Indy 500 qualifying order will start with Scott Dixon

INDIANAPOLIS — The heat will be on for many drivers as temperatures rise and make handling much worse for cars that are later in the Indy 500 qualifying order Saturday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The 2.5-mile oval has proven to be extremely temperatures sensitive during four practice sessions this week, and it’s expected to be 81 degrees for the noon ET start to qualifying and rising over the rest of the afternoon.

That resultant spike in ambient track temperature concerns Pato O’Ward, who had the fastest Chevrolet in Fast Friday practice but will go out 20th in the qualifying draw.

QUALIFYING FORMAT: A breakdown of how the Indy 500 field will be set this weekend

FAST FRIDAY: Recap of the first day with turbo boost

O’Ward said “the difference of car balance is insane” with an increase of just 15 degrees in track temperature.

“(Saturday) a big tell is going to be just how hot it’s going to be,” O’Ward said. “And from the third guy out to the 25^th guy out, there probably will be a difference of 15 to 20 degrees. That’s going to be huge.”

After turning the fastest lap in Friday practice for the second time in three days, Scott Dixon pulled the first spot in the qualifying draw that randomly was determined Friday night after practice.

Positions 10 through 30 will be locked into starting spots Saturday after nearly six hours of qualifying for the 105th Indy 500.

The top nine cars will square off Saturday for the Fast Nine session that determines the pole position. With 35 cars vying for 33 spots, the slowest five cars will compete Saturday in the Last Row Shootout for the last three spots in the race. Click here for the full qualifying format.

Here is the NTT IndyCar Series qualifying order for the 105th Indy 500:

1. #9 Scott Dixon
2. #98 Marco Andretti
3. #28 Ryan Hunter‐Reay
4. #06 Helio Castroneves
5. #18 Ed Jones
6. #29 James Hinchcliffe
7. #25 Stefan Wilson
8. #48 Tony Kanaan
9. #2 Josef Newgarden
10. #21 Rinus VeeKay
11. #3 Scott McLaughlin
12. #30 Takuma Sato
13. #45 Santino Ferrucci
14. #24 Sage Karam
15. #51 Pietro Fittipaldi
16. #86 Juan Pablo Montoya
17. #1 JR Hildebrand
18. #12 Will Power
19. #20 Ed Carpenter
20. #5 Pato O’Ward
21. #7 Felix Rosenqvist
22. #59 Max Chilton
23. #4 Dalton Kellett
24. #47 Conor Daly
25. #15 Graham Rahal
26. #60 Jack Harvey
27. #75 RC Enerson
28. #10 Alex Palou
29. #22 Simon Pagenaud
30. #26 Colton Herta
31. #27 Alexander Rossi
32. #8 Marcus Ericsson
33. #16 Simona De Silvestro
34. #11 Charlie Kimball
35. #14 Sebastien Bourdais

With three multiple winners now vying for the championship, the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series heads to Round 11 at Lumen Field in Seattle, Washington.

Chase Sexton earned his second victory of the season in Detroit when Aaron Plessinger fell on the final lap. Though he was penalized seven points for disobeying a flag, Sexton is third in the championship race. The Honda rider trails leader Cooper Webb (two victories) by 17 points, and defending series champion Eli Tomac (five wins) is three points behind Webb in second with seven races remaining.

Tomac won last year in Seattle on the way to his second season title.

Honda riders have a Supercross-leading 20 victories in the Seattle event but none at Lumen Field since Justin Barcia in 2013. Tomac and Barcia are the only past 450 Seattke winners entered in Saturday’s event.

Here are the pertinent details for watching Round 11 of the 2023 Supercross season in Seattle:

(All times are ET)

BROADCAST/STREAMING SCHEDULE: TV coverage of Round 11 will begin Saturday at 10 p.m. ET streaming on Peacock with a re-air Monday at 1 a.m. ET on CNBC. The Race Day Live show (including qualifying) will begin on Peacock at 4:30 p.m. ET Saturday.

NBC Sports will have exclusive live coverage of races, qualifiers and heats for the record 31 events in SuperMotocross. The main events will be presented on Peacock, NBC, USA Network, CNBC, and NBC Sports digital platforms.

Peacock will become the home of the SuperMotocross World Championship series in 2023 with live coverage of all races, qualifying, and heats from January to October. There will be 23 races livestreamed exclusively on Peacock, including a SuperMotocross World Championship Playoff event. The platform also will provide on-demand replays of every race. Click here for the full schedule.

POINTS STANDINGS: 450 division l 250 division

ENTRY LISTS: 450 division l 250 division

EVENT SCHEDULE (all times ET):

Here are the start times for Saturday’s Supercross Round 11 in Seattle, according to the Monster Energy Supercross schedule from the AMA:

4:50 p.m.: 250SX Group B Qualifying 1
5:05 p.m.: 250SX Group A Qualifying 1
5:20 p.m.: 450SX Group A Qualifying 1
5:35 p.m.: 450SX Group B Qualifying 1
6:25 p.m.: 250SX Group B Qualifying 2
6:40 p.m.: 250SX Group A Qualifying 2
7:55 p.m.: 450SX Group A Qualifying 2
8:10 p.m.: 450SX Group B Qualifying 2
10:06 p.m.: 250SX Heat 1
10:20 p.m.: 250SX Heat 2
10:34 p.m.: 450SX Heat 1
10:48 p.m.: 450SX Heat 2
11:22 p.m.: 250SX Last Chance Qualifier
11:34 p.m.: 450SX Last Chance Qualifier
11:54 p.m.: 250SX Main Event
12:28 a.m.: 450SX Main Event