A. Miller | Miller | Miller | 102.600 | 7 | 200 | Running |
| 12 | 11 | 7 | Jerry Wunderlich (Wade Morton Laps 31–90) (Wade Morton Laps 158–187) | R. Cliff Durant | Miller | Miller | 99.360 | 11 | 200 | Running |
| 13 | 8 | 16 | Cliff Durant (Phil Shafer Laps 91–110) (Eddie Hearne) | R. Cliff Durant | Miller | Miller | 101.610 | 8 | 199 | Out of gas |
| 14 | 19 | 26 | Bill Hunt R | Barber-Warnock | Ford T | Fronty-Ford | 85.040 | 21 | 191 | Flagged |
| 15 | 17 | 31 | Ora Haibe (Elmer Dempsey Laps 101–121) | Albert Schmidt | Mercedes | Mercedes | 92.810 | 18 | 182 | Flagged |
| 16 | 20 | 28 | Alfred Moss R | Barber-Warnock | Ford T | Fronty-Ford | 85.270 | 20 | 177 | Flagged |
| 17 | 22 | 27 | Fred Harder R | Barber-Warnock | Ford T | Fronty-Ford | 82.770 | 22 | 177 | Flagged |
| 18 | 4 | 9 | Joe Boyer (Ernie Ansterburg Laps 93–158) (Thane Houser Laps 176) | Duesenberg Brothers | Duesenberg | Duesenberg | 104.840 | 4 | 176 | Crash T1 |
| 19 | 14 | 1 | Eddie Hearne (Cliff Durant Laps 123–137) | R. Cliff Durant | Miller | Miller | 99.230 | 14 | 151 | Fuel line |
| 20 | 12 | 21 | Frank Elliott | Frank R. Elliott | Miller | Miller | 99.310 | 12 | 149 | Gas tank |
| 21 | 3 | 5 | Tommy Milton W | Tommy Milton | Miller | Miller | 105.200 | 3 | 110 | Gas tank |
| 22 | 10 | 10 | Ernie Ansterburg R | Duesenberg | Duesenberg | Duesenberg | 99.400 | 10 | 2 | Crash T2 |
Note: Relief drivers in parentheses
W Former Indianapolis 500 winner
R Indianapolis 500 Rookie

### Race statistics

Lap Leaders :
| Laps | Leader |
| 1 | Joe Boyer |
| 2–41 | Jimmy Murphy |
| 42 | Earl Cooper |
| 43 | Jimmy Murphy |
| 44–105 | Earl Cooper |
| 106–120 | Jimmy Murphy |
| 121–176 | Earl Cooper |
| 177–200 | Joe Boyer |
Total laps led :
| Leader | Laps |
| Earl Cooper | 119 |
| Jimmy Murphy | 56 |
| Joe Boyer | 25 |

## Race details

* For 1924, riding mechanics were optional, however, no teams utilized them.
* First alternate: none
* Eddie Hearne was the lone entry in the race who competed in the inaugural Indy 500