|| *Comments on the 1937 International 500:* View the most recent comment <#10> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. Jolly Mean Giant posted: 01.26.2016 - 3:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Info for some of the DNQ drivers: Woody Woodford: Nationality: American Hometown: Wichita, Kansas Born: July 5, 1905 Died: May 10, 1942 Ray Yeagar: Nationality: American Hometown: Wilmington, Illinois Born: January 11, 1900 Died: March 15, 1993 Tom Cosman: Nationality: American Hometown: Waynesboro, Pennsylvania Born: May 13, 1908 Died: January 31, 1973 Lee Oldfield: Nationality: American Hometown: Newton, Kansas Born: June 6, 1889 Died: November 1, 1978 2. Jolly Mean Giant posted: 01.26.2016 - 6:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Overton Phillips had a bad crash while attempting to qualify for this race, crashing into the pit lane and killing spectator George Warford. Phillips and his riding mechanic Walt King were injured, and two others were also hurt-one of whom, Otto Rohde, died of his injuries a few days later. (Makes me wonder why it took until the 1950s for Indy to actually add a pit wall...) Interesting note: Lee Oldfield had previously attempted to qualify for this race way back in 1912, the second ever running of the 500 (he didn't make the field back then, either). The 25 years-a full quarter of a century-between his attempts has got to be a record. 3. Jolly Mean Giant posted: 01.28.2016 - 4:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) First Indy 500 starts for Billy DeVore, Ronney Householder, Floyd Davis, Ken Fowler, Frank Wearne, Tony Willman, and Bob Swanson. Last Indy 500 start for Billy Winn. 4. Jolly Mean Giant posted: 01.30.2016 - 5:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Qualifying results: 1. Jimmy Snyder-125.287 MPH 2. Kelly Petillo-124.129 MPH 3. Bill Cummings-123.343 MPH 4. Wilbur Shaw-122.791 MPH 5. Herb Ardinger-121.983 MPH 6. Bob Swanson-121.920 MPH 7. Harry McQuinn-121.822 MPH 8. George Connor-120.240 MPH 9. Billy DeVore-120.192 MPH 10. Rex Mays-119.968 MPH 11. Billy Winn-119.922 MPH 12. Louis Meyer-119.619 MPH 13. Chet Miller-119.213 MPH 14. Floyd Davis-118.942 MPH 15. Ralph Hepburn-118.809 MPH 16. Tony Gulotta-118.788 MPH 17. Ted Horn-118.608 MPH 18. Shorty Cantlon-118.555 MPH 19. Mauri Rose-118.540 MPH 20. Al Miller-118.518 MPH 21. Tony Willman-118.241 MPH 22. Frank Wearne-118.220 MPH 23. Frank Brisko-118.213 MPH 24. Cliff Bergere-117.546 MPH 25. George Bailey-117.497 MPH 26. Ken Fowler-117.421 MPH 27. Russ Snowberger-117.354 MPH 28. Chet Gardner-117.342 MPH 29. Babe Stapp-117.226 MPH 30. Floyd Roberts-116.996 MPH 31. Ronney Householder-116.464 MPH 32. Louis Tomei-116.437 MPH 33. Deacon Litz-116.372 MPH 5. Jolly Mean Giant posted: 07.29.2016 - 7:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This was the last Indy 500 in which it was mandatory for each driver to have a riding mechanic accompany them during the race. Jigger Johnson went down in the books as the final riding mechanic to win the 500 (in Wilbur Shaw's car). In 1938 they were made optional and from that point onward no driver ever utilized one again. The riding mechanics for this race: 1. Wilbur Shaw-Jigger Johnson 2. Ralph Hepburn-Paul Levan 3. Ted Horn-Harry Dean 4. Louis Meyer-Harry Meyer 5. Cliff Bergere-Louis Miller 6. Bill Cummings-Frankie DelRoy 7. Billy DeVore-Fred Post 8. Tony Gulotta-Johnny Pawl 9. George Connor-Ed Kaelin 10. Louis Tomei-John Peck 11. Chet Gardner-Robert Eastridge 12. Ronney Householder-Frank Duvall 13. Floyd Roberts-Romeo Parenti 14. Deacon Litz-Hollis Chessman 15. Floyd Davis-Dee Toran 16. Shorty Cantlon-Fred Mangold 17. Al Miller-Jimmy Jackson 18. Mauri Rose-Earl Unversaw 19. Ken Fowler-Bud Schneider 20. Kelly Petillo-Earl Frost 21. George Bailey-Cleo Diggs 22. Herb Ardinger-Herschell McKee 23. Frank Brisko-Lester Brooks 24. Frank Wearne-Johnny McDowell 