{"id":106054,"date":"2026-05-21T12:48:54","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T19:48:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=106054"},"modified":"2026-05-21T13:01:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T20:01:07","slug":"field-is-set-for-110th-indianapolis-500","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/field-is-set-for-110th-indianapolis-500\/","title":{"rendered":"Field is Set for 110th Indianapolis 500"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"The field for the upcoming 110th Indianapolis 500 was set on Sunday, May 18, after persistent rain scotched the first of two days of qualifying at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. With no Saturday track activity, NTT INDYCAR SERIES officials were forced to change the qualifying scheme they\u2019d set up after realizing that, this year at least, there would be no bumping to fill the 500\u2019s vaunted Field of 33 cars.<\/p>\n

The result set the starting slots for 13-33 in initial single-car qualifying (and there was time for only one attempt, rather than two or more), followed later in the afternoon by qualifying for the top 12 and eventually the Firestone Fast Six. In each case in the latter two sessions, drivers qualified from worst to first, first among 12 contestants and later for six. No matter the changes, the results were easy to understand: Alex Palou, the reigning Indy 500 champion, was the fastest driver of all in his Chip Ganassi Dallara\/Honda.<\/p>\n

\"\"
A joyous Alex Palou celebrates his second Indianapolis 500 pole position – Penske Entertainment photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Palou, the four-time INDYCAR champion who won last year\u2019s 500-mile race, wasn\u2019t the quickest driver amongst the top 12, or even the top six in the run-up to the final four-lap runs. That honor went to Meyer Shank Racing\u2019s Felix Rosenqvist. But he couldn\u2019t match the big number Palou had set down in the final run-up to earn pole position: 232.248 mph. Rosenqvist settled for fourth place with his Honda-powered Dallara, behind the Chevrolets for 2016 Indy 500 winner Alexander Rossi (231.990) and Team Penske\u2019s Chevy-powered David Malukas (231.877). Rosenqvist, (231.375) A.J. Foyt Racing\u2019s Santino Ferrucci (230.846) with his Chevrolet power and Pato O\u2019Ward\u2019s Chevy-powered Arrow McLaren Dallara completed the six that made three qualifying attempts on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Palou leads the field in Monday practice – Penske Entertainment photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Since there was no bumping, anyone that made an attempt gets to start this Greatest Spectacle in Racing. And if you\u2019ve never subjected yourself to it, this is the one race in the year you must attend. If not once, then maybe 40- or 50 times, like anyone that\u2019s gone once! There were some big surprises in a glance at the grid. Four-time winner Helio Castroneves, working with Meyer Shank Racing, is way down in 15th place. Josef Newgarden will start his Team Penske Chevy\/Dallara from 24th, right next to Ryan Hunter-Reay, who won this race in 2014. Other winners left out of either the six- or 12-car secondary or tertiary pole qualifying attempts include Scott Dixon\u2019s Chip Ganassi Racing Honda in 11th, two-time winner Takuma Sato in 13th with his Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda, Andretti Global\u2019s Marcus Ericsson qualified 18th and his teammate, Will Power in 20th. The slowest driver was Sting Ray Robb in Juncos Hollinger\u2019s Chevy.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Alexander Rossi, the 2016 Indy 500 winner, intends to start second in his Ed Carpenter Racing Chevy – Penske Entertainment photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Monday changed a lot. A two-hour practice was scheduled so that all the teams could get their cars back to regular order from the elevated boost and chassis adjustments they\u2019re allowed to use in qualifying and getting set-ups right for racing, not qualifying. The weather was iffy, with rain expected in the second hour. Just before the weather showed up (the cue is always \u201cIt\u2019s raining in Terre Haute\u201d), the Big One occurred in the second turn of the 2.5-mile oval. That\u2019s a usual spot where drivers can get out of shape; there\u2019s been plenty of discussion about having the track work on the corner.<\/p>\n

But never mind the discussions. Alexander Rossi\u2019s Ed Carpenter Racing Chevy got out of shape and smacked the outside wall just after the apex. He managed to collect Pato O\u2019Ward and Romain Grosjean. At that point, they\u2019d been practicing for fewer than half an hour. After Rossi smacked the SAFER barrier he suffered a secondary hit from O\u2019Ward\u2019s Arrow McLaren Chevy, while Grosjean, had been trying to avoid the incident and got caught up in it, with his Dale Coyne Racing Honda. That meant the on-track session lasted all of 35 minutes, due to track inspection, the three-car shunt, combined with rain and lightning in the area. Rossi sustained minor injuries to a finger on his left hand and his right ankle. He\u2019ll be evaluated prior to the final practice on May 22, Carb Day. If cleared, he\u2019ll be racing a backup.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Katherine Legge intends to perform \u201cThe Double,\u201d racing at both Indianapolis and in Charlotte the same day – Penske Entertainment photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Katherine Legge, who has been racing worldwide for at least two decades and who has driven just about any type of racing vehicle, is hoping to become the first woman to complete both the Indianapolis 500 and Coca Cola 600 on the same day. This will be Legge\u2019s fourth Indy 500, driving a car entered by A.J. Foyt Racing (Chevy) and assisted by Sarah Fisher and HMD Motorsports. If she is able to race and finish the 500, then fly to Charlotte, then race and finish the Coca Cola 600 on the same day, Legge will join such drivers John Andretti (1994), Robby Gordon and Tony Stewart, who have each made multiple attempts to complete \u201cThe Double\u201d, Kurt Busch and Kyle Larson, who has made two attempts last year and the year prior. Stewart, like Larson tried twice; Robby Gordon made five attempts! Now it\u2019s Legge\u2019s turn.<\/p>\n

As always, weather in the midwest is likely to play games with the running of the 500. There are years when competitors have to deal with high heat and broad sun, but this year sure doesn\u2019t look like it\u2019s going to turn out that way. Carb Day, this Friday, is the final tuneup for all entries and NOAA is promising showers. The 500 Parade is set for Saturday, also with predicted showers as temps move towards 80 degrees, which is the forecast high for Sunday. Chance of showers then change of thunderstorms is, at this time, the forecast for Sunday, while showers are predicted through Wednesday! All that wet activity would create havoc for the Indy cars, which intend to run through the streets of Detroit a week after Indy. We\u2019ll have to wait and see if that happens.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This year at least, there would be no bumping to fill the 500\u2019s vaunted Field of 33 cars due to persistent rain.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":106058,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5,3470,3699,5029],"tags":[7477,7389,4547,2921,13296,726,13294,13295,915,955,1863,9155],"class_list":["post-106054","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asphalt-oval-racing","category-news","category-other-racing","category-racing","tag-a-j-foyt-racing","tag-alex-palou","tag-alexander-rossi","tag-chip-ganassi-racing","tag-e-l-f","tag-ed-carpenter-racing","tag-greatest-spectacle-in-racing","tag-hmd-motorsports","tag-indianapolis-500","tag-indianapolis-motor-speedway","tag-indy-500","tag-ntt-indycar-series"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Palou-exults-over-2nd-pole-at-Indy.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p42YSK-rAy","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106054","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106054"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106054\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":106062,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106054\/revisions\/106062"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}