# 1926 Indianapolis 500

The 14th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes Race was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Monday, May 31, 1926. Louis Chevrolet drove the Chrysler pace car for the start.
Rain halted the race at lap 72, and officials waited for the track to dry out. The race was resumed over an hour later. Rain fell again, and the race was called at the 400 mile mark (160 laps).
Rookie Frank Lockhart moved up from 20th to fifth by lap 5, having had passed 14 cars on that lap alone. He moved up to second on Lap 16. After the rain delay, Lockhart and Dave Lewis battled for the lead for about 20 laps, until Lewis dropped out. After Lewis retired with a broken valve, Harry Hartz closed on Lockhart and briefly took the lead at about 250 miles as the crowd roared. But soon afterward Hartz was forced to make an unscheduled pit stop. Lockhart then stretched out a two-lap lead when the race was called, and he was declared the winner. It was the first rain-shortened race in "500" history, and Lockhart was the fourth rookie to win the race. Lockhart may have actually completed as many as 163 laps (407.5 miles), but official scoring results reverted to the completion of lap 160.

## Time trials

Four-lap (10 mile) qualifying runs were utilized. Earl Cooper won the pole position. Frank Lockhart set a new 1-lap track record during his first attempt at 115.488 mph, but the run was aborted after a tire failure on the second lap. He later blew an engine during another attempt, and finally put a car in the field 20th on the grid.
Qualifying Results :
| Date | Driver | Lap 1 (mph) | Lap 2 (mph) | Lap 3 (mph) | Lap 4 (mph) | Average Speed (mph) |
| 5/27/1926 | Earl Cooper | 113.68 | 112.97 | 111.32 | 109.09 | 111.735 |

## Starting grid

| Row | Inside | Inside | Middle | Middle | Outside | Outside |
| 1 | 5 | Earl Cooper | 3 | Harry Hartz | 10 | Leon Duray |
| 2 | 1 | Dave Lewis | 4 | Phil Shafer | 7 | Jules Ellingboe |
| 3 | 16 | Bennett Hill | 6 | Frank Elliott | 34 | Bon MacDougall R |
| 4 | 22 | W. E. Shattuc | 9 | Cliff Durant | 31 | Tony Gulotta R |
| 5 | 8 | Fred Comer | 36 | Cliff Woodbury R | 19 | Ralph Hepburn |
| 6 | 14 | Norman Batten R | 27 | Douglas Hawkes | 29 | Ben Jones R |
| 7 | 29 | Albert Guyot | 15 | Frank Lockhart R | 33 | Thane Houser R |
| 8 | 24 | Steve Nemesh R | 43 | Ernest Eldridge R | 23 | L. L. Corum W |
| 9 | 28 | Jack McCarver R | 17 | Fred Lecklider R | 12 | Pete DePaolo W |
| 10 | 18 | John Duff R | | | | |