25. Tony Willman-Jack Petty 26. Billy Winn-Duke Smale 27. Russ Snowberger-Eddie Metzler 28. Bob Swanson-Bob Flory 29. Harry McQuinn-James Chappell 30. Chet Miller-Pinkie Donaldson 31. Babe Stapp-Cecil Yates 32. Jimmy Snyder-Chickie Hirashima 33. Rex Mays-Lawson Harris 6. Jolly Mean Giant posted: 08.15.2016 - 8:33 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Tragedy struck twice in qualifying for this race; aside from the Overton Phillips crash that killed two people, Frank McGurk also had a serious accident while making his qualifying run. McGurk was seriously injured, and his riding mechanic, Albert Opalko, lost his life. This was one of the hottest Indy 500s ever run, temperatures reached as high as 92F. It's not oft-remembered as the '53 race, however (probably because driver Carl Scarborough died from heat exhaustion in that race). Jimmy Snyder was the fastest qualifier in the field, but had to line up 19th because he turned in his qualifying time after pole day. (He attempted to qualify on pole day, but darkness cut short his run as he was on a record-breaking pace). Snyder powered through the field in the opening circuits and was running 6th by the end of lap one. He took the top spot on just the fourth lap and began to pull away, but on lap 28 his #5 suffered transmission failure which put him out of the 500. Rookie Bob Swanson (who had turned in the 6th fastest time) also charged through the field to the lead after starting 21st, but was on the sidelines after only 52 laps due to carburetor problems. Wilbur Shaw dominated most of this race, but with about 50 miles to go he began leaking oil. He backed off the pace to try to coast to the checkered. He had just recently lapped second-place Ralph Hepburn, who proceeded to make up his lap when Shaw slowed down. Shaw backed off so much that Ralph made up almost a full lap on him in the final 20 laps, and by the final lap Hepburn had caught up. He was right behind Shaw coming out of turn 4, but Shaw floored it down the straightaway and was able to win his first 500 by just over 2 seconds. It would be the closest margin in Speedway's history for nearly half-a-century. 7. Jolly Mean Giant posted: 03.21.2017 - 11:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) First alternate: Emil Andres Second alternate: Joel Thorne Thorne, a wealthy multimillionaire playboy, caused some controversy prior to this race when he attempted to use his wealth to purchase his was into the field. He first bought Andres' car and intended to withdraw it so he could be elevated to first alternate. He then planned to purchase Cliff Bergere's qualified car and withdraw it as well so he would be bumped up into the field. When AAA got word of what Joel was trying to do, they forced him to stop by threatening to suspend his license if he went ahead. 8. bduddy posted: 06.16.2017 - 3:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The "laps led" numbers (which match other sources) cannot be correct - they imply that Snyder and Swanson together led 58 of the first 52 laps. It is possible that some or all of their listed laps were actually led while driving other cars. 9. Jolly Mean Giant posted: 06.16.2017 - 5:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) ^All of Snyder's laps led came in the car he started. He had a real rocket ship that day as he charged from 19th to 6th in the opening lap, and took the lead on the fourth lap. He led until his car's transmission failed on lap 28. Swanson had to have led at least some or perhaps all of his laps in Ralph Hepburn's car since he relieved him for 55 laps in the middle of the race. 10. JollyMeanGiant posted: 03.03.2021 - 1:59 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) 35 cars completed full qualifying runs. Emil Andres in the #36 was 34th fastest and Joel Thorne in the #22 was 35th fastest ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: