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{{short description|Italian-American racing driver}} {{Short description|American racing driver (1882–1956)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox person {{Infobox racing driver
| name =Ralph De Palma
| image =File:Ralph DePalma 1912.jpg | name = Ralph DePalma
| image = Ralph DePalma 1912.jpg
| caption =DePalma in 1912 | caption = DePalma in 1912
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1882|12|19}}
| birth_name = Raffaele De Palma
| birth_place =]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1956|3|31|1882|12|18}} | birth_date = {{Birth date|1882|12|19}}
| death_place =], US | birth_place = ], ], Italy
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1956|03|31|1882|12|19}}
| nationality =]
| death_place = ], U.S.
| known_for =]
| titles = '''Major victories''' <br/> ] (1912, 1914) <br/> ] (])
⚫ }}
| module1 =
⚫ ] ]]
{{Infobox Champ Car driver|embed=yes
⚫ ] ]]
| Total_Champ_Races = 100
⚫ ]
| Years_In_Champ = 23
⚫ ]
| Best_Champ_Pos = 4th (], ])
]
| First_Champ_Race = ] ] <br/> (])
| Last_Champ_Race = ] Syracuse 100 (])
| First_Champ_Win = ] Long Island Stock Car Derby, <br/> Class A (])
| Last_Champ_Win = ] 25-mile Heat #1 (])
| Champ_Wins = 25
| Champ_Podiums = 37
| Champ_Poles = 9
⚫ }}}}


'''Raffaele "Ralph" De Palma''' (December 18, 1882 &ndash; March 31, 1956) was an ] racecar driving champion who won the ]. His entry at the ] estimates that he won about 2,000 races.<ref name="IMHoF">{{cite web|url=http://www.motorsportshalloffame.com/halloffame/1991/Ralph_Depalma_main.htm|title=Biography|publisher=]|access-date=2009-02-05|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080706085654/http://www.motorsportshalloffame.com/halloffame/1991/Ralph_Depalma_main.htm|archive-date=2008-07-06}}</ref> DePalma won the 1908, 1909, 1910, and 1911 American AAA national dirt track championships<ref name="DetroitFreePressApril11956" /> and is credited with winning 24 ] races.<ref name="MHoFoA2"/> He won the Canadian national championship in 1929.<ref name="DetroitFreePressApril11956" /> DePalma estimated that he had earned $1.5 million by 1934 after racing for 27 years.<ref name="DetroitFreePressApril11956" /> He is inducted in numerous halls of fame. He competed on ] and ] ]s and ovals.<ref name="MHoFoA2"/> '''Raffaele "Ralph" DePalma''' (occasionally spelt '''De Palma''', December 19, 1882 – March 31, 1956) was an American ] who won the ]. His entry at the ] estimates that he won about 2,000 races.<ref name="IMHoF">{{cite web|url=http://www.motorsportshalloffame.com/halloffame/1991/Ralph_Depalma_main.htm|title=Biography|publisher=]|access-date=2009-02-05|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080706085654/http://www.motorsportshalloffame.com/halloffame/1991/Ralph_Depalma_main.htm|archive-date=2008-07-06}}</ref> DePalma won the 1908, 1909, 1910, and 1911 American AAA national dirt track championships<ref name="DetroitFreePressApril11956" /> and is credited with winning 25 ] races.<ref name="MHoFoA2"/> He won the Canadian national championship in 1929.<ref name="DetroitFreePressApril11956" /> DePalma estimated that he had earned $1.5 million by 1934 after racing for 27 years.<ref name="DetroitFreePressApril11956" /> He is inducted in numerous halls of fame. He competed on ] and ] ]s and ovals.<ref name="MHoFoA2"/>


==Biography== == Biography ==

Born in ], ], ], DePalma's family emigrated to the ] in 1893.<ref name="IMHoF" /> As a young man he tried bicycle racing with mixed success, but at the age of twenty-two he began racing motorcycles before switching to the automobile dirt track racing circuit in 1909, the year that the ] established the ]. Born in ], ], ], DePalma's family, who was from the near ], emigrated to the ] in the early 1890s.<ref name="IMHoF" /> As a young man he tried bicycle racing with mixed success, but at the age of twenty-two he began racing motorcycles before switching to the automobile dirt track racing circuit in 1909, the year that the ] established the ].

