The 19th Indianapolis 500 was held on May 30, 1931 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, as part of the AAA National Championship season. The race was delayed by morning rain but attracted an enthusiastic crowd and featured a competitive 200-lap, 500-mile contest. Defending race winner Billy Arnold dominated the early running, taking the lead by the seventh lap and holding it for 155 laps before a rear axle failure on lap 162 caused him to crash and be forced out of the race. Tragically, a wheel from Arnold’s car flew over the outside wall and struck an 11-year-old boy, Wilbur C. Brink, who was killed; Arnold and his riding mechanic were also seriously injured in the accident.
With Arnold out, Louis Schneider, accompanied by riding mechanic Jigger Johnson, inherited the lead and went on to win the race with an average speed of 96.629 mph, marking his only Indianapolis 500 victory. His margin of victory over Fred Frame was 43.19 seconds, at the time the closest finish in race history. Notable in the race was also a diesel-powered entry driven by Dave Evans that completed the entire 500 miles without a pit stop. Schneider’s win contributed to his overall success in the 1931 AAA season and remains a memorable chapter in Indianapolis 500 history.
