|| *Comments on the 1912 International 500:* View the most recent comment <#18> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. Madison posted: 05.25.2010 - 9:48 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) What a great race. On lap 4, Ralph DePalma put his big Mercedes in the lead. On lap 190, his car threw a connectig rod. He began to nurse his car to the finish on 7 cylinders and no oil. Finally, 2 laps from the finish, his engine finally froze. In a fantastic display of determination, DePalma and riding mechanic, Rupert Jeffkins, got out of the car, and began pushing it to the pits. On the way there, the crowd cheered so loud, it drowned out the engines. Cheers, however, didn't win the race. Joe Dawson came to the checkered to win the second Indianapolis 500. Knowing he wouldn't get any money if he didn't finish, Ralph Mulford perservered through engine troubles and, long after speedway officials and Carl Fisher left the grounds, took the checkered flag in 8 hours and 53 minutes to finish tenth. This is the longest time ever to finish the Indianapolis 500. 2. ii posted: 09.23.2010 - 6:35 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) He still didn't win any money. 3. RaceFanX posted: 02.01.2011 - 9:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Says here he got $1,200, a small fortune back then 4. Slash posted: 05.26.2013 - 3:13 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Depalma did win money, around $1,200. Not much now-a-days but back then it was worth a good deal. Now thanks to inflation he would have made $28,114. Dawson who won the race, made $20,000 in 1912 money. If he would have won with today's money it would have been $468,000. Quite an impressive haul for a winner. 5. SpeedWorld97 posted: 08.22.2013 - 4:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Even though Dawson led only two laps and won, that is not the record for fewest laps led by an Indianapolis 500 winner. Roughly 99 years later, Dan Wheldon led only the final lap to win the 2011 Indianapolis 500. 6. Anonymous posted: 01.09.2015 - 10:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) race called International 500 DNQ Jim Hill 27 Continental/Continental Albert Romine 27 Continental/Continental yes both listed in same car # wasnt uncommon back then for 1 driver to race the car while another practiced it. but neither driver were able to get it up to speed to make the race 7. Schroeder51 posted: 03.13.2015 - 9:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) First Indy 500 start for Billy Leisaw. Only Indy 500 starts for Len Zengel, Joe Horan, Bert Dingley, Joe Matson, and Len Ormsby. Last Indy 500 starts for Hughie Hughes, Mel Marquette, Lee Frayer, and David Bruce-Brown. 8. Alex posted: 07.25.2015 - 8:14 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Leaders: Teddy Tetzlaff 1-2 Ralph DePalma 3-198 Joe Dawson 199-200 9. Jolly Mean Giant posted: 05.01.2018 - 8:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Some sources I've seen on this state Eddie Rickenbacker actually started the #16 and that Lee Frayer was the relief driver. Info on some of the DNQ drivers: Albert Romine: Nationality: American Hometown: Indianapolis, Indiana Born: May 1, 1890 George Fuller: Nationality: American H. J. Kilpatrick: Nationality: American Hometown: Washington, D. C. Born: June 20, 1879 Died: March 29, 1961 10. Jolly Mean Giant posted: 05.30.2018 - 12:03 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Qualifying speeds: 1. David Bruce-Brown, 88.45 MPH 2. Ralph Mulford, 87.88 MPH 3. Howdy Wilcox, 87.20 MPH 4. Joe Dawson, 86.13 MPH 5. Ralph DePalma, 86.02 MPH 6. Teddy Tetzlaff, 84.24 MPH 7. Bob Burman, 84.11 MPH 8. Len Ormsby, 84.09 MPH 9. Spencer Wishart, 83.95 MPH 10. Eddie Hearne, 81.85 MPH 11. Hughie Hughes, 81.81 MPH 12. Gil Andersen, 80.93 MPH 13. Johnny Jenkins, 80.82 MPH 14. Bert Dingley, 80.77 MPH 15. Bill Endicott, 80.57 MPH 16. Joe Horan, 80.48 MPH 17. Joe Matson, 79.90 MPH 18. Charlie Merz, 78.88 MPH 19. Len Zengel, 78.85 MPH 20. Mel Marquette, 78.08 MPH 21. Billy Leisaw, 77.51 MPH 22. Lee Frayer, 77.30 MPH 23. Louis Disbrow, 76.54 MPH 24. Harry Knight, 75.92 MPH 11. Jolly Mean Giant posted: 11.28.2018 - 3:33 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Riding mechanics for this race: Joe Dawson: Harry Martin Teddy Tetzlaff: William Pozzo Hughie Hughes: Eddie Pullen Charlie Merz: Roy Vernon Bill Endicott: Frank Anderson Len Zengel: Will Hamilton Johnny Jenkins: George Fuller Joe Horan: George Ainslee Howdy Wilcox: Frank Farber Ralph Mulford: Billy Chandler Ralph DePalma: Rupert Jeffkins Bob Burman: Harry Goetz Bert Dingley: Swede Swanson Joe Matson: Tony Janette Spencer Wishart: Alfred Hummel Gil Andersen: Frank Agan Billy Leisaw: R. C. Leisaw Louis Disbrow: Heinie Ulbricht Mel Marquette: Lay Fowler Eddie Hearne: John Schatz Lee Frayer: John Reider David Bruce-Brown: Tony Scudellari Harry Knight: Edgar (no known last name) Len Ormsby: Lawrence Keenan 12. RaceFanX posted: 01.03.2019 - 9:19 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) DePalma made five Champ Car starts for Mercedes in 1912 with this heartbreaker at Indianapolis being the only one he didn't win this year. At least he picked up the Vanderbilt Cup as a consolation four months later. 13. Eric posted: 04.09.2019 - 12:38 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) The first Indy where all the cars running finished on the lead lap 14. RaceFanX posted: 04.09.2019 - 1:20 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) @13 There's a reason for that. In this era to receive your prize money for a finishing position you had to complete all 500 miles. The race didn't end on the lap where the winner crosses the start-finish line as it does now, thus the reason while Ralph Mulford kept driving for more than two and half hours after Joe Dawson had won so he could finish the race. 15. Eric posted: 04.18.2019 - 8:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @13 Thank you for clearing that up. I was wondering why in the world the margin of victory was like 10 minutes! 16. Jimmie4life posted: 04.18.2019 - 8:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 6 and a half hours and add 2 and a half more hours means that Ralph Mulford apparently raced about 9 hours. By then no one must've been watching the race, right? 17. Alex posted: 04.19.2019 - 2:19 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) In fact, it took Mulford so long that, part way through his excursion, he stopped to eat dinner! 18. thog posted: 05.10.2020 - 10:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gil Andersen and Mel Marquette should be listed as "Crash" ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: