How to watch 2022 Indy 500 pole qualifying Sunday on NBC

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The pole position for the 106th Indy 500 will be set Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway from 4-6 p.m. ET on NBC, along with the other top 11 starting spots.

The qualifying format has been overhauled this year, requiring the pole-sitter to make three four-lap runs.

After the first day of PPG Presents Armed Forces Qualifying set positions 13-33 Saturday, the 12 fastest drivers will have a guaranteed attempt Sunday to post a four-lap average for the pole position in the May 29 race (which will be broadcast on NBC).

SPEED ASSAULT: VeeKay fastest as Indy 500 drivers lay down blistering laps

The Fast 12 will begin at 4 p.m. ET on NBC. Rinus VeeKay was the fastest driver to advance to the session from Saturday after posting the third-fastest qualifying average in Indy 500 history. Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, along with his four Chip Ganassi Racing teammates, also have a shot at the pole Sunday.

Johnson had the fastest four-lap average in Saturday morning’s practice, giving him a shot to start first in his Indy 500 debut.

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).

Sunday’s broadcast coverage will begin with a 90-minute practice on Peacock Premium that starts at 12:30 p.m. ET.

INDY 500 PRIMERImportant details, schedule for watching on NBC

INDY 500 QUALIFYINGClick here for a graphical representation of the new format

There are 33 cars on the entry list for the race, which means that all drivers will make the starting grid for the May 29 race (11 a.m. ET, NBC).

The field of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing will feature eight former winners: Four-time winner Helio Castroneves (2001, 2002, 2009, ’21), two-time winners Juan Pablo Montoya (2000, 2015) and Takuma Sato (2017, 2020), plus winners Scott Dixon (2008), Tony Kanaan (2013), Alexander Rossi (2016), Will Power (2018) and Simon Pagenaud (2019).

After joining  A.J. Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears as the only four-time Indy 500 winners last year, Castroneves will try to become the first five-time champion and also the first repeat winner since he accomplished the feat in 2001-02.

Here’s the full broadcast grid for Indy 500 qualifying this weekend and for practice and Carb Day next week (all times are ET):

Date Event Network/Streaming Time (ET)
Sat., May 21 Indy 500 Practice Peacock 8:30 a.m.
Indy 500 Qualifying Peacock 11 a.m.
Sun., May 22 Indy 500 Practice Peacock 12:30 p.m.
Indy 500 Qualifying NBC, Peacock 4 p.m.
Indy 500 Fast Six Qualifying NBC, Peacock 5:10 p.m.
Mon., May 23 Indy 500 Practice Peacock 1 p.m.
Fri., May 27 Indy 500 Final Practice on Carb Day Peacock 11 a.m.
Pit Stop Challenge Peacock 2:30 p.m.

 

Will Power says IndyCar field toughest in world: ‘F1’s a joke as far as competition’

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DETROIT – With the 2023 Formula One season turning into a Red Bull runaway, Will Power believes the NTT IndyCar Series deserves respect as the world’s most difficult single-seater racing series.

“It’s so tough, an amazing field, the toughest field in the world, and people need to know it, especially compared to Formula One,” the defending IndyCar champion told NBC Sports during a media luncheon a few days ahead of Sunday’s Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix. “Formula One’s a joke as far as competition, but not as far as drivers. They have amazing drivers. And I feel sorry for them that they don’t get to experience the satisfaction we do with our racing because that is the top level of open-wheel motorsport.

“I think Formula One would be so much better if they had a formula like IndyCar. I love the technology and the manufacturer side of it. I think that’s awesome. But from a spectator watching, man, how cool would it be if everyone had a Red Bull (car)?”

INDYCAR IN DETROITEntry list, schedule, TV info for this weekend

It probably would look a lot different than this season, which has been dominated by two-time defending F1 champion Max Verstappen.

The Dutchman won Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix from the pole position by 24 seconds over seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton. It’s the fifth victory in seven races for Verstappen, whose 40 career wins are one shy of tying late three-time champion Aryton Senna.

Along with being a virtual lock to tie Senna’s mark for titles, Verstappen is poised to break his own record for single-season victories (15) that he set last year.

“You simply know Max is going to win every race if something doesn’t go wrong,” Power said. “Imagine being a guy coming out as a rookie, and you probably could win a race. It would be really cool to see. But you know that would never happen with the politics over there.”

