Indy 500 pole qualifying overhauled for 2022

By Apr 26, 2022, 4:00 PM EDT
Indy 500 pole qualifying
Brian Spurlock/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
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Indy 500 pole qualifying will have a new twist for 2022 with two rounds replacing the Fast Nine format of recent years.

The NTT IndyCar Series announced Tuesday that the first four rows for the 106th edition of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing will be determined May 22 after positions 13-33 are set May 21.

After the first day of PPG Presents Armed Forces Qualifying, the 12 fastest drivers will have a guaranteed attempt to post a four-lap average for the pole position in the May 29 race (which will be broadcast on NBC). The top 12 session will begin at 4 p.m. ET on NBC.

INDY 500 PRIMER: Important details, schedule for watching on NBC

INDY 500 QUALIFYING: Click here for a graphical representation of the new format

The fastest six drivers will advance to the Firestone Fast Six at 5:10 p.m. ET to set the first two rows on NBC (the other six will slot in for the Rows 3 and 4).

The pole-sitter will receive $100,000, and 12 points toward the IndyCar standings. Points will be awarded in decreasing one-point increments for the top 12 (with second earning 11; third getting 10, etc.).

“We have an incredibly deep field heading into this year’s Indianapolis 500,” IndyCar president Jay Frye said in a release. “The timing is right to implement a new and dramatic way to expand one of the most intense weekends on our calendar. Winning pole position for the ‘500’ is an incredible feat, and with this new format, it will be even more challenging.”

If there are more than 33 entries in the event, a Last Chance Qualifying session for the three spots on the last row will be held from 2-3 p.m. ET on May 22. It’s expected that this year’s race could have a maximum of 33 entries.

“Indianapolis 500 qualifying weekend always is special,” Indianapolis Motor Speedway president J. Douglas Boles said in a release. “This format will give our fans even more opportunities to see IndyCar’s world-class drivers compete on racing’s biggest stage. While winning the race is the ultimate prize, capturing pole position for the ‘500’ is one of motorsports’ most prestigious honors and almost a race within a race. I cannot wait to see this expanded format on the final Sunday before Race Day.”

NBC will have live coverage of the 106th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge at 11 a.m. ET on Sunday, May 29. The broadcast also will be on Peacock Premium and Telemundo Deportes on Universo.

For tickets to the Snake Pit festival, the Indy 500, the Carb Day Miller Lite concert or any practices and qualifying, click here to reserve a seat.

Here is the broadcast schedule for qualifying weekend (all times are ET):

Saturday, May 21

9-10:30 a.m.: Practice, Peacock Premium

Noon-5:50 p.m.: Indy 500 qualifying, positions 13-33, Peacock Premium

Sunday, May 22

11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.:  Last Chance practice, Peacock Premium

12:30-2 p.m.: Top 12 practice, Peacock Premium

2-3 p.m.: Last Chance Qualifying (Positions 31-33, if necessary) Peacock
Premium

4 p.m.: Indy 500 top 12 qualifying, NBC

5:10 p.m.: Firestone Fast Six, NBC

Monday, May 23

11 a.m.-1 p.m.: Indy 500 practice, Peacock Premium

For tickets to the Snake Pit festival, the Indy 500, the Carb Day Miller Lite concert or any practices and qualifying, click here to reserve a seat.

After New York whirlwind, Josef Newgarden makes special trip to simulator before Detroit

By Jun 2, 2023, 10:00 AM EDT
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DETROIT – There’s no rest for the weary as an Indy 500 winner, but Josef Newgarden discovered there are plenty of extra laps.

The reigning Indy 500 champion added an extra trip Wednesday night back to Concord, N.C., for one last session on the GM Racing simulator before Sunday’s Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix.

After a 30-year run on the Belle Isle course, the race has been moved to a nine-turn, 1.7-mile layout downtown, so two extra hours on the simulator were worth it for Newgarden.

