 | |||||
| Indianapolis Motor Speedway | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indianapolis 500 | |||||
| Sanctioning body | AAA | ||||
| Date | May 30, 1940 | ||||
| Winner | Wilbur Shaw | ||||
| Winning Entrant | Boyle Racing Headquarters | ||||
| Average speed | 114.277 mph | ||||
| Pole position | Rex Mays | ||||
| Pole speed | 127.850 mph | ||||
| Most laps led | Wilbur Shaw (136) | ||||
| Pre-race | |||||
| Pace car | Studebaker Champion | ||||
| Pace car driver | Ab Jenkins | ||||
| Starter | Seth Klein[1] | ||||
| Honorary referee | Roscoe Turner[1] | ||||
| Estimated attendance | 150,000[2] | ||||
| Chronology | |||||
| |||||
The 28th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes Race was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 30, 1940. The winner was Wilbur Shaw in the same Maserati 8CTF he had driven to victory in 1939. Shaw became the first driver in the history of the race to win in consecutive years. It also marked Shaw's third win in four years, making him the second three-time winner of the race. Shaw's average speed was 114.277 mph, slowed by rain which caused the last 50 laps to be run under caution.[3] Shaw took home $31,875 (equivalent to $693,224 in 2023) in prize winnings, plus additional prizes that included a car and a refrigerator.[4]
Fourth place finisher Ted Horn was flagged due to the rain shower, and was officially credited with completing only 199 laps - one lap short of the full distance. This marked the only blemish on his noteworthy record of nine consecutive races completing every lap. He eventually completed 1,799 out of a possible 1,800 laps from 1936 to 1948.
The top four starting positions finished in the top four places, albeit in shuffled order.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Brooks, Ralph L. (May 31, 1940). "Nearly 150,000 Fans Eat, Nap, Cheer, And Even Watch Race at '40 Classic". The Indianapolis Star. p. 1. Retrieved June 2, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "1940 Indianapolis 500 Official Box Score :: Indianapolis 500". Archived from the original on 2008-05-14. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
- ^ The New York Times, "First Place Nets $31,875 for Shaw", June 1, 1940, Sports page 16
