Fred Frame won the 1932 Indianapolis 500 in a Miller modified by owner Harry Hartz. Frame, accompanied by mechanic Jerry Houck, also set a speed record of 104.144 mph, besting Pete DePaolo's 7-year-old mark.

Hartz had a second car driven by Billy Arnold. Arnold led early but went over the third turn wall on lap 59. With Arnold out, second place went to a rookie with a familiar name, Howdy Wilcox of Indianapolis (not related to the original Howdy Wilcox, who died in 1923).

During practice, separate accidents claimed the lives of driver Milt Jones and mechanic Harry Cox. Ironically, Cox died at the same location and even in the same car in which Joe Caccia and Clarence Grover had died the year before.