1911 Indianapolis 500

1st Indianapolis 500
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Indianapolis 500
Sanctioning bodyAAA
DateMay 30, 1911
WinnerRay Harroun
Winning EntrantNordyke & Marmon Company
Average speed74.602 mph (120.060 km/h)
Pole positionLewis Strang
Pole speedN/A
Most laps ledRay Harroun (88)
Pre-race
Pace carStoddard-Dayton
Pace car driverCarl G. Fisher
StarterFred J. Wagner[1]
Honorary refereeR. P. Hooper[1]
Estimated attendance85,000[2]
Chronology
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1909-1910 events 1912

The 1911 International 500-Mile Sweepstakes Race was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Tuesday, May 30, 1911. It was the inaugural running of the Indianapolis 500, which is the most prestigious automobile race in the world. Ray Harroun, an engineer with the Marmon Motor Car Company, came out of retirement to drive, and won the inaugural event before re-retiring for good in the winner's circle.

The Marmon Wasp, the car that won the 1911 Indianapolis 500.

Over the previous two seasons (1909 and 1910), the Speedway had scheduled numerous smaller races during a series of meets over the two years. In a departure from that policy, for 1911 the management decided to instead schedule a single, large-scale event attracting widespread attention from both American and European racing teams and manufacturers. It proved to be a successful event, immediately establishing itself as both the premier motorsports competition in the US and one of the most prestigious in the world.

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ Willis, Paul W. (May 31, 1911). "Harroun In 'Wasp' Wins: One Death Is Race Toll". The Indianapolis Star. p. 1. Retrieved June 3, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.Open access icon