1924 Indianapolis 500

The 12th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes Race was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Friday, May 30, 1924.

12th Indianapolis 500

Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Indianapolis 500
Sanctioning body	AAA
Date	May 30, 1924
Winner	L. L. Corum and Joe Boyer (co-winners)
Winning Entrant	Duesenberg
Average speed	98.234 mph (158.092 km/h)
Pole position	Jimmy Murphy
Pole speed	108.037 mph (173.869 km/h)
Most laps led	Earl Cooper (119)
Pre-race
Pace car	Cole V8
Pace car driver	Lew Pettijohn
Starter	W. S. Gilbreath[1]
Honorary referee	Henry Ford[1]
Estimated attendance	135,000-140,000[2]
Chronology
Previous Next 1923 1925

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		Middle		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

R Indianapolis 500 rookie

W Indianapolis 500 winner

Race summary

The 1924 winning car

Co-winners L. L. Corum (left) and Joe Boyer (right)

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!"^[3]

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.^[4]

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
[5][6]

Note: Relief drivers in parentheses^[7]

 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,^[8] however, no teams utilized them.
• First alternate: none^[9]
• Eddie Hearne was the lone entry in the race who competed in the inaugural Indy 500