INDYCAR: Fast Facts for Sunday's 102nd Running of the Indianapolis 500 - MotorSportsTalk

Here’s all you need to know about Sunday’s 102nd Running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (courtesy INDYCAR Media Relations):

Race weekend: Friday, May 25 – Sunday, May 27

Track: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a 2.5-mile oval

Starting lineup: 102nd Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil

Race distance: 200 laps / 500 miles

Firestone tire allotment: Thirty-six sets for use throughout the event.

Twitter: @IMS @IndyCar, #Indy500 #ThisIsMay, #IndyCar

Event website: www.ims.com

INDYCAR website: www.IndyCar.com

2017 race winner: Takuma Sato (No. 26 Andretti Autosport Honda)

2018 Verizon P1 Award winner: Ed Carpenter (No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevrolet), 2:36.7818, 229.618 mph (four laps)

NBCSN Miller Lite Carb Day broadcast: Friday, May 25 (11 a.m. ET)

Kevin Lee will anchor NBCSN’s coverage of Indianapolis 500 final practice, the Indy Lights Freedom 100 race and TAG Heuer Pit Stop Competition. Robin Miller, Paul Tracy and Townsend Bell will serve as analysts with Katie Hargitt, Jon Beekhuis and Marty Snider as pit reporters.

ABC race broadcast: Sunday, May 28 (11 a.m. ET)

Allen Bestwick is the lead announcer for ESPN on ABC broadcasts for the third consecutive year alongside analysts Scott Goodyear and Eddie Cheever Jr. Rick DeBruhl, Dr. Jerry Punch and Jon Beekhuis are the pit reporters.

Radio broadcasts: Mark Jaynes is the chief announcer alongside analyst Anders Krohn and Donald Davidson. Nick Yeoman (Turn 2), Jake Query (Turn 3) and Chris Denari (Turn 4) are the turn announcers with Dave Furst, Rob Howden, Ryan Myreh and Michael Young on pit lane. All Verizon IndyCar Series races are broadcast live on the Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network, Sirius 219, XM 209, IndyCar.com, indycarradio.com and on the INDYCAR Mobile app. The Verizon IndyCar Series final practice session on May 25 is available on IndyCar.com, indycarradio.com and the INDYCAR Mobile app.

At-track schedule (all times local):

Friday, May 25

11 a.m.-noon – Indianapolis 500 final practice

1:30 p.m. – Indianapolis 500 Pit Stop Competition

Sunday, May 27

11:38 a.m. – Driver Introductions

12:14 p.m. – Command to Start Engines

12:21 p.m. – Indianapolis 500 Mile Race (200 laps/500 miles), ABC (live at 11 a.m.)

Race notes:

* The Indianapolis 500 will be the 102nd 500-mile Indy car race conducted on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s oval. Ray Harroun won the inaugural race in 1911. Takuma Sato won the race in 2017 to become the first Japanese winner.

* Six drivers entered have won the Indianapolis 500. Helio Castroneves has won the race three times (2001, 2002 and 2009) while Scott Dixon (2008), Tony Kanaan (2013), Ryan Hunter-Reay (2014), Alexander Rossi (2016) and Takuma Sato (2017) are the other former winners entered.

* There have been four different winners in five Verizon IndyCar Series races in 2018. Sebastien Bourdais (Streets of St. Petersburg), Alexander Rossi (Streets of Long Beach), Josef Newgarden (ISM Raceway and Barber Motorsports Park) and Will Power (IMS road course) have won races in 2018.

* Ed Carpenter became the sixth difference pole winner of 2018 by winning the Verizon P1 Award for the Indianapolis 500. Carpenter won his third Indianapolis 500 pole, all since 2013.

* Tony Kanaan has finished in the top four in four of the last seven Indianapolis 500s, including his win in 2013.

* Four drivers will race Verizon IndyCar Series cars on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval for the first time: Zachary Claman De Melo, Kyle Kaiser, Matheus Leist and Robert Wickens.

* Twenty drivers have won the race from the pole – most recently Castroneves in 2009.

* Team Penske has 16 wins at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the most of any team. Andretti Autosport has five wins while Chip Ganassi Racing has won four times. A.J. Foyt Enterprises has won twice.

* Two drivers have a chance to become the first to win on both the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and the famed 2.5-mile oval: Simon Pagenaud and Will Power have road course wins.

* Danica Patrick is the only female driver in the field. It marks the 19th consecutive Indy 500 that a woman has qualified for the race.

* Tony Kanaan seeks to start his 289th consecutive race this weekend, which would extend his Indy car record streak that began in June 2001 at Portland. Former teammate Scott Dixon has made 229 consecutive starts heading into the weekend which is the second-longest streak in Indy car racing.

