This is May? Who would have thought that the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500 would not be the only sporting event I'm concerned about this Memorial Day weekend (even if it is the one I'll have the chance to attend)? It's kind of crazy, but bring on the sports!
Still, the traditions of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway run deep. In no particular order, there's Christmas morning, the Minnesota boys' high school state hockey tournament and the Indy 500. It's tough to top those three days in a calendar year. So, let me dive into the starting grid for this year's race.
All Penske up front
The big news out of the front row is that it was a clean sweep for Team Penske for the second time in Indy 500 history. The 1988 front row was Rick Mears, Danny Sullivan and Al Unser Sr. All three of those Penske drivers in the front row were already Indy 500 champions at the time. Mears and Unser Sr. are part of the elite four-time-winners club, and Sullivan won in 1985. This year, two of the three Penske drivers are past Indy 500 champs.
The last Indy 500 winner to come out of the front row was Takuma Sato in 2020. But in 2018 and 2019, Will Power and Simon Pagenaud won the race for Team Penske.
With Tony Kanaan in retirement, the field has eight (not nine) former Indy 500 winners on the starting grid. Helio Castroneves is trying to win a record fifth time after winning in 2001, 2002, 2009 and 2021. Castroneves would be the oldest winner ever at age 49.
Sato is the only other multi-time winner in the field (2017 and 2020). Scott Dixon (2008), Ryan Hunter-Reay (2014), Alexander Rossi (2016), Will Power (2018), Marcus Ericsson (2022) and Josef Newgarden (2023) are all in search of their second victories.
Qualifying this year was, to state the obvious, fast at the speedway. With a 33-car field average speed of 231.943 mph, it's the second-fastest field in history. Last year's was a touch faster at 232.184 mph. It's always amazing to me on qualifying weekend that speeds of 230 mph, or anything in the 220s, is considered "slow." That's racing.
Updated grid stats
Starting up front is obviously important and where drivers want to be in order to give them the best shot at avoiding trouble at the start and potentially winning the race. Indy 500 champions have started in the first two rows in 61% of the 107 races (65 winners), with 42% of winners (45) coming from the front row. Across the last decade (since 2014), winners have come out of six of the first seven rows, with three from the front row, two from the second row and two from the seventh row.
Here's the annual reminder that no Indy 500 winner has started in the last row, although Scott Goodyear came oh-so-close in 1992 before being edged at the line by Al Unser Jr. in the closest finish in race history.
In the history of the race, only seven winners have come out of positions No. 21-33 on the starting grid. From 1937-2023, only one winner came out of those final few rows; Johnny Rutherford won from the 25th position on the inside of row 9 in 1974.
Editor's note: Some of the information in this post is from my records I keep on nerdy spreadsheets, plus my own viewing. But, racing salutes to the IndyCar, Racer and IndianapolisMotorSpeedway.com, too.
Row 1
Scott McLaughlin - No. 3 Pennzoil Team Penske car
Hometown: Christchurch, New Zealand
Team: Team Penske
Engine: Chevrolet
Average qualifying speed: 234.220 mph, the fastest four-lap average pole speed in Indy 500 history
This makes 19 Indy 500 poles for Team Penske, extending the team's record for the most poles. Penske also has the record for most wins, which is also 9. McLaughlin's best starting spot in the 500 was 14th last year, which was where he finished. If you're all about the car numbers, this is the 10th time a No. 3 car took the Indy 500 pole.
He'll look for his first top-10, top-five or victory in his fourth Indy 500.
The last Indy 500 winner to start from the pole position was Pagenaud in 2019. The winner has come from the pole 21 times in 107 races, including in 1988 when Team Penske swept the front row on the starting grid. That was when Rick Mears won in the Pennzoil yellow submarine, as it's called. Before qualifying this year, it was also announced that McLaughlin will wear Mears' replica firesuit from the 1984 Indy 500.
