Battle of Backbone Mountain

The 27th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes Race was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 30, 1939. The race was won by the number two car of Wilbur Shaw, who started in the third position, driving a Maserati 8CTF.^[3] The race was notable for a three car accident on lap 109, when Floyd Roberts, the reigning champion, was killed when his car went through the wooden outer wall at over 100 miles (160 km) an hour at the backstretch.^[4] In Louis Meyer's final Indy 500, he too would crash at the backstretch at over 100 miles (160 km) an hour, but he walked away unharmed.

Time trials

Ten-lap qualifying runs were eliminated for 1939, and the distance reverted to four-lap (10 mile) runs. This change was made permanent, and four-lap runs have been used ever since.

Starting grid

Row	Inside		Middle		Outside
1	10	Jimmy Snyder	45	Louis Meyer W	2	Wilbur Shaw W
2	4	Ted Horn	3	Chet Miller	17	George Bailey
3	47	Shorty Cantlon	16	Mauri Rose	9	Herb Ardinger
4	54	Cliff Bergere	29	Frank Brisko	18	George Connor
5	25	Ralph Hepburn	49	Mel Hansen R	41	George Barringer
6	31	Babe Stapp	14	Frank Wearne	37	Ira Hall
7	15	Rex Mays	8	Joel Thorne	44	Emil Andres
8	32	Bob Swanson	1	Floyd Roberts W	35	Kelly Petillo W
9	21	Russ Snowberger	51	Tony Willman	62	Tony Gulotta
10	42	Al Miller	56	Floyd Davis	58	Louis Tomei
11	53	Deacon Litz	38	Harry McQuinn	26	Billy Devore

R Indianapolis 500 rookie

W Indianapolis 500 winner

Alternates

First alternate: George Robson R ^[5]

Failed to Qualify

Henry Banks (#39)
Sam Hanks R (#42)
Tommy Hinnershitz R (#33)
Ronney Householder (#26)
Frank McGurk (#41)
Zeke Meyer (#27)
Duke Nalon (#7)
Johnny Seymour (#61)
Lou Webb R (#59)
Doc Williams (#36)^[6]

Floyd Roberts crash

With Roberts on lap 109, the car driven by Bob Swanson lost control and went sideways. Roberts' car contacted Swanson's, causing Swanson's car to eject Swanson, flip over, and catch fire, while Roberts' car went through the outer wall. Attempting to avoid the accident, Chet Miller swerved into the debris field. His car flipped, and went into the inner wall. Two spectators were also injured by flying debris. The three drivers were taken to hospitals, while it took over 30 minutes to clear the burning wreck of Swanson's car from the track. Roberts death due to brain injuries was announced before the race was completed.^[7]

First rear-engined car

George Bailey became the first driver to compete with a rear-engined car in the Indianapolis 500 when he contested the 1939 race in a Gulf-Miller.^[8]

