A total of seven supercharged front-wheel drive cars were entered, and they swept the front row during time trials.

Leon Duray in a Miller took the pole position with an average speed of 122.391 mph (196.969 km/h), a new track record.

Car owner Phil Shafer entered a rear-wheel drive Miller Special for Wilbur Shaw with initial backing from a fuel pump manufacturer.

The deal fell through, and Shafer abruptly sold the car to Alden Sampson II four days before time trials were scheduled to begin.

Sampson hired Louis Meyer to drive the car, the same machine that Tony Gulotta drove to a third place in 1927.

Qualifying was scheduled from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Any cars in line at 5 o'clock were permitted to make their runs, continuing until the track closed at sundown.

The supercharged front-wheel drive Millers were expected to excel in qualifying, with Leon Duray the favorite for the pole position.

It was noted that this was Woodbury's first attempt in a front-wheel drive car at the Speedway, and it garnered him a solid front row starting position.

DePaolo was thrown from the vehicle, then the car slid upside down along the bricks, ripping off the engine cowling, shearing off the carburetor, and grinding the top of the supercharger casing.

After the crash, the team led by chief mechanic Collon Henning Peters began repairing the car, in hopes of still qualifying with another driver.

Dick Doyle and Bud Miller, servicing the car of George Souders, won the $50 top prize.

Although Monday was originally the final day allowed to qualify, officials announced that Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning may opened up due to prospects of a short field.

Late in the afternoon Ted Miller, the relief driver for Buddy Marr, was taking practice laps in the #35 B.W.

The crew would work into the night to try to repair the car, but ran out of time, and withdrew on race morning.

Two drivers, Wilbur Shaw and Jim Hill, received permission to qualify their cars at 5:00 a.m. on race morning.

Morning rain threatened to postpone the start of the race, scheduled for 10:00 a.m. central standard time.

L. L. Corum and Dutch Baumann both suffered crashes during practice runs early Wednesday morning, and both were withdrawn.

With rain showers holding off, pace car driver Joe Dawson led the field around for one warm up lap.

With Bergere out, Tony Gulotta moved up to second place, Babe Stapp was in third, Louis Schneider in fourth, and Jimmy Gleason was in fifth.

On lap 35, Benny Shoaff hit an oil slick in the south end of the track and spun out.

After leading 59 of the first 62 laps, Duray's car was beginning to suffer overheating problems and he began to slip in the standings.

Souders reported that his car was difficult to handle, but he was able to run a consistent pace and stay near the front of the field.

Cliff Woodbury, who started in the middle of the front row and had been plagued with mechanical problems early on, dropped out with 55 laps completed due to broken timing gears.

As the race approached the halfway point, it was Jimmy Gleason (who started deep in the field), that was now the fastest car on the track.

The final 100 miles was set to be a three-car battle between the cars of Jimmy Gleason, Tony Gulotta, and the steady but gaining Louis Meyer.

Officials contemplated halting the race (as has happened two years earlier) for safety reasons, but the shower was very brief.

The engine was ruined with a cracked water jacket as well, and Gleason was out of the race in sight of a chance for victory.

Meyer is credited as a being a rookie winner, since his previous experience in the 1927 race was only in a relief driver role.

All three cars of the front row dropped out, and yet again, the supercharged front-engine machines failed to achieve victory.

At approximately 2:10 p.m., anchor Graham McNamee's call was picked up on WKBF and numerous other NBC affiliates across the country.