McLaughlin won at the Barber road course in Alabama at the end of April this season.
Will Power - No. 12 Verizon Business Team Penske car
Hometown: Toowoomba, Australia
Team: Team Penske
Engine: Chevrolet
Average qualifying speed: 233.917 mph
Indy 500 winner: 2018
Power is a two-time IndyCar Series champion. This will be his fifth front-row start for the Indy 500, leaving him tied with Harry Hartz and Wilbur Shaw for the most starts from the front row without winning the pole.
This will be start No. 17 for him at the Indy 500, with seven top-10 finishes including his victory in 2018.
A driver hasn't won the Indy 500 after starting in 2nd position since 2000 (Juan Pablo Montoya).
Josef Newgarden - No. 2 Shell Powering Progress Team Penske car
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Team: Team Penske
Engine: Chevrolet
Average qualifying speed: 233.808 mph
Indy 500 winner: 2023
Newgarden is the defending race winner, and he'll try to be the first back-to-back Indy 500 winner since Helio Castroneves in 2001 and 2002. Only five times in Indy 500 history has there been a back-to-back champion. Last year, Newgarden foiled Ericsson's attempt for back-to-back wins with a late pass in the race. Newgarden celebrated by jumping through the fence along the yard of bricks so he could be surrounded by the fans.
Newgarden is set to make his 13th start in this race, with four top-5 and six top-10 finishes already.
Rossi was the last defending Indy 500 champion to start from the front row, back in 2017.
Row 2
Alexander Rossi - No. 7 Arrow McLaren car
Hometown: Nevada City, California
Team: Arrow McLaren
Engine: Chevrolet
Average qualifying speed: 233.090 mph
Indy 500 winner: 2016
The pinnacle of his career came as a rookie when Rossi won the 100th running of the Indy 500 in 2016. He's finished in fifth place each of the past two years. He's finished in the top-10 in six of his eight Indy 500 starts. Rossi seems motivated to get past the Penske cars, after that trio seemed pretty comfortable with themselves in qualifying.
Kyle Larson - No. 17 Hendrickcars.com Arrow McLaren car
Hometown: Elk Grove, California
Team: Arrow McLaren/Rick Hendrick
Engine: Chevrolet
Average qualifying speed: 232.846 mph
Indy 500 rookie
Larson is a rookie in this race but definitely no rookie in auto racing. The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion will attempt the "double" in racing the Indy 500 before racing off to Charlotte Motor Speedway for NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600. He performed very well in Indy 500 qualifying, not only making the field, but vaulting into the Fast Six with a shot at the pole.
He made rookie qualifying history with the fastest qualifying lap in Indy 500 history at 233.453 mph on his first lap during his Top 12 attempt. Benjamin Pedersen had the rookie record of 233.297 mph set last year.
Santino Ferrucci - No. 14 Homes For Our Troops car
Hometown: Woodbury, Connecticut
Team: A.J. Foyt Enterprises
Engine: Chevrolet
Average qualifying speed: 232.692 mph
Ferrucci wasn't an Arrow McLaren or a Penske car but advanced to the Fast 6 in qualifying for the second year in a row. He started fourth and finished third last year, his best results for the 500. He runs well at Indy, going 5-for-5 in top-10 finishes.
Row 3
Rinus VeeKay - No. 21 askROI car
Hometown: Hoofddorp, Netherlands
Team: Ed Carpenter Racing
Engine: Chevrolet
Average qualifying speed: 232.610 mph
VeeKay always qualifies well at Indy. Seventh is actually his worst starting spot for the 500, having started fourth, third, second and second the past four years. His highest finish in the race is eighth place.
What's amazing this time was he made it into the Fast 12, after he crashed early on Saturday during the initial qualifying attempt. His team got to work rebuilding his car, and he stunned everyone later in the day by vaulting into the top group with a chance at the pole on Sunday.