⚫ ]]]


DePalma was immediately successful in car racing. In 1911, DePalma won the first ]<ref> {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20070502212631/http://www.milwaukeemile.com/track_info/aboutEarlyYears.asp |date=2007-05-02 }}</ref> Championship Car race. However, he is still remembered for the dramatic manner in which he lost the ]. After leading the race for 196 of the 200 laps, his ] cracked a piston and with only 2 laps remaining; he and his mechanic had to push the car across the finish line to take eleventh place.<ref name="MHoFoA2"/> At that time, only cars completing the full 200 laps received any prize money. This Mercedes remains on display at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum. DePalma was immediately successful in car racing. In 1911, DePalma won the first ]<ref> {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20070502212631/http://www.milwaukeemile.com/track_info/aboutEarlyYears.asp |date=2007-05-02 }}</ref> Championship Car race. However, he is still remembered for the dramatic manner in which he lost the ]. After leading the race for 196 of the 200 laps, his ] cracked a piston and with only 2 laps remaining; he and his mechanic had to push the car across the finish line to take eleventh place.<ref name="MHoFoA2"/> At that time, only cars completing the full 200 laps received any prize money. This Mercedes remains on display at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum.


⚫ ]]]
⚫ He went on to earn the U.S. national driving championship that year,<ref name="IMHoF" /> but was almost killed in an accident on October 5 at the Grand Prize held in a road course in Milwaukee. After being impaled by a corn stalk, he was hospitalized for 11 weeks;<ref name="DetroitFreePressApril11956" /> he recovered and was back to racing the following spring.


⚫ He went on to perform strongly that year,<ref name="IMHoF" /> but was almost killed in an accident on October 5 at the Grand Prize held in a road course in Milwaukee. After being impaled by a corn stalk, he was hospitalized for 11 weeks;<ref name="DetroitFreePressApril11956" /> he recovered and was back to racing the following spring.
⚫ In 1912 and again in 1914, DePalma won the Elgin Trophy at ]<ref name="DetroitFreePressApril11956" /> and in 1914 he scored what he called his greatest victory when he beat ] to capture the ] on the roads of ].<ref name="MHoFoA2"/> He entered the ] and qualified, but withdrew before the race claiming he felt his engine could not survive the race.
⚫ DePalma had been let go by the ] racing team in favor of Barney Oldfield.<ref name="IMHoF" /> In a Mercedes "Gray Ghost," he showed he was a master tactician in beating Oldfield's much faster car.<ref name="MHoFoA2"/> He ended 1914 by winning his second U.S. national driving championship.<ref name="IMHoF" /> The following year, 1915, he drove to victory at ] with a Mercedes 4.5 liter GP car.


]
⚫ DePalma was an intense competitor but one of the most popular racers with his fellow drivers and the fans because of his good sportsmanship, a quality he displayed on and off the track. In June 1917 he lost to ] in a series of 10 to 25 mile match races at the ]. On February 12, 1919 at ], he drove a ] to a world speed record of {{convert|149.875|mi/h|km/h|3|abbr=on}} over a measured mile (1.6&nbsp;km).<ref name="MHoFoA2"/> International competition began following the adoption of the three liter engine limit in the U.S. and ] in 1920. DePalma began the year driving for the French manufacturer, ]. His Ballot vehicle won the pole position for the 1920 Indy race<ref name="brock2">] The Indianapolis 500: The Story of the Speedway. 1956. Harper Bros., New York. Page 25.</ref> and he led for many laps<ref name="brock2" /> but bad luck dogged him in the race (faulty bearings on the Ballot) and he did not finish.<ref name="brock2" /> However, DePalma did race his Ballot vehicle in the Elgin Road Race and won his third Elgin trophy in 1920. Then in 1921 DePalma traveled with other Americans to ] to compete in the ]. There, he finished second to the ] driven by fellow American, ]. DePalma won the Canadian national championship in 1929.<ref name="MHoFoA2"/>

⚫ In 1912 and again in 1914, DePalma won the ] at ]<ref name="DetroitFreePressApril11956" /> and in 1914 he scored what he called his greatest victory when he beat ] to capture the ] on the roads of ].<ref name="MHoFoA2"/> He entered the ] and qualified, but withdrew before the race claiming he felt his engine could not survive the race.
⚫ DePalma had been let go by the ] racing team in favor of Barney Oldfield.<ref name="IMHoF" /> In a Mercedes "Gray Ghost," he showed he was a master tactician in beating Oldfield's much faster car.<ref name="MHoFoA2"/> He ended 1914 by winning his second U.S. national driving championship.<ref name="IMHoF" /> The following year, 1915, he drove to victory at ] with a Mercedes 4.5 liter GP car, but became the subject of much controversy the following May, when he held out for appearance money to drive in the 1916 edition of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” which track owner, ] refused, and DePalma did not run in the 500 race. All was forgiven by September, when the Indianapolis Motor Speedway held a special "Harvest Classic" event and an agreement was reached for the great driver to race one of the Speedway’s Peugeots.<ref>https://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com/news-multimedia/news/2020/09/18/ims-1916-harvest-classic-04-08-2020</ref>

