# 1940 Indianapolis 500

The 28th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes Race was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 30, 1940. The winner was Wilbur Shaw in the same Maserati 8CTF he had driven to victory in 1939. Shaw became the first driver in the history of the race to win in consecutive years. It also marked Shaw's third win in four years, making him the second three-time winner of the race. Shaw's average speed was 114.277 mph, slowed by rain which caused the last 50 laps to be run under caution. Shaw took home $31,875 (equivalent to $693,224 in 2023) in prize winnings, plus additional prizes that included a car and a refrigerator.
Fourth place finisher Ted Horn was flagged due to the rain shower, and was officially credited with completing only 199 laps - one lap short of the full distance. This marked the only blemish on his noteworthy record of nine consecutive races completing every lap. He eventually completed 1,799 out of a possible 1,800 laps from 1936 to 1948.
The top four starting positions finished in the top four places, albeit in shuffled order.

## Starting grid

| Row | Inside | Inside | Middle | Middle | Outside | Outside |
| 1 | 33 | Rex Mays | 1 | Wilbur Shaw W | 7 | Mauri Rose |
| 2 | 3 | Ted Horn | 31 | Mel Hansen | 5 | Cliff Bergere |
| 3 | 9 | Frank Wearne | 16 | Frank Brisko | 27 | Tommy Hinnershitz R |
| 4 | 8 | Joel Thorne | 19 | Russ Snowberger | 24 | Babe Stapp |
| 5 | 35 | Kelly Petillo W | 28 | Sam Hanks R | 41 | Harry McQuinn |
| 6 | 6 | George Barringer | 10 | George Connor | 26 | Louis Tomei |
| 7 | 36 | Doc Williams | 32 | Bob Swanson | 54 | Ralph Hepburn |
| 8 | 25 | Emil Andres | 17 | George Robson R | 29 | Raúl Riganti |
| 9 | 21 | Duke Nalon | 42 | Joie Chitwood R | 34 | Chet Miller |
| 10 | 44 | Al Putnam | 38 | Paul Russo R | 58 | Al Miller |
| 11 | 49 | René Le Bègue R | 14 | Billy Devore | 61 | Floyd Davis |

### Alternates

* First alternate: Tony Willman

### Failed to qualify

* George Bailey (#56) - Fatal accident
* Henry Banks (#39)
* Shorty Cantlon (#24) - Replaced by Babe Stapp
* Wesley Crawford (#62)
* Port DeFraties R (#51)
* René Dreyfus R (#22) - drove two stints of relief for René Le Bègue during the race
* Louis Durant R (#12)
* Ira Hall (#47)
* Bill Lipscomb R (#57)
* Louis Unser R - Passed driver's test
* Lou Webb R (#37)
* Freddie Winnai (#59)