A driver hasn't won the Indy 500 after starting in 7th position since 1961 (A.J. Foyt).
Pato O'Ward - No. 5 Arrow McLaren car
Hometown: Monterrey, Mexico
Team: Arrow McLaren
Engine: Chevrolet
Average qualifying speed: 232.584 mph
O'Ward was belatedly awarded a victory in this season's opening race at St. Pete, following a bit of a Team Penske scandal with the push-to-pass button. He starts this Indy 500 in the top-10 for the third year in a row.
O'Ward crashed out last year late in the race after leading 39 laps that day at Indy. He started fifth, his best of his young career so far.
Felix Rosenqvist - No. 60 AutoNation/Sirius XM car
Hometown: Värnamo, Sweden
Team: Meyer Shank Racing
Engine: Honda
Average qualifying speed: 232.305 mph
Rosenqvist makes his sixth Indy 500 start, and the third consecutive start from within the first three rows on the grid. His best finish was fourth in 2022.
A driver hasn't won the Indy 500 after starting in 9th position since 1993 (Emerson Fittipaldi).
Row 4
Takuma Sato - No. 75 AMADA car
Hometown: Tokyo, Japan
Team: Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Engine: Honda
Average qualifying speed: 232.171 mph
Indy 500 winner: 2017, 2020
A former full-time driver in IndyCar, Sato is back as the only driver in the field seeking his third Indy 500 title. He's raced at Indy since 2010, making start No. 15 this year from the 10th spot.
He won the race from the fourth (2017) and third (2020) positions.
Kyle Kirkwood - No. 27 AutoNation car
Hometown: Jupiter, Florida
Team: Andretti Global
Engine: Honda
Average qualifying speed: 230.993 mph
The middle of row four in 11th position marks Kirkwood's best start for his third Indy 500. He went upside down last year in a crash that sent a tire over the oval's barriers.
Ryan Hunter-Reay - No. 23 DRR-CUSICK MOTORSPORTS car
Hometown: Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Team: DRR-CUSICK MOTORSPORTS
Engine: Chevrolet
Average qualifying speed: 230.567 mph
Indy 500 winner: 2014
Hunter-Reay isn't in the series full-time anymore, but he won the race a decade ago, beating out Castroneves. Hunter-Reay started that race in 19th position. He put together a stunning qualifying run to make the Fast 12 over the weekend this year, even though he was disappointed with his second run on Sunday.
He finished 11th in the Indy 500 last year and has six top-10s in 15 career starts.
Row 5
Colton Herta - No. 26 Gainbridge car
Hometown: Valencia, California
Team: Andretti Global w/Curb-Agajanian
Engine: Honda
Average qualifying speed: 232.316 mph
Herta is one of the better young drivers in the series. He just got bumped out of the Fast 12 in qualifying. He's won seven IndyCar races and would love to add the Indy 500 to his list of winning circuits.
His dad, Bryan Herta, was a rookie in this race 30 years ago in 1994. Three of Bryan's five Indy 500s ended with top-10 finishes. Colton's start this year will mark No. 6 for the 24-year-old. He's had a mix of results, with a couple of days ending with mechanical issues and two top-10 finishes.
Alex Palou - No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing car
Hometown: Barcelona, Spain
Team: Chip Ganassi Racing
Engine: Honda
Average qualifying speed: 232.306 mph
Last year's polesitter failed to make the Fast 12 and give it another shot. But the series points leader has already had a good month of May, winning the Sonsio Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course race a couple of weeks ago.
He finished second at Indy in 2021, ninth in 2022 and fourth last year. He's never started outside of the top 10 at the Indy 500 until now.
A driver hasn't won the Indy 500 after starting in 14th position since 1955 (Bob Sweikert).
Callum Ilott - No. 6 Arrow McLaren car
Hometown: Cambridge, England
Team: Arrow McLaren
Engine: Chevrolet
Average qualifying speed: 232.230 mph
Starting 15th is Ilott's best grid position in his third Indy 500 start. He jumped up to finish 12th last year after starting 27th. He crashed out of the race as a rookie in 2022.
