1948 Indianapolis 500
The 32nd International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Monday, May 31, 1948.
| 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 | ||||
| Starter | Seth Klein | ||||
| Honorary referee | Albert G. Feeney | ||||
| Estimated attendance | 200,000 | ||||
| Chronology | |||||
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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 to 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.