Indianapolis Motor Speedway officially opens for business for May this weekend with Saturday’s IndyCar GMR Grand Prix commencing the track’s start times this month.
The GMR GP will mark the 10th NTT IndyCar Series race on the IMS road course, and the events mostly have been dominated by Team Penske, which has won seven of the nine races between Will Power, Simon Pagenaud and Josef Newgarden. Power and Newgarden won both ends of the Harvest Grand Prix weekend doubleheader on the IMS road course last October.
Defending series champion and points leader Scott Dixon won the third 2020 race held at the IMS road course last July.
STARTING LINEUP: Romain Grosjean leads the field to green for the first time in IndyCar
Saturday’s race will mark the return of Jimmie Johnson to Chip Ganassi Racing (after missing the two races at Texas Motor Speedway) as well as the 2021 debuts of Charlie Kimball (No. 11 Dallara-Chevrolet of AJ Foyt Racing) and Juan Pablo Montoya, who will make his first IndyCar since the 2017 Indy 500.
Driving for Arrow McLaren SP, Montoya will be making his first IndyCar start for a team other than Penske since Oct. 30, 2000 (when he raced with Ganassi). He also will be racing against Johnson for the first time since the 2014 Brickyard 400.
Here are the details and IndyCar start times for the Indy GMR Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (all times are ET):
IndyCar GMR Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
TV: 2 p.m. ET, NBC (and streaming on the NBC Sports App and NBCSports.com); Leigh Diffey is the lead announcer for IndyCar on NBC with analysts Townsend Bell and Paul Tracy.
COMMAND TO START ENGINES: 2:39 p.m.
GREEN FLAG: 2:45 p.m.
DISTANCE: The race is 85 laps (207.3 miles) on a 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
TIRE ALLOTMENT: Six sets primary, four sets alternate (a seventh set of primary tires is available to any car fielding a rookie driver)
PUSH TO PASS: 200 seconds of total time, with a maximum time of 20 seconds per activation. The push-to-pass is not available on the initial start or any restart unless it occurs in the final two laps or three minutes of a timed race. The feature increases the power of the engine by approximately 60 horsepower
FORECAST: According to Wunderground.com, it’s expected to be 70 degrees with a 2% chance of rain at the green flag.
PRACTICE: Friday, 9:30-10:15 a.m., 1-1:45 p.m., Peacock Premium
WARMUP: Saturday, 10:45-11:15 a.m., Peacock Premium
QUALIFYING: Romain Grosjean captures his first Indy Car pole position in his third career start
STARTING LINEUP: The starting order for the fifth race of the NTT IndyCar Series season
ENTRY LIST: Click here to view the 25 cars entered in the GMR Grand Prix
IndyCar GMR Grand Prix race day schedule
7:50-8:40 a.m.: Indy Pro 2000 Race 2 (25 laps)
8:55-9:25 a.m.: Indy Lights qualifying, Race 2
9:40-10:20 a.m.: USF2000 Race 3 (20 laps)
10:45-11:15 a.m.: NTT IndyCar Series warmup, Peacock Premium
11:40 a.m.-12:30 p.m.: Indy Pro 2000 Race 3 (25 laps)
12:35-1:45 p.m.: Indy Lights Race 2 (35 laps), Peacock Premium
2:45 p.m.: IndyCar GMR Grand Prix (85 laps), NBC
COVERAGE ON NBCSPORTS.COM:
ROUND 1: Alex Palou breaks through with first victory in season opener
ROUND 2: Colton Herta puts on a sublime showing in St. Pete
ROUND 3: Scott Dixon maintains Texas dominance
ROUND 4: Pato O’Ward scores first IndyCar victory this season
JIMMIE INDYCAR WATCH, RACE 1: A 19th at Barber Motorsports Park
JIMMIE INDYCAR WATCH, RACE 2: Tough day for the No. 48
Jimmie Johnson takes a break from IndyCar but not from racing one of his daughters