⚫ ]

⚫ DePalma was an intense competitor but one of the most popular racers with his fellow drivers and the fans because of his good sportsmanship, a quality he displayed on and off the track. In June 1917 he lost to ] in a series of 10 to 25 mile match races at the ]. On February 12, 1919, at ], he drove a ] to a world speed record of {{convert|149.875|mi/h|km/h|3|abbr=on}} over a measured mile (1.6&nbsp;km).<ref name="MHoFoA2"/> International competition began following the adoption of the three liter engine limit in the U.S. and ] in 1920. DePalma began the year driving for the French manufacturer, ]. His Ballot vehicle won the pole position for the 1920 Indianapolis race<ref name="brock2">] The Indianapolis 500: The Story of the Speedway. 1956. Harper Bros., New York. Page 25.</ref> and he led for many laps<ref name="brock2" /> but bad luck dogged him in the race (faulty bearings on the Ballot) and he did not finish.<ref name="brock2" /> However, DePalma did race his Ballot vehicle in the Elgin Road Race and won his third Elgin trophy in 1920. Then in 1921 DePalma traveled with other Americans to ] to compete in the ]. There, he finished second to the ] driven by fellow American, ]. DePalma won the Canadian national championship in 1929.<ref name="MHoFoA2"/>

⚫ ]

In 1923, he established the DePalma Manufacturing Company in Detroit to build race cars and engines for automobiles and aircraft.{{cn|date=October 2023}}


DePalma later competed in ] until he retired from racing in 1936.<ref name="IMHoF" /> In his career, he competed in 2,889 races in America and Europe and won 2,557, according to his Associated Press obituary that appeared in the Detroit Free Press on April 1, 1956.<ref name="DetroitFreePressApril11956">{{cite news|title=DePalma, Oldtime Racing Great, Dies|date=April 1, 1956|publisher=]}}</ref> He was an honorary referee for the Indianapolis 500, the last time in 1954.<ref name="MHoFoA2"/> DePalma later competed in ] until he retired from racing in 1936.<ref name="IMHoF" /> In his career, he competed in 2,889 races in America and Europe and won 2,557, according to his Associated Press obituary that appeared in the Detroit Free Press on April 1, 1956.<ref name="DetroitFreePressApril11956">{{cite news|title=DePalma, Oldtime Racing Great, Dies|date=April 1, 1956|publisher=]}}</ref> He was an honorary referee for the Indianapolis 500, the last time in 1954.<ref name="MHoFoA2"/>


==Death== == Death ==

He died at his home in ], from cancer on March 31, 1956 at age 73.<ref name="DetroitFreePressApril11956" /><ref>{{cite news |agency=] |title=Ralph De Palma, Noted Racer, Dies. Driver Triumphed in 1915 at Indianapolis. Elected to Sport's Hall of Fame |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1956/04/01/archives/ralph-de-palma-noted-racer-dies-driver-triumphed-in-1915-at.html |quote=Ralph De Palma, pioneer auto racer who probably won more races than any other driver in history, died today of cancer. His age was 72. ... De Palma, winner of the Indianapolis classic in 1915 and twice national champion in the era of Barney Oldfield and Eddie Rickenbacker, had been ailing for ... |newspaper=] |date=April 1, 1956 |access-date=2012-10-02 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Death Comes to DePalma. Famed Racing Driver Succumbs to Cancer |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/429322881.html?dids=429322881:429322881&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Apr+01,+1956&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=Death+Comes+to+DePalma&pqatl=google |quote=Ralph DePalma, whose blazing career as an automobile racer won him acclaim as one of the greatest drivers of all time, died yesterday at his South Pasadena home at 73 years of age. |work=] |date=April 1, 1956 |access-date=2010-07-24 }}</ref> He was interred in the ] in ]. DePalma died at his home in ], from cancer on March 31, 1956, at age 73.<ref name="DetroitFreePressApril11956" /><ref>{{cite news |agency=] |title=Ralph De Palma, Noted Racer, Dies. Driver Triumphed in 1915 at Indianapolis. Elected to Sport's Hall of Fame |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1956/04/01/archives/ralph-de-palma-noted-racer-dies-driver-triumphed-in-1915-at.html|newspaper=] |date=April 1, 1956 |access-date=2012-10-02 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Death Comes to DePalma. Famed Racing Driver Succumbs to Cancer |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/429322881.html?dids=429322881:429322881&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Apr+01,+1956&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=Death+Comes+to+DePalma&pqatl=google |work=] |date=April 1, 1956 |access-date=2010-07-24 |archive-date=2012-11-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103085643/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/429322881.html?dids=429322881:429322881&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Apr+01,+1956&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=Death+Comes+to+DePalma&pqatl=google |url-status=dead }}</ref> He was interred in the ] in ].