Row 6
Marcus Armstrong - No. 11 Ridgeline Lubricants Chip Ganassi Racing car
Hometown: Christchurch, New Zealand
Team: Chip Ganassi Racing
Engine: Honda
Average qualifying speed: 232.183 mph
Indy 500 rookie
He's a rookie at Indy but he's also the 2023 IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year, racing in his second season with Ganassi and mostly focused on road and street courses. The 23-year-old has two top-10 finishes and one top-5 in his IndyCar career.
Ed Carpenter - No. 20 Guy Care car
Hometown: Indianapolis, Indiana
Team: Ed Carpenter Racing
Engine: Chevrolet
Average qualifying speed: 232.017 mph
The Indiana resident and team owner loves racing at his home oval. At 43 years old, he's one of a few drivers in the field in the over-40 club, for whatever that's worth. He's making his 21st start in the Indy 500 this year. He usually qualifies well at Indy, winning the pole three times with the last coming in 2018, when he had his best finish as a runner-up.
Starting 17th marks his worst grid spot since he started 20th in 2016. He also started 17th in 2009 and finished eighth. Newgarden won the race last year starting from this position on the grid.
Kyffin Simpson - No. 4 Journie Rewards Chip Ganassic Racing car
Hometown: Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
Team: Chip Ganassi Racing
Engine: Honda
Average qualifying speed: 231.948 mph
Indy 500 rookie
Simpson, 19, is the youngest driver to make the start this year. Troy Ruttman became the youngest winner of the race in 1952; he was 22 years old. Simpson started racing at age 9 in Barbados, his birthplace.
No driver has won the Indy 500 after starting in 18th position.
Row 7
What a row 7 this is, with these names: Andretti, Castroneves, Dixon. Talk about experience. A combined 62 career Indy 500 starts start in this row, with 18, 23 and 21, respectively.
Marco Andretti - No. 98 MAPEI/Curb car
Hometown: Nazareth, Pennsylvania
Team: Andretti Herta w/ Marco & Curb-Agajanian
Engine: Honda
Average qualifying speed: 231.890 mph
He's still one of the sentimental favorites for me. Marco isn't a series regular for the fourth year in a row, but when your last name is Andretti and your dad owns a race team, you'll get an Indy 500 ride. His grandfather, Mario Andretti, is still around the paddock and holds the place in history as the only Andretti to win the Indy 500, winning 55 years ago back in 1969.
The 2006 finish to the Indy 500 when Marco was a rookie and nearly won the race, with Sam Hornish Jr. beating him at the line, is still the best finish of his career. It was definitely another page in the Andretti Curse storybook at the speedway. Watching Mario in the pits as the finish neared is something. so much passion for the sport yet so much heartbreak in the big race.
Marco has always run well at Indy, with eight top-10 finishes, though he hasn't finished inside the top-10 since 2017 when he finished eighth. Nineteenth is his best starting spot since he won the pole in 2020.
Helio Castroneves - No. 06 Cliffs car
Hometown: Sao Paulo, Brazil
Team: Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian
Engine: Honda
Average qualifying speed: 231.871 mph
Controversy in 2002 or not, Castroneves is back again for a one-off attempt to try and become the only driver to win the Indy 500 five times. He'll suit up for his 24th Indy 500 this year. The first four-time winner, legendary A.J. Foyt, made a record 35 starts from 1958-92; Foyt was 57 years old on his last start.
He starts 20th for the second year in a row; he finished 15th last year. He's started 20th or lower in four of the past five Indy 500s but has moved up significantly in each of those races. In 23 starts, he has those four wins and 16 top-10 finishes.
Castroneves is 49 years old, the oldest driver on the grid and looking to be the oldest winner. Unser Sr. was 47 years old when he won his fourth Indy 500 in 1987.