The biggest race of the NTT IndyCar Series season (and in the world) is over, and NBC Sports’ power rankings look very similar to the finishing results in the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.

Pole-sitter Alex Palou entered the Indy 500 at the top and remains there after his impressive rebound to a fourth after a midway crash in the pits. Top two Indianapolis 500 finishers Josef Newgarden and Marcus Ericsson also improved multiple spots in the power rankings just as they gained ground during the course of the 500-mile race on the 2.5-mile oval. Though Alexander Rossi dropped a position, he still shined at the Brickyard with a fifth place finish.

Santino Ferrucci, the other driver in the top five at Indy, made his first appearance in the 2023 power rankings this year and now will be tasked with keeping his A.J. Foyt Racing team toward the front as the IndyCar circuit makes its debut on a new layout..

Heading into the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix on the streets of downtown, here’s NBC Sports’ assessment of the current top 10 drivers through six of 17 races this year (with previous ranking in parenthesis):

Alex Palou (1): Three consecutive top 10 finishes at the Indy 500, and yet the 2021 IndyCar champion still seems slightly snake-bitten at the Brickyard. A few different circumstances and a dash of experience, and Palou could have three Indy 500 wins. But he at least has the points lead.
Marcus Ericsson (4): Some want to say the Indy 500 runner-up’s unhappiness with IndyCar race control was sour grapes, but the Swede had a legitimate gripe about the consistency of red flag protocols. Still a magnificent May for Ericsson, especially while the questions swirl about his future.
Josef Newgarden (7): Strategist Tim Cindric and team did a fantastic job catapulting Newgarden from 17^th into contention, and the two-time series champion did the rest. Particularly on a late three-wide pass for the lead, it can’t be overstated how brilliant the Team Penske driver was in his finest hour.
Alexander Rossi (3): He winds up being the best Arrow McLaren finisher in a mostly disappointing Indy 500 for a team that seemed poised to become dominant. With a third in the GMR GP and a fifth in the Indy 500, this easily was Rossi’s best May since his second place in 2019.
Pato O’Ward (2): Unlike last year, the Arrow McLaren star sent it this time against Ericsson and came out on the wrong side (and with lingering bitterness toward his Chip Ganassi Racing rival). The lead mostly was the wrong place to be at Indy, but O’Ward managed to be in first for a race-high 39 laps.
Scott Dixon (5): He overcame brutal handling issues from a wicked set of tires during his first stint, and then the team struggled with a clutch problem while posting a typical Dixon-esque finish on “a very tough day.” The six-time champion hopes things are cleaner the rest of the season after the first three months.
Santino Ferrucci (NR): Pound for pound, he and A.J. Foyt Racing had the best two weeks at Indianapolis. Ferrucci said Wednesday he still believes he had “by far the best car at the end” and if not for the timing of the final yellow and red, he would have won the Indy 500. Now the goal is maintaining into Detroit.
Colton Herta (NR): He was the best in a mostly forgettable month for Andretti Autosport and now is facing a pivotal weekend. Andretti has reigned on street courses so far this season, and few have been better on new circuits than Herta. A major chance for his first victory since last year’s big-money extension.
Scott McLaughlin (6): Ran in the top 10 at Indy after a strong opening stint but then lost positions while getting caught out on several restarts. A penalty for unintentionally rear-ending Simon Pagenaud in O’Ward’s crash then sent him to the rear, but McLaughlin still rallied for 14th. Detroit will be a fresh start.
Rinus VeeKay (10): Crashing into Palou in the pits was less than ideal. But a front row start and 10^th-place finish in the Indy 500 still were 2023 highlights for VeeKay in what’s been the toughest season of his career. The Ed Carpenter Racing cars have been slow on road and street courses, so Detroit is another test.

Falling out: Will Power (8), Felix Rosenqvist (9), Romain Grosjean (10)

PAST NBC SPORTS INDYCAR POWER RANKINGS

PRESEASON: Josef Newgarden is a favorite to win third championship

RACE 1: Pato O’Ward to first; Newgarden drops out after St. Pete

RACE 2: O’Ward stays firmly on top of standings after Texas

RACE 3: Marcus Ericsson leads powerhouses at the top

RACE 4: Grosjean, Palou flex in bids for first victory

RACE 5: Alex Palou carrying all the momentum into Indy 500

INDYCAR: Fast Facts for Sunday’s 102nd Running of the Indianapolis 500

IndyCar Power Rankings: Alex Palou still first as Newgarden, Ferrucci make Indy 500 jumps

PAST NBC SPORTS INDYCAR POWER RANKINGS