## Box score

| Finish | Start | No | Name | Chassis | Engine | Qual | Rank | Laps | Status |
| 1 | 2 | 1 | Wilbur Shaw W | Maserati | Maserati | 127.065 | 2 | 200 | 114.277 mph |
| 2 | 1 | 33 | Rex Mays | Stevens | Winfield | 127.850 | 1 | 200 | +1:14.14 |
| 3 | 3 | 7 | Mauri Rose | Wetteroth | Offenhauser | 125.624 | 3 | 200 | +1:37.79 |
| 4 | 4 | 3 | Ted Horn | Miller | Miller | 125.545 | 4 | 199 | Flagged |
| 5 | 10 | 8 | Joel Thorne | Adams | Sparks | 122.434 | 20 | 197 | Flagged |
| 6 | 20 | 32 | Bob Swanson | Stevens | Sampson | 124.882 | 6 | 196 | Flagged |
| 7 | 7 | 9 | Frank Wearne | Stevens | Offenhauser | 123.216 | 12 | 195 | Flagged |
| 8 | 5 | 31 | Mel Hansen | Wetteroth | Miller | 124.753 | 7 | 194 | Flagged |
| 9 | 8 | 16 | Frank Brisko | Stevens | Brisko | 122.716 | 16 | 193 | Flagged |
| 10 | 31 | 49 | René Le Bègue R (Laps 1-45 and 98-150) René Dreyfus (Laps 46-97 and 151-192) | Maserati | Maserati | 118.981 | 33 | 192 | Flagged |
| 11 | 15 | 41 | Harry McQuinn | A-R Weil | Alfa Romeo | 122.486 | 19 | 192 | Flagged |
| 12 | 22 | 25 | Emil Andres | Stevens | Offenhauser | 122.963 | 15 | 192 | Flagged |
| 13 | 14 | 28 | Sam Hanks R | Weil | Duray | 123.064 | 13 | 192 | Flagged |
| 14 | 16 | 6 | George Barringer | Weil | Offenhauser | 121.889 | 22 | 191 | Flagged |
| 15 | 26 | 42 | Joie Chitwood R | Adams | Offenhauser | 121.757 | 25 | 190 | Flagged |
| 16 | 18 | 26 | Louis Tomei | Miller | Offenhauser | 119.980 | 32 | 190 | Exhaust pipe |
| 17 | 27 | 34 | Chet Miller (Henry Banks Laps 148-189) | Alfa Romeo | Alfa Romeo | 121.392 | 27 | 189 | Flagged |
| 18 | 32 | 14 | Billy Devore (George Connor Laps 107-181) | Shaw | Offenhauser | 122.197 | 21 | 181 | Flagged |
| 19 | 28 | 44 | Al Putnam | Adams | Offenhauser | 120.818 | 28 | 179 | Flagged |
| 20 | 33 | 61 | Floyd Davis (Lou Webb Laps 27-57) (George Connor Laps 58-59) (Lou Webb Laps 60-157) | Lencki | Lencki | 120.797 | 30 | 157 | Flagged |
| 21 | 13 | 35 | Kelly Petillo W | Wetteroth | Offenhauser | 125.331 | 5 | 128 | Bearing |
| 22 | 25 | 21 | Duke Nalon | Silnes | Offenhauser | 121.790 | 24 | 120 | Rod |
| 23 | 23 | 17 | George Robson R | Miller | Offenhauser | 122.562 | 18 | 67 | Shock absorber |
| 24 | 12 | 24 | Babe Stapp (Started in substitution for Shorty Cantlon) (Tony Willman Lap 13-64) | Stevens | Offenhauser | 123.367 | 11 | 64 | Oil line |
| 25 | 19 | 36 | Doc Williams | Cooper | Miller | 122.963 | 14 | 61 | Oil line |
| 26 | 17 | 10 | George Connor | Lencki | Lencki | 124.585 | 8 | 52 | Rod |
| 27 | 6 | 5 | Cliff Bergere | Wetteroth | Offenhauser | 123.673 | 10 | 51 | Oil line |
| 28 | 29 | 38 | Paul Russo R | Blume | Brisko | 120.809 | 29 | 48 | Oil leak |
| 29 | 21 | 54 | Ralph Hepburn | Miller | Offenhauser | 123.860 | 9 | 47 | Steering |
| 30 | 30 | 58 | Al Miller | Alfa Romeo | Alfa Romeo | 120.288 | 31 | 41 | Clutch |
| 31 | 11 | 19 | Russ Snowberger | Snowberger | Miller | 121.564 | 26 | 38 | Water pump |
| 32 | 9 | 27 | Tommy Hinnershitz R | Adams | Offenhauser | 122.614 | 17 | 32 | Crash FS |
| 33 | 24 | 29 | Raúl Riganti | Maserati | Maserati | 121.827 | 23 | 24 | Crash T2 |
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 |
| 1–33 | Rex Mays |
| 34–73 | Wilbur Shaw |
| 74–99 | Rex Mays |
| 100–104 | Mauri Rose |
| 105–200 | Wilbur Shaw |
Total laps led :
| Driver | Laps |
| Wilbur Shaw | 136 |
| Rex Mays | 59 |
| Mauri Rose | 5 |
Yellow Lights :
| Laps* | Reason |
| 25 | Raúl Riganti crash in turn 2 |
| 33 | Tommy Hinnershitz crash on mainstretch |
| 47 | Ralph Hepburn crash on mainstretch |
| 151–200 | Rain (approx. 1 hr., 18 mins.) |
| * – Approximate lap counts ||