1935 Indianapolis 500

23rd Indianapolis 500
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Indianapolis 500
Sanctioning bodyAAA
DateMay 30, 1935
WinnerKelly Petillo
Winning EntrantKelly Petillo
Average speed106.240 mph
Pole positionRex Mays
Pole speed120.736 mph
Most laps ledKelly Petillo (102)
Pre-race
Pace carFord V8
Pace car driverHarry Mack
StarterSeth Klein[1]
Honorary refereeAmelia Earhart[1]
Estimated attendance157,000[2]
Chronology
Previous Next
1934 1936

The 23rd International 500-Mile Sweepstakes Race was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Thursday, May 30, 1935. Despite attempts to improve participant safety by requiring crash helmets and installing green and yellow lights around the track, the event that year would prove to be one of the worst in terms of fatalities.[3]

Kelly Petillo won the race, accompanied by riding mechanic Jimmy Dunham. Pete DePaolo, the 1925 winner, was the team principal, becoming the first individual to win the race separately as a driver and an owner.

The race was part of the 1935 AAA Championship Car season.

  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. ^ Kellum, Robert W. (May 31, 1935). "Ever See Such A Mob? -- Nobody Had". The Indianapolis Star. p. 1. Retrieved June 3, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  3. ^ Fatalities – May 1935 Archived 2009-03-30 at the Wayback Machine, indymotorspeedway.com