== Film appearances ==

⚫ DePalma had a small role in the 1920 Hollywood film '']'' and in 1924 played the part of the Champion in an action/drama film written by ] titled ''Racing for Life''. He also had a cameo in ''The Cool Hot Rod'' (1953).


==Media appearances== == Family ==
⚫ Ralph DePalma had a small role in the 1920 Hollywood film, '']'' and in 1924 played the part of the Champion in an action/drama written by ] titled ''Racing for Life''. In 1923, he established the DePalma Manufacturing Company in Detroit to build race cars and engines for automobiles and aircraft.


⚫ DePalma is the brother of 500 competitor ]<ref> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308200040/http://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com:8080/var/assets/stats/500/2011-family-participation.pdf |date=2012-03-08 }}</ref> and the maternal uncle of 1925 Indianapolis winner ].<ref>] The Indianapolis 500: The Story of the Speedway. 1956. Page 27.</ref>
He also had a cameo in ''The Cool Hot Rod'' (1953).


==Family== == Awards ==
⚫ DePalma was the brother of 500 competitor ]<ref> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308200040/http://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com:8080/var/assets/stats/500/2011-family-participation.pdf |date=2012-03-08 }}</ref> and the uncle of 1925 Indy winner ].<ref>] The Indianapolis 500: The Story of the Speedway. 1956. Page 27.</ref> De Palma obtained his American citizenship in 1920 (available at<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ancestry.com |title = Ancestry® {{!}} Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History Records}}</ref>), and as such he is considered the third non-American driver to win the Indianapolis 500 after ] and ].


==Awards==
*In 1973, he was made a posthumous member of the ] in ]. *In 1973, he was made a posthumous member of the ] in ].
*In 1991, he was inducted into the ].<ref name="IMHoF" /> *In 1991, he was inducted into the ].<ref name="IMHoF" />
*He was named to the ] in 1991. *He was named to the ] in 1991.
*He was inducted in the ] in 1992.<ref name=MSHoF> at the ]</ref> *He was inducted in the ] in 1992.<ref name=MSHoF> at the ]</ref>
*He was inducted into the ] in 1998.<ref>{{Cite web |title=AMA Motorcycle Museum Hall of Fame {{!}} Ralph DePalma |url=http://hof.motorcyclemuseum.org/halloffame/detail.aspx?RacerID=157&lpos=-820px&letter=D&txtFname=&rblFname=S&txtLname=&rblLname=S&discipline=0 |access-date=2024-01-13 |website=hof.motorcyclemuseum.org}}</ref>
*In 2006, DePalma was inducted into the Elgin (IL) Sports Hall of Fame. *In 2006, DePalma was inducted into the Elgin (IL) Sports Hall of Fame.



⚫ ==Indianapolis 500 results==
== Motorsports career results ==

⚫ === Indianapolis 500 results ===

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*DePalma's total of 613 laps led stood as the all time Indy lap leader record until tied by ] on the 200th lap of the ], and broken the following year.<ref name="MHoFoA2">{{cite web|url=http://www.mshf.com/index.htm?/hof/depalma_ralph.htm|title=Biography|year=1992|publisher=]|access-date=2009-02-05|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081029192923/http://www.mshf.com/index.htm?%2Fhof%2Fdepalma_ralph.htm|archive-date=2008-10-29}}</ref> * DePalma's total of 612 laps led stood as the all-time Indianapolis lap leader record until ] surpassed him on the 200th lap of the ].<ref name="MHoFoA2">{{cite web|url=http://www.mshf.com/index.htm?/hof/depalma_ralph.htm|title=Biography|year=1992|publisher=]|access-date=2009-02-05|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081029192923/http://www.mshf.com/index.htm?%2Fhof%2Fdepalma_ralph.htm|archive-date=2008-10-29}}</ref>


