1920 Indianapolis 500

8th Indianapolis 500

Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Indianapolis 500
Sanctioning body	AAA
Date	May 31, 1920
Winner	Gaston Chevrolet
Winning Entrant	William Small Company
Average speed	88.618 mph (142.617 km/h)
Pole position	Ralph DePalma
Pole speed	99.150 mph (159.566 km/h)
Most laps led	Joe Boyer (93)
Pre-race
Pace car	Marmon 6 (Model 34)
Pace car driver	Barney Oldfield
Starter	E. C. Patterson[1]
Honorary referee	Clifford C. Ireland[1]
Estimated attendance	120,000[2] (up 10k from previous year)
Chronology
Previous Next 1919 1921

The 8th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes Race was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Monday, May 31, 1920.

Ralph DePalma held a two lap lead when the car stalled on lap 187. His riding mechanic Pete DePaolo ran to the pits to get a can of gasoline, thinking they were out of fuel. DePalma was able to get the car rolling again, and the two rejoined the race. However, during the delay, the lead went to Gaston Chevrolet. Chevrolet himself ran out of fuel on lap 197, but he was able to coast to the pits and refuel. Chevrolet held on to win. Seven months later, he was fatally injured in a crash at Beverly Hills.

Chevrolet won the race without a single tire change, a remarkable feat at the time. Chevrolet was accompanied by riding mechanic John Bresnahan. Chevrolet's victory was the last by a driver born outside of the United States until George Robson's victory in the 1946 running.

Time trials

The 1920 winning car

Four-lap (10 miles (16 km)) qualifying runs were introduced in 1920. Previously one-lap runs were used. Ralph DePalma won the pole position at 99.65 mph (160.37 km/h). None of his four laps matched the track record (104.78 mph (168.63 km/h)) set the previous year.

Qualifying Results
Date	Driver	Lap 1 (mph)	Lap 2 (mph)	Lap 3 (mph)	Lap 4 (mph)	Average Speed (mph)
5/26/1920	Ralph DePalma	98.1	99.4	99.5	99.95	99.65

Starting grid

Row	Inside		Inside Center		Outside Center		Outside
1	Pace car position		2	Ralph DePalma  W	6	Joe Boyer	3	Louis Chevrolet
2	26	Jean Chassagne	8	Art Klein	4	Gaston Chevrolet	5	Roscoe Sarles
3	7	Bennett Hill  R	31	Eddie Hearne	9	Ray Howard	10	Tommy Milton
4	29	Eddie O'Donnell	34	Willie Haupt	32	John Boling  R	12	Jimmy Murphy  R
5	17	André Boillot	15	Pete Henderson	25	René Thomas  W	28	Joe Thomas  R
6	18	Howdy Wilcox  W	16	Jules Goux  W	19	Jean Porporato	33	Ralph Mulford