Hometown: Auckland, New Zealand
Team: Chip Ganassi Racing
Engine: Honda
Average qualifying speed: 231.851 mph
Dixon is known as the Ice Man for the way he stays so cool under pressure during races. One of the most uncharacteristic things he ever did - and will probably regret for the rest of his life - was commit a speeding violation on pit lane during the 2022 Indy 500. He won the pole that year, was in the lead and had a great race when he was caught speeding. It still has to sting.
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| Scott Dixon's page in the children's book GOATs of Auto Racing. |
Dixon started and finished sixth last year. In 2021 and 2022 he won the pole but finished 17th and 21st. So, maybe a little bit of reverse results for him are incoming? He's also finished as the runner-up three times in 2007, 2012 and 2020. He has 13 top-10 results in 21 Indy 500 starts.
He's a six-time IndyCar Series champion with 56 race victories, the most of any active driver. But his only Indy 500 victory was back in 2008. There are a lot of great drivers in the history of the sport who won this race only once. He's near the top of that list. Dixon holds the record for the most Indy 500 laps led at 665 laps in his career. Castroneves is the only driver in the field who comes "close" to that number, with 326 laps led. Dixon and Kanaan are tied for the most Indy 500 races led with 15 each.
Dixon has a win already this season, saving fuel masterfully to take the win at Long Beach.
Row 8
Agustin Canapino - No. 78 Juncos Hollinger Racing car
Hometown: Arrecifes, Argentina
Team: Juncos Hollinger Racing
Engine: Chevrolet
Average qualifying speed: 231.847 mph
Canapino started and finished in the 26th position last year as a rookie in the Indy 500. He crashed out late in the race.
A driver hasn't won the Indy 500 after starting in 22nd position since 1935 (Kelly Petillo).
Sting Ray Robb - No. 41 Goodheart Vet/Pray.com car
Hometown: Payette, Idaho
Team: A.J. Foyt Enterprises
Engine: Chevrolet
Average qualifying speed: 231.826 mph
Sting Ray Robb - yes, that's his real name - makes his second start for the Indy 500. He avoided the Last Row Shootout in qualifying this year after starting on the inside of row 11 last year. He also finished 31st after contact ended his day 90 laps in.
No driver has won the Indy 500 after starting in 23rd position.
Christian Rasmussen - No. 33 Ed Carpenter Racing car
Hometown: Copenhagen, Denmark
Team: Ed Carpenter Racing
Engine: Chevrolet
Average qualifying speed: 231.682 mph
Indy 500 rookie
Last year's Indy NXT Series champion, Rasmussen is primarily a road and street course driver for Ed Carpenter. In 2023, Rasmussen won five races and four poles.
No driver has won the Indy 500 after starting in 24th position.
Row 9
Tom Blomqvist - No. 66 AutoNation/Arctic Wolf car
Hometown: Cambridge, England
Team: Meyer Shank Racing
Engine: Honda
Average qualifying speed: 231.578 mph
Indy 500 rookie
Blomqvist's primary racing experience has come through sports cars with Meyer Shank Racing.
A driver hasn't won the Indy 500 after starting in 25th position since 1974 (Johnny Rutherford).
Romain Grosjean - No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing car
Hometown: Geneva, Switzerland
Team: Juncos Hollinger Racing
Engine: Chevrolet
Average qualifying speed: 231.514 mph
The goal for Grosjean this year should be to finish the Indy 500. He crashed in his first two attempts the past two years, running 105 laps in 2022 and 149 laps to finish 31st and 30th. Starting 26th is also his worst starting position after starting ninth and then 19th last year.
He's a Formula 1 driver who came over to IndyCar a couple of seasons ago.
No driver has won the Indy 500 after starting in 26th position.