==References== == References ==

{{reflist}}
⚫ {{Commons category}}
{{Reflist}}

⚫ == External links ==


⚫ ==External links==
⚫ {{commons category}}
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* {{Find a Grave|277}} * {{Find a Grave|277}}


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Latest revision as of 11:16, 31 December 2024

American racing driver (1882–1956)

Ralph DePalma
DePalma in 1912
BornRaffaele De Palma
(1882-12-19)December 19, 1882
Biccari, Apulia, Italy
DiedMarch 31, 1956(1956-03-31) (aged 73)
South Pasadena, California, U.S.
Championship titles
Major victories
Vanderbilt Cup (1912, 1914)
Indianapolis 500 (1915)
Champ Car career
100 races run over 23 years
Best finish4th (1916, 1920)
First race1909 Wheeler-Schebler Trophy
(Indianapolis)
Last race1933 Syracuse 100 (Syracuse)
First win1909 Long Island Stock Car Derby,
Class A (Riverhead)
Last win1921 25-mile Heat #1 (Beverly Hills)
Wins Podiums Poles
25 37 9

Raffaele "Ralph" DePalma (occasionally spelt De Palma, December 19, 1882 – March 31, 1956) was an American racing driver who won the 1915 Indianapolis 500. His entry at the International Motorsports Hall of Fame estimates that he won about 2,000 races. DePalma won the 1908, 1909, 1910, and 1911 American AAA national dirt track championships and is credited with winning 25 American Championship car races. He won the Canadian national championship in 1929. DePalma estimated that he had earned $1.5 million by 1934 after racing for 27 years. He is inducted in numerous halls of fame. He competed on boards and dirt road courses and ovals.

Biography

Born in Biccari, Apulia, Italy, DePalma's family, who was from the near Troia, emigrated to the United States in the early 1890s. As a young man he tried bicycle racing with mixed success, but at the age of twenty-two he began racing motorcycles before switching to the automobile dirt track racing circuit in 1909, the year that the American Automobile Association established the national driving championship.

DePalma and his riding mechanic pushing their car at the 1912 Indianapolis 500

DePalma was immediately successful in car racing. In 1911, DePalma won the first Milwaukee Mile Championship Car race. However, he is still remembered for the dramatic manner in which he lost the 1912 Indianapolis 500. After leading the race for 196 of the 200 laps, his Mercedes cracked a piston and with only 2 laps remaining; he and his mechanic had to push the car across the finish line to take eleventh place. At that time, only cars completing the full 200 laps received any prize money. This Mercedes remains on display at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum.

DePalma and his riding mechanic pushing their car at the 1912 Indianapolis 500

He went on to perform strongly that year, but was almost killed in an accident on October 5 at the Grand Prize held in a road course in Milwaukee. After being impaled by a corn stalk, he was hospitalized for 11 weeks; he recovered and was back to racing the following spring.

DePalma at the 1915 Indianapolis 500

In 1912 and again in 1914, DePalma won the Elgin Trophy at Elgin, Illinois and in 1914 he scored what he called his greatest victory when he beat Barney Oldfield to capture the Vanderbilt Cup on the roads of Santa Monica, California. He entered the 1914 Indianapolis 500 and qualified, but withdrew before the race claiming he felt his engine could not survive the race. DePalma had been let go by the Mercer Automobile Co. racing team in favor of Barney Oldfield. In a Mercedes "Gray Ghost," he showed he was a master tactician in beating Oldfield's much faster car. He ended 1914 by winning his second U.S. national driving championship. The following year, 1915, he drove to victory at 1915 Indianapolis 500 with a Mercedes 4.5 liter GP car, but became the subject of much controversy the following May, when he held out for appearance money to drive in the 1916 edition of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” which track owner, Carl G. Fisher refused, and DePalma did not run in the 500 race. All was forgiven by September, when the Indianapolis Motor Speedway held a special "Harvest Classic" event and an agreement was reached for the great driver to race one of the Speedway’s Peugeots.