INDYCAR IN DETROIT: Entry list, schedule, TV info for this weekend

JOSEF’S FAMILY TIES: Newgarden wins Indy 500 with wisdom of father, wife

“I really wanted to do it,” he told NBC Sports at a Thursday media luncheon. “If there’s any time that the sim is most useful, it’s in this situation when no one has ever been on a track, and we’re able to simulate it as best as we can. We want to get some seat time.

“It’s extra important coming off the Indy 500 because you’ve been out of rhythm for a road or street course-type environment, so I really wanted some laps. I was really appreciative to Chevy. There was a few guys that just came in and stayed late for me so I could get those laps before coming up here. I don’t know if it’s going to make a difference, but I feel like it’s going to help for me.”

After a whirlwind tour of New York for two days, Newgarden arrived at the simulator (which is at the GM Racing Technical Center adjacent to Hendrick Motorsports) in time for a two hour session that started at 6 p.m. Wednesday. He stayed overnight in Charlotte and then was up for an early commercial flight to Detroit, where he had more media obligations.

Newgarden joked that if he had a jet, he would have made a quick stop in Nashville, Tennessee, but a few more days away from home (where he has yet to return in weeks) is a worthy tradeoff for winning the Greatest Spectacle in Racing – though the nonstop interviews can take a toll.

“It’s the hardest part of the gig for me is all this fanfare and celebration,” Newgarden said. “I love doing it because I’m so passionate about the Indy 500 and that racetrack and what that race represents. I feel honored to be able to speak about it. It’s been really natural and easy for me to enjoy it because I’ve been there for so many years.

“Speaking about this win has been almost the easiest job I’ve ever had for postrace celebrations. But it’s still for me a lot of work. I get worn out pretty easily. I’m very introverted. So to do this for three days straight, it’s been a lot.”

Though he is terrified of heights, touring the top of the Empire State Building for the first time was a major highlight (and produced the tour’s most viral moment).

“I was scared to get to the very top level,” Newgarden said. “That thing was swaying. No one else thought it was swaying. I’m pretty sure it was. I really impressed by the facility. I’d never seen it before. It’s one of those bucket list things. If you go to New York, it’s really special to do that. So to be there with the wreath and the whole setup, it just felt like an honor to be in that moment.”

Now the attention shifts to Detroit and an inaugural circuit that’s expected to be challenging. Along with a Jefferson Avenue straightaway that’s 0.9 miles long, the track has several low-speed corners and a “split” pit lane (teams will stop on both sides of a rectangular area) with a narrow exit that blends just before a 90-degree lefthand turn into Turn 1.

Newgarden thinks the track is most similar to the Music City Grand Prix in Nashville.

“It’s really hard to predict with this stuff until we actually run,” he said. “Maybe we go super smooth and have no issues. Typically when you have a new event, you’re going to have some teething issues. That’s understandable. We’ve always got to massage the event to get it where we want it, but this team has worked pretty hard. They’ve tried to get feedback constantly on what are we doing right, what do we need to look out for. They’ve done a ton of grinding to make sure this surface is in as good of shape as possible.

“There’s been no expense spared, but you can’t foresee everything. I have no idea how it’s going to race. I think typically when you look at a circuit that seems simple on paper, people tend to think it’s not going to be an exciting race, or challenging. I find the opposite always happens when we think that way. Watch it be the most exciting, chaotic, entertaining race.

Newgarden won the last two pole positions at Belle Isle’s 2.35-mile layout and hopes to continue the momentum while avoiding any post-Brickyard letdown.

“I love this is an opportunity for us to get something right quicker than anyone else,” he said. “A new track is always exciting from that standpoint. I feel I’m in a different spot. I’m pretty run down. I’m really trying to refocus and gain some energy back for tomorrow. Which I’ll have time to today, which is great.

“I don’t want that Indy 500 hangover. People always talk about it. They’ve always observed it. That doesn’t mean we have to win this weekend, but I’d like to leave here feeling like we had a really complete event, did a good job and had a solid finish leading into the summer. I want to win everywhere I go, but if we come out of here with a solid result and no mistakes, then probably everyone will be happy with it.”