1948 Indianapolis 500

32nd Indianapolis 500

Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Indianapolis 500
Sanctioning body	AAA
Date	May 31, 1948
Winner	Mauri Rose
Winning Entrant	Lou Moore
Average speed	119.814 mph (192.822 km/h)
Pole position	Rex Mays
Pole speed	130.577 mph (210.143 km/h)
Most laps led	Mauri Rose (81)
Pre-race
Pace car	Chevrolet Fleetmaster
Pace car driver	Wilbur Shaw
Chronology
Previous Next 1947 1949

The 32nd International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Monday, May 31, 1948.

For the second year in a row, the Blue Crown Spark Plug teammates Mauri Rose and Bill Holland finished 1st-2nd. Rose became the second driver to win the Indianapolis 500 in consecutive years. Unlike the previous year's race, no controversy surrounds the results. Coupled with his co-victory in 1941, Rose became the third three-time winner at Indy.

Fourth place finisher Ted Horn completed a noteworthy record of nine consecutive races from 1936-1948 completing 1,799 out of a possible 1,800 laps. His nine consecutive finishes of 4th or better (however, with no victories) is the best such streak in Indy history. The only lap he missed in 1940 was due to being flagged for a rain shower.

Duke Nalon's third-place finish would be the best-ever result for the popular Novi engine.^[1]

Results

Finish	Start	No	Name	Qual	Rank	Laps	Led	Status
1	3	3	Mauri Rose (W)	129.129	4	200	81	Running
2	2	2	Bill Holland	129.515	3	200	0	Running
3	11	54	Duke Nalon	131.603	1	200	9	Running
4	5	1	Ted Horn	126.565	9	200	74	Running
5	21	35	Mack Hellings (R)	127.968	6	200	0	Running
6	14	63	Hal Cole	124.391	18	200	0	Running
7	28	91	Lee Wallard (R)	128.420	5	200	0	Running
8	27	33	Johnny Mauro (R) (Relieved by Louis Durant)	121.790	33	198	0	Flagged
9	23	7	Tommy Hinnershitz	125.122	14	198	0	Flagged
10	4	61	Jimmy Jackson	127.510	7	193	0	Spindle
11	12	4	Charles Van Acker	125.440	13	192	0	Flagged
12	20	19	Billy Devore	123.967	21	190	0	Flagged
13	8	98	Johnny Mantz (R)	122.791	27	185	0	Flagged
14	22	6	Tony Bettenhausen	126.396	10	167	0	Clutch
15	18	64	Hal Robson	122.796	26	164	0	Valve
16	7	36	Bill Cantrell (R)	123.733	22	161	0	Steering
17	10	55	Joie Chitwood (Relieved by Paul Russo) (Relieved by Johnny Shackleford)	124.619	15	138	0	Fuel leak
18	24	53	Bill Sheffler	124.529	17	132	0	Spark plugs
19	1	5	Rex Mays	130.577	2	129	36	Fuel leak
20	19	31	Chet Miller (Had relief help)	127.249	8	108	0	Oil trouble
21	13	52	Jack McGrath (R)	124.580	16	70	0	Stalled
22	29	16	Duane Carter (R)	126.015	11	59	0	Lost wheel
23	32	26	Fred Agabashian	122.737	28	58	0	Oil line
24	9	34	Les Anderson	122.337	30	58	0	Gears
25	33	17	Mel Hansen	122.117	32	42	0	Too slow
26	15	76	Sam Hanks	124.266	19	34	0	Clutch
27	30	51	Spider Webb (R)	125.545	12	27	0	Oil line
28	17	9	George Connor	123.018	25	24	0	Drive shaft
29	6	74	Doc Williams	124.151	20	19	0	Clutch
30	31	86	Mike Salay (R)	123.393	24	13	0	Stalled
31	16	8	Emil Andres	123.550	23	11	0	Steering
32	25	25	Paul Russo	122.595	29	7	0	Oil leak
33	26	65	Harry McQuinn	122.154	31	1	0	Supercharger
[2]

Alternates

• First alternate: Johnny Shackleford (R) (#48)^[3]

Failed to Qualify

Broadcasting

Radio

The race was carried live on the Mutual Broadcasting System, the precursor to the IMS Radio Network. The broadcast was sponsored by Perfect Circle Piston Rings and Bill Slater served as the anchor. The broadcast feature live coverage of the start, the finish, and live updates throughout the race.

Sid Collins, from WIBC, joined the crew for the first time, serving as a turn reporter at the south end of the track.

Gallery

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1948 Indianapolis 500.

• 

  Johnny Mauro's 1948 Alfa Romeo 308

• 

  1948 Novi

See also

• 1948 AAA Championship Car season

Notes

References