R Indianapolis 500 rookie

W Indianapolis 500 winner

Box score

Finish	Start	No	Name	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	Qual	Rank	Laps	Status
1	6	4	Gaston Chevrolet	William Small Company	Frontenac	Frontenac	91.550	8	200	Running
2	18	25	René Thomas  W	Ernest Ballot	Ballot	Ballot	93.950	5	200	Running
3	11	10	Tommy Milton	Duesenberg Brothers	Duesenberg	Duesenberg	90.200	11	200	Running
4	15	12	Jimmy Murphy  R	Duesenberg Brothers	Duesenberg	Duesenberg	88.700	13	200	Running
5	1	2	Ralph DePalma  W	Ralph DePalma	Ballot	Ballot	99.150	1	200	Running
6	9	31	Eddie Hearne	Duesenberg Brothers	Duesenberg	Duesenberg	88.050	15	200	Running
7	4	26	Jean Chassagne	Ernest Ballot	Ballot	Ballot	95.450	4	200	Running
8	19	28	Joe Thomas  R  (Art Klein Laps 105–115) (Harry Thicksten Laps 116–125)	William Small Company	Frontenac	Frontenac	92.800	6	200	Running
9	23	33	Ralph Mulford	Ralph Mulford	Mulford	Duesenberg	—	—	200	Running
10	17	15	Pete Henderson (Tom Alley Laps 93–20)	Revere Motor Car Corporation	Duesenberg	Duesenberg	81.150	21	200	Running
11	14	32	John Boling  R  (Riley Brett Laps 99–199)	C. L. Richards	Brett	Brett	81.850	20	199	Flagged
12	2	6	Joe Boyer (Ira Vail Laps 155–191)	Frontenac Motor Corporation	Frontenac	Frontenac	96.900	2	192	Crash T3
13	10	9	Ray Howard (Aldo Franchi Laps 41–90)	Peugeot Auto Racing Company	Peugeot	Peugeot	84.600	18	150	Camshaft
14	12	29	Eddie O'Donnell	Duesenberg Brothers	Duesenberg	Duesenberg	88.200	14	149	Oil line
15	21	16	Jules Goux  W	Jules Goux	Peugeot	Peugeot	84.300	19	148	Engine trouble
16	13	34	Willie Haupt (Wade Morton Laps 55–111)	Meteor Motors Company	Duesenberg	Duesenberg	85.480	16	146	Rod
17	8	7	Bennett Hill  R  (Roscoe Sarles Laps 75–115)	Frontenac Motor Corporation	Frontenac	Frontenac	90.550	10	115	Crash T4
18	3	3	Louis Chevrolet (Salvatore Barbarino Laps 64–79) (Jerry Wunderlich Laps 80–94)	William Small Company	Frontenac	Frontenac	96.300	3	94	Steering
19	20	18	Howdy Wilcox  W	Jules Goux	Peugeot	Peugeot	88.820	12	65	Engine trouble
20	7	5	Roscoe Sarles	William Small Company	Frontenac	Frontenac	90.750	9	58	Crash T4
21	5	8	Art Klein	Frontenac Motor Corporation	Frontenac	Frontenac	92.700	7	40	Crash
22	22	19	Jean Porporato	Jean Porporato	Grégoire	Grégoire	79.980	22	23	Ruled off
23	16	17	André Boillot	Jules Goux	Peugeot	Peugeot	85.400	17	16	Engine trouble
[3][4]

Note: Relief drivers in parentheses^[5]

 W  Former Indianapolis 500 winner

 R  Indianapolis 500 Rookie

Statistics

Lap Leaders Laps Leader 1–11 Joe Boyer 12 Art Klein 13 Jean Chassagne 14–37 Joe Boyer 38–42 Ralph DePalma 43–62 Joe Boyer 63–69 René Thomas 70–107 Joe Boyer 108–112 René Thomas 113–186 Ralph DePalma 187–200 Gaston Chevrolet

Total laps led Leader Laps Joe Boyer 93 Ralph DePalma 79 Gaston Chevrolet 14 René Thomas 12 Jean Chassagne 1 Art Klein 1

Race details

• For 1920, riding mechanics were required.^[6]
• First alternate: none^[7]

References

1. Fox, Jack C. (1994). The Illustrated History of the Indianapolis 500 1911-1994 (4th ed.). Carl Hungness Publishing. p. 22. ISBN 0-915088-05-3.
2. "Crowd Put at 120,000, New Record Mark". The Indianapolis Star. June 1, 1920. p. 1. Retrieved June 3, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "Indianapolis 500 1920". Ultimate Racing History. Archived from the original on 5 February 2013. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
4. Popely, Rick; Riggs, L. Spencer (1998). The Indianapolis 500 Chronicle. Lincolnwood, Illinois: Publications International, Ltd. ISBN 0-7853-2798-3.
5. "International 500 Mile Sweepstakes – May 30, 1920". ChampCarStats.com.
6. Blazier, John E.; Rollings, Tom (1994). Forgotten Heroes of the Speedways: The Riding Mechanics.
7. The Talk of Gasoline Alley - 1070-AM WIBC, May 14, 2004

1919 Indianapolis 500 Howdy Wilcox

1920 Indianapolis 500 Gaston Chevrolet

1921 Indianapolis 500 Tommy Milton