1911 Indianapolis 500

The 1911 Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, or the International 500-Mile Sweepstakes Race was the first Indianapolis 500 to be held. Part of the 1911 AAA Championship season, the first Indy 500 is also considered to be a Grand Prix race. The race took place on May 30, 1911, and was won by Ray Harroun, who came out of retirement to compete.
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==Background==
==Entry list==
Note: Relief drivers in italics did not participate in the race.
No.	Driver 	Sponsor 	Car 	Engine 	Relief Drivers	
1 	Lewis Strang 	Case 	Case 	Wisconsin 	Elmer Ray 	W. R. Everett
2 	Ralph DePalma 	Simplex 	Simplex 	Simplex 	 	Charles Bury
3 	Harry Endicott	Interstate 	Interstate 	Interstate 	C. B. Baldwin 	Ed Madden
4 	John Aitken 	National 	National 	National 	 	Walter Kepner
5 	Louis Disbrow 	Pope-Hartford	Pope-Hartford	Pope-Hartford	Neil Whalen 	Heinie Ulbricht
==Practice sessions==
==Qualifying==
===Qualifying Process===
The cars were to be ordered on the grid by entry date; thus, by entering first, Lewis Strang secured pole position.
However, to ensure a field of competitive cars, each car was required to complete a 0.25 mile (0.40 km) section of the main straight with a minimum speed of 75 mph (121 km/h), or under 12 seconds. Any car failing this was given two additional attempts before being rejected. These sessions were held on May 27 and 28, and the times were not published.
Overall, forty cars were able to qualify, with Louis Edmunds and Rupert Jeffkins failing.
===Grid===
 	Pos 	Pos 	Pos 	Pos 	Pos
 	Driver 	Driver 	Driver 	Driver 	Driver
Row 1	Pace car 	  	  	  	 
Row 1	Pace car 	1 	 	 	
Row 1	 	Lewis Strang 	2 	 	
Row 1	 	 	Ralph DePalma	3 	
Row 1	 	 	 	Harry Endicott 	4
Row 2	5 	 	 	 	Johnny Aitken
Row 2	Louis Disbrow 	6 	 	 	
Row 2	 	Frank Fox 	7 	 	
Row 2	 	 	Harry Knight 	8 	
Row 2	 	 	 	Joe Jagerberger	9
Row 3	10 	 	 	 	Will Jones
Row 3	Gil Andersen 	11 	 	 	
Row 3	 	Spencer Wishart	12 	 	
Row 3	 	 	W. H. Turner 	13 	
Row 3	 	 	 	Fred Belcher 	14
Row 4	15 	 	 	 	Arthur Chevrolet
Row 4	Charles Basle 	16 	 	 	
Row 4	 	Eddie Hearne 	17 	 	
Row 4	 	 	Harry Grant 	18 	
Row 4	 	 	 	Charlie Merz 	19
Row 5	20 	 	 	 	Howdy Wilcox
Row 5	Bert Adams 	21 	 	 	
Row 5	 	Fred Ellis 	22 	 	
Row 5	 	 	Harry Cobe 	23 	
Row 5	 	 	 	Jack Tower 	24
Row 6	25 	 	 	 	Ernest Delaney
Row 6	David Bruce-Brown	26 	 	 	
Row 6	 	Lee Frayer 	27 	 	
Row 6	 	 	Joe Dawson 	28 	
Row 6	 	 	 	Ray Harroun 	29
Row 7	30 	 	 	 	Ralph Mulford
Row 7	Teddy Telzlaff 	31 	 	 	
Row 7	 	Herbert Lytle 	32 	 	
Row 7	 	 	Hughie Hughes	33 	
Row 7	 	 	 	Charles Bigalow	34
Row 8	35 	 	 	 	Raph Beardsley
Row 8	Caleb Bragg 	36 	 	 	
Row 8	 	Howard Hall 	37 	 	
Row 8	 	 	Bill Endicott	38 	
Row 8	 	 	 	Arthur Greiner 	39
Row 9	40 	 	 	 	Bob Burman
Row 9	Billy Knipper 	 	 	 	
==Race==
===Results===
The final results for the are shown below:
Pos.	No.	Driver 	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid
1 	32 	Ray Harroun 	Marmon-Wasp	200 	6:42:08 	28
2 	33 	Ralph Mulford 	Lozier 	200 	+1:43 	29
3 	28 	David Bruce-Brown	 	200 	+10:21 	25
4 	11 	Spencer Wishart 	 	200 	+10:49 	11
5 	31 	Joe Dawson 	Marmon 	200 	+12:26 	27
6 	2 	Ralph DePalma 	Simplex 	200 	+19:54 	2
7 	20 	Charlie Merz 	National 	200 	+24:12 	18
8 	12 	W. H. Turner 	Amplex 	200 	+33:48 	12
9 	15 	Fred Belcher 	Knox 	200 	+35:01 	13
10 	25 	Harry Cobe 	Jackson 	200 	+39:42 	22
11 	10 	Gil Andersen 	Stutz 	200 	+40:47 	10
12 	36 	Hughie Hughes 	Mercer 	200 	+41:24 	32
13 	30 	Lee Frayer 	Columbus 	197 	Flagged 	26
14 	21 	Howdy Wilcox 	National 	194 	Flagged 	19
==Milestones==
*First Indianapolis 500
*Final race for Ray Harroun
==Notes==
==External links==
* ChampCarStats
Category:Grand Prix articles
Category:1911 Grands Prix
Category:Indianapolis 500