Ralph DePalma and his Packard V-12 in 1919

DePalma was an intense competitor but one of the most popular racers with his fellow drivers and the fans because of his good sportsmanship, a quality he displayed on and off the track. In June 1917 he lost to Barney Oldfield in a series of 10 to 25 mile match races at the Milwaukee Mile. On February 12, 1919, at Daytona Beach, Florida, he drove a Packard to a world speed record of 149.875 mph (241.200 km/h) over a measured mile (1.6 km). International competition began following the adoption of the three liter engine limit in the U.S. and Europe in 1920. DePalma began the year driving for the French manufacturer, Ballot. His Ballot vehicle won the pole position for the 1920 Indianapolis race and he led for many laps but bad luck dogged him in the race (faulty bearings on the Ballot) and he did not finish. However, DePalma did race his Ballot vehicle in the Elgin Road Race and won his third Elgin trophy in 1920. Then in 1921 DePalma traveled with other Americans to Le Mans to compete in the French Grand Prix. There, he finished second to the Duesenberg driven by fellow American, Jimmy Murphy. DePalma won the Canadian national championship in 1929.

DePalma in his Packard '905' Special in 1919

In 1923, he established the DePalma Manufacturing Company in Detroit to build race cars and engines for automobiles and aircraft.

DePalma later competed in stock cars until he retired from racing in 1936. In his career, he competed in 2,889 races in America and Europe and won 2,557, according to his Associated Press obituary that appeared in the Detroit Free Press on April 1, 1956. He was an honorary referee for the Indianapolis 500, the last time in 1954.

Death

DePalma died at his home in South Pasadena, California, from cancer on March 31, 1956, at age 73. He was interred in the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.

Film appearances

DePalma had a small role in the 1920 Hollywood film High Speed and in 1924 played the part of the Champion in an action/drama film written by Wilfred Lucas titled Racing for Life. He also had a cameo in The Cool Hot Rod (1953).

Family

DePalma is the brother of 500 competitor John DePalma and the maternal uncle of 1925 Indianapolis winner Peter DePaolo.

Awards


Motorsports career results

Indianapolis 500 results

Year Car Start Qual Rank Finish Laps Led Retired
1911 2 2 — 12 6 200 4 Running
1912 4 4 86.020 5 11 198 196 Rod
1913 21 12 76.300 24 23 15 0 Bearing
1915 2 2 98.580 2 1 200 132 Running
1919 4 4 98.200 10 6 200 93 Running
1920 2 1 99.150 1 5 200 79 Running
1921 4 1 100.750 1 12 112 108 Rod
1922 17 3 99.550 3 4 200 0 Running
1923 2 11 100.420 5 15 69 0 Head gasket
1925 8 18 108.607 6 7 200 0 Running
Totals 1594 612
Starts 10
Poles 2
Front Row 5
Wins 1
Top 5 3
Top 10 6
Retired 4

  • DePalma's total of 612 laps led stood as the all-time Indianapolis lap leader record until Al Unser surpassed him on the 200th lap of the 1987 Indianapolis 500.

References

  1. ^ "Biography". International Motorsports Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on July 6, 2008. Retrieved February 5, 2009.
  2. ^ "DePalma, Oldtime Racing Great, Dies". Detroit Free Press. April 1, 1956.
  3. ^ "Biography". Motorsports Hall of Fame of America. 1992. Archived from the original on October 29, 2008. Retrieved February 5, 2009.
  4. Early years at the Milwaukee Mile Archived 2007-05-02 at archive.today
  5. https://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com/news-multimedia/news/2020/09/18/ims-1916-harvest-classic-04-08-2020
  6. ^ Yates, Brock The Indianapolis 500: The Story of the Speedway. 1956. Harper Bros., New York. Page 25.
  7. "Ralph De Palma, Noted Racer, Dies. Driver Triumphed in 1915 at Indianapolis. Elected to Sport's Hall of Fame". The New York Times. Associated Press. April 1, 1956. Retrieved October 2, 2012.
  8. "Death Comes to DePalma. Famed Racing Driver Succumbs to Cancer". Los Angeles Times. April 1, 1956. Archived from the original on November 3, 2012. Retrieved July 24, 2010.
  9. Indianapolis 500 - Family Participation Archived 2012-03-08 at the Wayback Machine
  10. Yates, Brock The Indianapolis 500: The Story of the Speedway. 1956. Page 27.
  11. Ralph DePalma at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
  12. "AMA Motorcycle Museum Hall of Fame | Ralph DePalma". hof.motorcyclemuseum.org. Retrieved January 13, 2024.

External links

Preceded byRené Thomas Indianapolis 500 Winner
1915 		Succeeded byDario Resta
Indianapolis 500 winners
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Four-time
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