## Box score

| Finish | Start | No | Name | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | Qual | Rank | Laps | Status |
| 1 | 20 | 15 | Frank Lockhart R | Pete Kreis | Miller | Miller | 95.780 | 19 | 160 | Running |
| 2 | 2 | 3 | Harry Hartz | Harry Hartz | Miller | Miller | 109.542 | 2 | 158 | Flagged |
| 3 | 14 | 36 | Cliff Woodbury R | Cliff R. Woodbury | Miller | Miller | 105.109 | 10 | 158 | Flagged |
| 4 | 13 | 8 | Fred Comer (Wade Morton 71–139) | Harry Hartz | Miller | Miller | 100.612 | 16 | 155 | Flagged |
| 5 | 27 | 12 | Pete DePaolo W | Duesenberg Brothers | Duesenberg | Duesenberg | 96.709 | 18 | 153 | Flagged |
| 6 | 8 | 6 | Frank Elliott (Leon Duray Laps 76–104) | Frank Elliott | Miller | Miller | 105.873 | 8 | 152 | Flagged |
| 7 | 16 | 14 | Norman Batten R | Norman Batten | Miller | Miller | 101.428 | 15 | 151 | Flagged |
| 8 | 15 | 19 | Ralph Hepburn (Bob McDonogh Laps 25–65) | Ralph Hepburn | Miller | Miller | 102.517 | 14 | 151 | Flagged |
| 9 | 28 | 18 | John Duff R | Al Cotey | Miller | Miller | 95.549 | 20 | 147 | Flagged |
| 10 | 5 | 4 | Phil Shafer (Fred Lecklider Laps 52–54) (Fred Lecklider Laps 113–146) | Phil Shafer | Miller | Miller | 106.647 | 5 | 146 | Flagged |
| 11 | 12 | 31 | Tony Gulotta R | Harry Hartz | Miller | Miller | 102.789 | 13 | 142 | Flagged |
| 12 | 7 | 16 | Bennett Hill (Jules Ellingboe Laps 39–40) (Jules Ellingboe Laps 78–113) | Harry A. Miller | Miller | Miller | 105.876 | 7 | 136 | Flagged |
| 13 | 21 | 33 | Thane Houser R | George G. Abell | Miller | Miller | 93.672 | 22 | 102 | Flagged |
| 14 | 17 | 27 | Douglas Hawkes (Ernest Eldridge Laps 57–73) | E. A. D. Eldridge | Eldridge | Anzani | 94.977 | 21 | 91 | Camshaft |
| 15 | 4 | 1 | Dave Lewis (Earl Cooper Laps 90–91) | Harry A. Miller | Miller | Miller | 107.009 | 4 | 91 | Valve |
| 16 | 1 | 5 | Earl Cooper | Harry A. Miller | Miller | Miller | 111.735 | 1 | 73 | Transmission |
| 17 | 11 | 9 | Cliff Durant (Eddie Hearne 42–60) | R. Cliff Durant | Fengler | Locomobile | 104.855 | 12 | 60 | Fuel tank leak |
| 18 | 18 | 29 | Ben Jones R | Duesenberg Brothers | Duesenberg | Duesenberg | 92.142 | 24 | 54 | Crash |
| 19 | 23 | 26 | Ernest Eldridge R (Herschel McKee Laps 22–32) | E. A. D. Eldridge | Eldridge | Anzani | 89.777 | 25 | 45 | Tie rod |
| 20 | 24 | 23 | L. L. Corum W | Albert Schmidt | Schmidt | Argyll | 88.849 | 26 | 44 | Shock absorbers |
| 21 | 22 | 24 | Steve Nemesh R | Albert Schmidt | Schmidt | Argyll | 92.937 | 23 | 41 | Transmission |
| 22 | 6 | 7 | Jules Ellingboe | F. P. Cramer | Miller | Miller | 106.376 | 6 | 39 | Supercharger |
| 23 | 3 | 10 | Leon Duray | R. Cliff Durant | Fengler | Locomobile | 109.186 | 3 | 33 | Broken axle |
| 24 | 26 | 17 | Fred Lecklider R | Earl Devore | Miller | Miller | 100.398 | 17 | 24 | Rod |
| 25 | 25 | 28 | Jack McCarver R | Chevrolet Brothers | Ford T | Fronty-Ford | 86.418 | 28 | 23 | Rod |
| 26 | 9 | 34 | Bon MacDougall R | R. G. McDougall | Miller | Miller | 105.180 | 9 | 19 | Valve |
| 27 | 10 | 22 | W. E. Shattuc | Dr. W. E. Shattuc, M.D. | Miller | Miller | 104.977 | 11 | 15 | Valve |
| 28 | 19 | 39 | Albert Guyot | Albert Schmidt | Schmidt | Argyll | 88.580 | 27 | 8 | Piston |
Note: Relief drivers in parentheses
W Former Indianapolis 500 winner
R Indianapolis 500 Rookie

### Race statistics

Lap Leaders :
| Laps | Leader |
| 1-15 | Phil Shafer |
| 16–21 | Dave Lewis |
| 22 | Phil Shafer |
| 23–59 | Dave Lewis |
| 60–100 | Frank Lockhart |
| 101–106 | Harry Hartz |
| 107–160 | Frank Lockhart |
Total laps led :
| Leader | Laps |
| Frank Lockhart | 95 |
| Dave Lewis | 43 |
| Phil Shafer | 16 |
| Harry Hartz | 6 |

## Race details

* For 1926, riding mechanics were optional, however, no teams utilized them.
* First alternate: none
* This would be the first Indy 500 where a driver from the inaugural Indy 500 did not compete.