Ralph Mulford

Mulford at Tacoma in 1922

Ralph Mulford (December 28, 1884 Brooklyn, New York – October 23, 1973 Asbury Park, New Jersey) was an American racecar driver active during the formative years of the auto racing.

Ralph Mulford may have won the first Indianapolis 500 in 1911. He was given the checkered flag before Ray Harroun, then took 3 more "safety" laps as a precaution. When he finished the third lap, Harroun was already in the winner's circle and Mulford's protests were largely ignored.

Mulford was retroactively declared the National Driving Champion for 1911 and 1918. He retired from racing on tracks after 1922 but continued to compete for several more years in hill climbs and, at one time, held the record for both the Mount Washington and Pikes Peak climbs.

Indy 500 results

Year Car Start Qual Rank Finish Laps Led Retired 1911 33 29 — — 2 200 10 Running 1912 19 16 87.880 2 10 200 0 Running 1913 29 22 80.790 17 7 200 0 Running 1914 23 6 88.210 18 11 200 0 Running 1915 22 18 82.720 18 16 124 0 Rod 1916 10 20 91.090 10 3 120 0 Running 1919 2 15 100.500 5 29 37 0 Driveshaft 1920 33 23 — — 9 200 0 Running 1921 8 21 91.700 12 9 177 0 Flagged 1922 5 5 99.200 5 19 161 0 Rod Totals 1619 10

Starts 10 Poles 0 Front Row 0 Wins 0 Top 5 2 Top 10 6 Retired 3

External links

• Ralph Mulford at Racing Reference
• Ralph Mulford at Champ Car Stats
• Ralph Mulford at Find a Grave