Box score

Finish	Start	No	Name	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	Qual	Rank	Laps	Status
1	3	2	Wilbur Shaw W	Boyle Racing Headquarters	Maserati	Maserati	128.977	4	200	115.035 mph
2	1	10	Jimmy Snyder	Joel Thorne, Inc.	Adams	Sparks	130.138	1	200	+1:48.12
3	10	54	Cliff Bergere	Lewis W. Welch	Miller-Ford	Offenhauser	123.835	15	200	+3:03.91
4	4	4	Ted Horn	Boyle Racing Headquarters	Miller	Miller	127.723	6	200	+7:21.33
5	16	31	Babe Stapp	Bill White Race Cars, Inc.	Alfa Romeo-Weil	Alfa Romeo	125.000	12	200	+8:55.19
6	15	41	George Barringer	Bill White Race Cars, Inc.	Weil	Offenhauser	120.935	28	200	+9:25.11
7	20	8	Joel Thorne	Joel Thorne, Inc.	Adams	Sparks	122.177	23	200	+10:54.55
8	8	16	Mauri Rose	W. Wilbur Shaw	Shaw	Offenhauser	124.896	13	200	+13:04.31
9	17	14	Frank Wearne	Moore & Roberts	Wetteroth	Offenhauser	125.074	11	200	+17:29.16
10	33	26	Billy Devore (Henry Banks Laps 146–189)	Leon Duray	Weil	Duray	+26:55.88	33	200	Running
11	27	62	Tony Gulotta (Harry McQuinn Laps 111–127)	George Lyons	Stevens	Offenhauser	121.749	24	200	+27:50.52
12	2	45	Louis Meyer W	Bowes Racing, Inc.	Stevens	Winfield	130.067	2	197	Crash BS
13	12	18	George Connor	Joseph Marks	Adams	Offenhauser	123.208	19	195	Stalled
14	26	51	Tony Willman	Joe Lencki	Lencki	Lencki	122.771	21	188	Fuel pump
15	30	58	Louis Tomei (Mel Hansen Laps 161–186)	Frank T. Griswold	Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo	118.426	30	186	Flagged
16	19	15	Rex Mays	Thorne Engineering Corp.	Adams	Sparks	126.413	7	145	Rings
17	9	9	Herb Ardinger (Frank Brisko Laps 76–94) (Mel Hansen Laps 137–141)	Harry Hartz	Wetteroth	Miller	124.125	14	141	Clutch
18	24	35	Kelly Petillo W	Kelly Petillo	Wetteroth	Offenhauser	123.660	16	141	Pistons
19	14	49	Mel Hansen R	Joel Thorne, Inc.	Shaw	Offenhauser	121.683	25	113	Crash Pits
20	32	38	Harry McQuinn (Al Putnam Laps 12–36) (Frank Brisko Laps 37–42) (Al Putnam Laps 43–76) (George Robson Laps 77–110)	F. Burren	Blume	Brisko	117.287	32	110	Ignition
21	5	3	Chet Miller	Boyle Racing Headquarters	Summers	Miller	126.318	8	109	Crash BS
22	13	25	Ralph Hepburn (Bob Swanson Laps 104–107)	Anthony Gulotta	Stevens	Offenhauser	122.204	22	107	Crash BS
23	23	1	Floyd Roberts W ✝	Lou Moore, Inc.	Wetteroth	Offenhauser	128.968	5	106	Crash BS
24	18	37	Ira Hall	Magnee & Nowiak	Nowiak	Studebaker	121.188	27	89	Head gasket
25	25	21	Russ Snowberger	Russell Snowberger	Snowberger	Miller	123.199	20	50	Radiator
26	6	17	George Bailey	Harry A. Miller	Miller	Miller	125.821	9	47	Valve
27	29	56	Floyd Davis	Ed Walsh	Miller	Offenhauser	119.375	29	43	Shock absorber
28	28	42	Al Miller	Paul Weirick	Adams	Offenhauser	123.233	18	41	Accelerator
29	11	29	Frank Brisko	Frank Brisko	Stevens	Brisko	123.351	17	38	Air pump
30	21	44	Emil Andres	Jimmy Snyder	Stevens	Offenhauser	121.212	26	22	Spark plugs
31	22	32	Bob Swanson	Sampson Motors, Inc.	Stevens	Sampson	129.431	3	19	Rear axle
32	7	47	Shorty Cantlon	Assoc. Enterprises, Ltd.	Stevens	Offenhauser	125.567	10	15	Main bearing
33	31	53	Deacon Litz	Richard T. Wharton	Maserati	Maserati	117.979	31	7	Valve
^[9]^[10]

Note: Relief drivers in parentheses^[11]

W Former Indianapolis 500 winner

R Indianapolis 500 Rookie

All entrants utilized Firestone tires.

Race statistics

Lap Leaders
Laps	Leader
1–36	Jimmy Snyder
37–69	Wilbur Shaw
70–73	Louis Meyer
74	Rex Mays
75–103	Jimmy Snyder
104–130	Louis Meyer
131–134	Ted Horn
135–182	Louis Meyer
183–200	Wilbur Shaw

Total laps led
Driver	Laps
Louis Meyer	79
Jimmy Snyder	65
Wilbur Shaw	51
Ted Horn	4
Rex Mays	1

Yellow Lights
Laps*	Reason
106–125	Floyd Roberts crash on backstretch (31:30)
* – Approximate lap counts^[12]

