1937 INDIANAPOLIS 500

The 25th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Monday, May 31, 1937. With temperatures topping out at 92°F, it is one of the hottest days on record for the Indy 500.
Late in the race, Wilbur Shaw held a comfortable lead, and had lapped second place Ralph Hepburn. With about 20 laps to go, however, Shaw's car had been leaking oil, and had nearly lost nearly all of the oil out of the crankcase. In addition, the right rear tire was heavily worn. Shaw slowed down considerably in an effort to nurse his car to the finish line. Shaw and his riding mechanic John "Jigger" Johnson were both suffering from burns due to the leaking oil. Second place Hepburn realized Shaw's problems, and began a charge to catch him. He unlapped himself, and went on a tear in hopes of victory.
As the laps dwindled down, Ralph Hepburn was closing dramatically. Shaw was largely defenseless, as he was carefully nursing the car around. As the car went in and out of the turns, the oil pressure was rising and dropping, and Shaw was calculating how much time he could give up per lap and still maintain the lead. Hepburn closed to a straightaway deficit, then was nearly in reach. On the final lap, Hepburn pulled within a few seconds. Some observers claim that Hepburn took the lead momentarily down the backstretch, but spectators in turn four reported that Shaw held the lead through the final turn with Hepburn directly behind.
With nothing to lose, Shaw floored the accelerator and pulled away down the final straight. He held off Hepburn for the win by 2.16 seconds, the closest finish in Indy 500 history to that point. The margin would stand as the closest finish ever at Indy until 1982. Taken from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1937_Indianapolis_500

Note: for 1937 turns 1 and 2 were resurfaced with asphalt.

Starting Lineup:

Row 1	Bill Cummings	Wilbur Shaw	Herb Ardinger
Row 2	Billy Winn	Louis Meyer	Ralph Hepburn
Row 3	Tony Gulotta	Mauri Rose	Chet Gardner
Row 4	Ronney Householder	Deacon Litz	George Connor
Row 5	Chet Miller	Billy DeVore	Frank Brisko
Row 6	Cliff Bergere	Floyd Roberts	Louis Tomei
Row 7	Jimmy Snyder	Kelly Petillo	Bob Swanson
Row 8	Harry McQuinn	Rex Mays	Floyd Davis
Row 9	Shorty Cantlon	Al Miller	Tony Willman
Row 10	George Bailey	Ken Fowler	Russ Snowberger
Row 11	Babe Stapp	Ted Horn	Frank Wearne
Other Drivers on entry list:
Al Putnam
Dave Evans
Doc Williams
Duke Nalon
Emil Andres
Frank McGurk
Fred Frame
George Barringer
Henry Banks
Ira Hall
Joel Thorne
Johnny Seymour
Lee Oldfield
Lou Webb
Luther Johnson
Milt Marion
Overton Phillips
Ray Yeager
Tom Cosman
Vern Ornduff
Woody Woodford
Zeke Meyer
Finish	Driver	Laps	Status	Prize Money
1	Wilbur Shaw	200	113.58	$35,075
2	Ralph Hepburn	200	113.565	$15,937
3	Ted Horn	200	113.434	$7,087
4	Louis Meyer	200	110.73	$4,275
5	Cliff Bergere	200	108.935	$3,725
6	Bill Cummings	200	107.124	$3,187
7	Billy DeVore	200	106.995	$1,962
8	Tony Gulotta	200	105.015	$1,787
9	George Connor	200	103.83	$1,862
10	Louis Tomei	200	101.825	$1,487
11	Chet Gardner	199	Running	$912
12	Ronney Householder	194	Running	$737
13	Floyd Roberts	194	Running	$600
14	Deacon Litz	191	Out of oil	$535
15	Floyd Davis	190	Accident	$520
16	Shorty Cantlon	182	Running	$505
17	Al Miller	170	Carburetor	$490
18	Mauri Rose	127	Oil line	$475
19	Ken Fowler	116	Car pushed	$460
20	Kelly Petillo	109	Out of oil	$1,445
21	George Bailey	107	Clutch	$430
22	Herb Ardinger	106	Rod	$915
23	Frank Brisko	105	No oil pressure	$400
24	Frank Wearne	99	Carburetor	$385
25	Tony Willman	95	Rod	$370
26	Billy Winn	85	Oil line	$605
27	Russ Snowberger	66	Clutch	$340
28	Bob Swanson	52	Carburetor	$825
29	Harry McQuinn	47	Piston	$560
30	Chet Miller	36	Ignition	$295
31	Babe Stapp	36	Clutch	$280
32	Jimmy Snyder	27	Transmission	$3,165
33	Rex Mays	24	Overheating	$500
Lap Leaders:
1 2	Herb Ardinger
3 26	Jimmy Snyder
27-74	Wilbur Shaw
75-83	Ralph Hepburn
84-129	Wilbur Shaw
130-163	Bob Swanson
164-200	Wilbur Shaw