Linus Lundqvist - No. 8 American Legion Chip Ganassi Racing car
Hometown: Stockholm, Sweden
Team: Chip Ganassi Racing
Engine: Honda
Average qualifying speed: 231.506 mph
Indy 500 rookie
So many "qvists" in this field. Lundqvist won the 2022 Indy NXT championship and is in his first full-time IndyCar campaign. He has one top-10 and one top-5 finish in the series.
A driver hasn't won the Indy 500 after starting in 27th position since 1932 (Fred Frame).
Row 10
Christian Lundgaard - No. 45 Hy-Vee car
Hometown: Hedensted, Denmark
Team: Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Engine: Honda
Average qualifying speed: 231.465 mph
In his third Indy 500, 28th is his best starting spot after being in the last row the past two years. The 22-year-old rebounded to finish in the middle of the field at 18th in 2022 and 19th last year.
A driver hasn't won the Indy 500 after starting in 28th position since 1936 (Louis Meyer).
Conor Daly - No. 24 DRR-CUSICK MOTORSPORTS car
Hometown: Noblesville, Indiana
Team: DRR-CUSICK MOTORSPORTS
Engine: Chevrolet
Average qualifying speed: 231.243 mph
Daly led the 2021 Indy 500 and received some thunderous cheers from the crowd, showing the Indiana native some love. He finished 13th that year and led a race-high 40 laps. Having raced in 10 Indy 500s, his best finishes came the past two years in sixth place in 2022 and eighth place last year.
His dad, Derek Daly, also raced in the Indy 500 six times in the 1980s.
No driver has won the Indy 500 after starting in 29th position.
Pietro Fittipaldi - No. 30 5-hour ENERGY car
Hometown: Miami, Florida
Team: Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Engine: Honda
Average qualifying speed: 231.100 mph
Fittipaldi is one of the famous names in the field. His last Indy 500 start was in 2021, when he started 13th and finished 25th. His grandfather, Emerson Fittipaldi, is a two-time Indy 500 champion in 1989 and 1993.
No driver has won the Indy 500 after starting in 30th position.
Row 11
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| Me with Katherine Legge in 2006. The ChampCar days. |
Hometown: Guildford, England
Team: Dale Coyne Racing with RWR
Engine: Honda
Average qualifying speed: 230.092 mph
Legge is once again the lone woman in the field. She makes back-to-back Indy 500 starts, returning last year for the first time since 2013. This will be her fourth Indianapolis 500, but she's a veteran race car driver across various series, including sports cars. Her best finish at Indy was 22nd place in 2012.
Only nine women have ever raced in the Indy 500.
Marcus Ericsson - No. 28 Delaware Life car
Hometown: Kumla, Sweden
Team: Andretti Global
Engine: Honda
Average qualifying speed: 230.027 mph
Indy 500 winner: 2022
Ericsson crashed his primary car in practice this year, meaning he had to qualify in his backup car which just didn't quite have the speed. He won the race two years ago and nearly went back-to-back, finishing as the runner-up last year.
In his sixth Indy 500, his worst starting position before now was 13th in 2019. He'll have his work cut out for him on race day.
Graham Rahal - No. 15 United Rentals car
Hometown: New Albany, Ohio
Team: Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Engine: Honda
Average qualifying speed: 229.974 mph
For the second year in a row, Rahal's team struggled to find the speed for qualifying. He had to compete for a spot in the show in the Last Row Shootout, just like last year. Except this time, he avoided getting bumped when Nolan Siegel crashed in his final attempt of the day. Rahal was anything but celebratory, however, instead choosing humbleness.
He'll start in the 33rd position in back-to-back years; he drove last year for Stefan Wilson, who qualified for the 2023 race but went out with an injury from a practice crash. Rahal finished 22nd last year.
This will be Indy 500 No. 17 for Graham, and he has four top-10 finishes and three top-5s in 16 starts. His best finish was third in 2011 and 2020.
His father, and team owner, Bobby Rahal, won the Indy 500 in 1986.
