1942 Indianapolis 500
| Indianapolis Motor Speedway | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indianapolis 500 | |||||
| Sanctioning body | AAA | ||||
| Date | May 30, 1942 (cancelled) | ||||
| Winner | None | ||||
| Winning Entrant | None | ||||
| Pre-race | |||||
| Pace car | Not announced | ||||
| Pace car driver | Not announced | ||||
| Chronology | |||||
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The 1942 Indianapolis 500 was scheduled for Saturday May 30, 1942, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It was to be the 30th annual running of the famous automobile race. The race was canceled due to the United States involvement in World War II. In total, the Indianapolis 500 was not held from 1942 to 1945.
This was the second instance in which the Indianapolis Motor Speedway suspended the annual running of the Indianapolis 500. During World War I the Speedway management voluntarily suspended competition in 1917–1918. However, for World War II, the cancellation of events was part of a four-year nationwide ban on automobile racing.
During the war, the track was closed, and fell into a terrible state of disrepair.
Following the 1941 race, the 1941 National Championship was won by Rex Mays. With the hostilities of World War II escalating abroad, rumors began to circulate during the summer of 1941 that the 1942 race may be suspended. Track officials, however, rebuffed the rumors, and insisted the race would go on as planned. The AAA Contest Board announced their rules package for 1942, and with the United States still not involved in the war, preparations were underway to race. Rules and specifications were effectively frozen, as parts shortages due to the war were beginning to affect the sport.
A fire had swept through the garage area on the morning of the 1941 race, destroying the car of George Barringer, and burning down about a third of the southern bank of garages. About a month later, plans were drafted to rebuild the garages, and the work was done at some point during the summer and fall of 1941.
As was customary at the time, a number of non-points exhibition races took place at the Speedway in July, August, and September 1941. These races were usually put on to entertain visiting conventioneers. On September 9, 1941, an exhibition "match race" was held at the Speedway to entertain delegates attending the National Association of Postal Supervisors convention. Five drivers - Duke Nalon, Cliff Bergere, Russ Snowberger, Chet Miller, and George Connor - ran two short races. Nalon won the first, a 10-mile race, and Bergere won the second, a 15-mile race. It would be the last event held at the Speedway before the war intervened.
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