| Indianapolis Motor Speedway | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indianapolis 500 | |||||
| Sanctioning body | AAA | ||||
| Date | May 30, 1936 | ||||
| Winner | Louis Meyer | ||||
| Winning Entrant | Louis Meyer | ||||
| Average speed | 109.069 mph | ||||
| Pole position | Rex Mays | ||||
| Pole speed | 119.644 mph | ||||
| Most laps led | Louis Meyer (96) | ||||
| Pre-race | |||||
| Pace car | Packard 120 | ||||
| Pace car driver | Tommy Milton | ||||
| Starter | Seth Klein[1] | ||||
| Honorary referee | Ralph DePalma[1] | ||||
| Estimated attendance | 170,000[2] | ||||
| Chronology | |||||
| |||||
The 24th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes Race was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday, May 30, 1936. The race was part of the 1936 AAA Championship Car season. The race is remembered for three noteworthy Indy traditions getting their start.
Louis Meyer became the first three-time winner of the Indianapolis 500. He notably celebrated in victory lane with a bottle of buttermilk, which later started the famous tradition of serving milk in victory lane at Indianapolis.
Lawson Harris served as Meyer's riding mechanic. Harris, who also rode with Meyer in 1933, became the first two-time Indianapolis 500 winning riding mechanic.
The Borg-Warner Trophy debuted for the winner in 1936. Also, pace car driver Tommy Milton suggested that the race winner should be awarded the official pace car as part of his complement of prizes. Louis Meyer was given the keys to the Packard after the race, and it has been a tradition ever since (with only a handful of exceptions).
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ Campbell, Russell E. (May 31, 1936). "Meyer Spins Home As 170,000 Sunburn". The Indianapolis Star. p. 1. Retrieved June 3, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
