102 Stats in 102 Days Until 102nd Indy 500 – Day 48, Races That Didn’t Go 500 Miles (April 2, 2018)

The 102nd Indianapolis 500 is 55 days away! This is the 48th day of the 102 Stats in 102 Days Until the 102nd Indy 500.

Each day from now until the Saturday before the Indianapolis 500, we’ll post a list of stats related to the race. Some are well-known statistics, while others are a little more in-depth.

Here is a look at the races that didn’t go the full 500 miles. The shortest race in Indianapolis 500 history went 102 laps before rain canceled the final 98 laps. A total of eight races didn’t go 500 miles, though one race was only scheduled for 300 miles (1916), and that race went the scheduled distance.

Races That Didn’t Go 500 Miles (reason)

- 1976: 102 laps/255 miles (rain); won by Johnny Rutherford

- 1916: 120 laps/300 miles (scheduled for that distance); won by Dario Resta

- 1973: 133 laps/332.5 miles (rain); won by Gordon Johncock

- 1950: 138 laps/345 miles (rain); won by Johnnie Parsons

- 1926: 160 laps/400 miles (rain); won by Frank Lockhart

- 2007: 166 laps/415 miles (rain); won by Dario Franchitti

- 1975: 174 laps/435 miles (rain); won by Bobby Unser

- 2004: 180 laps/450 miles (rain); won by Buddy Rice

Notes of Interest

- Seven of the eight races were abbreviated due to rain.

- Four of the eight drivers on the list above – Johnny Rutherford, Gordon Johncock, Dario Franchitti and Bobby Unser – also won races that went the full 500 miles.

- Dario Resta and Johnnie Parsons both scored second-place finishes in races that went 500 miles, ironically in the year before the races they won (Resta was second in 1915 and Parsons was second in 1949).

- Frank Lockhart’s only other Indianapolis 500 result was 18th in 1927.

- Buddy Rice’s best finish in a race that went 500 miles was eighth in 2008.