References

^ ^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, 1939). "Oh, Yes, the Crowd! It Was There Too; 145,000 of It and All Well-Red". The Indianapolis Star. p. 1. Retrieved June 3, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "1939 Indianapolis 500 Official Box Score :: Indianapolis 500". Archived from the original on 2008-05-14. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
^ "Wilbur Shaw Wins. Floyd Roberts Dies". Associated Press. May 31, 1939. Retrieved 2012-10-08. Shaw swept through a trail of death and destruction Tuesday to win the twenty-seventh running of the Indianapolis motor speedway 500 mile race and stand ...^{[permanent dead link]}
^ The Talk of Gasoline Alley - 1070-AM WIBC, May 14, 2004
^ "1939 International 500 Mile Sweepstakes". ChampCarStats.com. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
^ Reginald Cleveland (May 31, 1939). "Roberts, 1938 Victor, Dies in Triple Crash as Shaw Takes Indianapolis Race. Just After Accident At Indianapolis And Finish Of The Race". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-10-08. Death in the afternoon struck at the twenty-seventh running of the 500 mile Speedway race today as Wilbur Shaw of Indianapolis, who won in 1938 ... Floyd Roberts, last year's popular victor, died in the Methodist Hospital ....
^ George Bailey, indymotorspeedway.com Retrieved 7 December 2015
^ "Indianapolis 500 1939". Ultimate Racing History. Archived from the original on January 17, 2012. Retrieved January 16, 2012.
^ Popely, Rick; Riggs, L. Spencer (1998). The Indianapolis 500 Chronicle. Lincolnwood, Illinois: Publications International, Ltd. ISBN 0-7853-2798-3.
^ "International 500 Mile Sweepstakes – May 30, 1939". ChampCarStats.com.
^ McLemore, Henry (May 31, 1939). "1938 Winner Roberts Dies After Racer Smacks Wall". Winston-Salen Journal. p. 1. Retrieved April 25, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

1938 Indianapolis 500 Floyd Roberts	1939 Indianapolis 500 Wilbur Shaw	1940 Indianapolis 500 Wilbur Shaw

[Illustrated-1] 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] Brooks, Ralph L. (May 31, 1939). "Oh, Yes, the Crowd! It Was There Too; 145,000 of It and All Well-Red". The Indianapolis Star. p. 1. Retrieved June 3, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.

[3] "1939 Indianapolis 500 Official Box Score :: Indianapolis 500". Archived from the original on 2008-05-14. Retrieved 2008-06-11.

[4] "Wilbur Shaw Wins. Floyd Roberts Dies". Associated Press. May 31, 1939. Retrieved 2012-10-08. Shaw swept through a trail of death and destruction Tuesday to win the twenty-seventh running of the Indianapolis motor speedway 500 mile race and stand ...^{[permanent dead link]}

[5] The Talk of Gasoline Alley - 1070-AM WIBC, May 14, 2004

[6] "1939 International 500 Mile Sweepstakes". ChampCarStats.com. Retrieved 28 June 2015.

[7] Reginald Cleveland (May 31, 1939). "Roberts, 1938 Victor, Dies in Triple Crash as Shaw Takes Indianapolis Race. Just After Accident At Indianapolis And Finish Of The Race". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-10-08. Death in the afternoon struck at the twenty-seventh running of the 500 mile Speedway race today as Wilbur Shaw of Indianapolis, who won in 1938 ... Floyd Roberts, last year's popular victor, died in the Methodist Hospital ....

[8] George Bailey, indymotorspeedway.com Retrieved 7 December 2015

[9] "Indianapolis 500 1939". Ultimate Racing History. Archived from the original on January 17, 2012. Retrieved January 16, 2012.

[10] Popely, Rick; Riggs, L. Spencer (1998). The Indianapolis 500 Chronicle. Lincolnwood, Illinois: Publications International, Ltd. ISBN 0-7853-2798-3.

[11] "International 500 Mile Sweepstakes – May 30, 1939". ChampCarStats.com.

[12] McLemore, Henry (May 31, 1939). "1938 Winner Roberts Dies After Racer Smacks Wall". Winston-Salen Journal. p. 1. Retrieved April 25, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

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