Verstappen’s F1 dominance has been a stark contrast to IndyCar, where Josef Newgarden just became the first repeat winner through six races this season with his Indy 500 victory.

Team Penske (with Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin), Chip Ganassi Racing (with Palou and Marcus Ericsson) and Andretti Autosport (with Kyle Kirkwood) each have visited victory lane in 2023. Arrow McLaren (which has past winners Pato O’Ward, Alexander Rossi and Felix Rosenqvist) is certain to join them at some point.

Meanwhile, Verstappen and teammate Sergio Perez (two wins) have won every F1 race this season with the two Red Bull cars combining to lead more than 95% of the laps.

The primary differences are in the rulesets for each series.

While F1 teams virtually have complete autonomy to build their high-tech cars from scratch, IndyCar has what is known as a spec series in which the cars have a large degree of standardization.

IndyCar teams all use the Dallara DW12 chassis, which is in its 12th season. The development of the car largely has been maximized, helping put a greater emphasis on driver skill as a differentiator (as well as other human resources such as whip-smart strategists and engineers).

Alex Palou, who will start from the pole position at Detroit, harbors F1 aspirations as a McLaren test driver, but the Spaniard prefers IndyCar for competitiveness because talent can be such a determinant in results.

“Racing-wise, that’s the best you can get,” Palou said a few days before winning the pole for the 107th Indy 500 last month. “That’s pure racing, having chances to win each weekend.”

Of course, F1 is the world’s most popular series, and the 2021 IndyCar champion believes its appeal doesn’t necessarily stem from being competitive.

Though the ’21 championship battle between Hamilton and Verstappen was epic, F1 has grown its audience in recent years with the help of the “Drive To Survive” docuseries on Netflix that has showcased their stars’ personalities along with the cutthroat decisions of its team principals (IndyCar started its own docuseries this year).

“I don’t think the beauty of F1 is the race itself,” Palou said. “I’d say the beauty is more the development that they have and everything around the races, and that they go different places. But when we talk about pure spectacle, you cannot get better than (IndyCar).

“You can feel it as a driver here when you first come and jump in a car. When I was in Dale Coyne (Racing), we got a podium my rookie year. It wasn’t the best team, but we were able to achieve one of the best cars at Road America (where he finished third in 2020). It’s not that I was driving a slow car. I was driving a really fast car. I think we can see that across all the teams and the drivers.”

Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin, who will start second at Detroit, is in his third season of IndyCar after winning three championships in Supercars.

The New Zealander said recently that IndyCar has been “the most enjoyment I’ve ever had in my career. I had a lot of fun in Supercars, but there were still things like different uprights, engines, all that stuff. (IndyCar) is spec. Really the only things you can change are dampers and the engine differences between Honda and Chevy.

“I have a blast,” McLaughlin said. “Trying to extract pace and winning in this series is better than I’ve ever felt ever. I’m surprised by how satisfied it feels to win an IndyCar race. It’s better than how it ever has felt in my career. I’ve always liked winning, but it’s so satisfying to win here. That’s why it’s so cool. There are no bad drivers. You have to have a perfect day.”

Qualifying might be the best example of the series’ competitiveness tightness. The spread for the Fast Six final round of qualifying on Detroit’s new nine-turn, 1.645-mile downtown layout was nearly eight 10ths of a second – which qualifies as an eternity these days.

Last month, the GMR Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course produced a spread of 0.2971 seconds from first to sixth – the fourth-closest Fast Six in IndyCar history since the format was adopted in 2008. Three of the seven closest Fast Six fields have happened this season (with the Grand Prix of Long Beach ranking sixth and the Alabama Grand Prix in seventh).

While the technical ingenuity and innovation might be limited when compared to F1, there’s no arguing that more IndyCar drivers and teams have a chance to win.

“The parity’s great, and no one has an advantage, basically,” Power said. “The two engine manufacturers (Honda and Chevrolet) are always flipping back and forth as they develop, but we’re talking like tenths of a second over a lap. There’s not a bad driver in the field, and there are 20 people all capable of being in the Fast Six every week. Maybe more. It’s incredibly competitive. There isn’t a more competitive series in the world. I’m sure of that.

“If you want the ultimate driver’s series, this is it I’m from a big team that would benefit massively from opening the rules up, but I don’t think (IndyCar officials) should. I think this should always be about the team and driver getting the most out of a piece of equipment that everyone has a chance to do so. That’s the ultimate driver series. Who wants to win a championship when you’re just given the best car? It’s just ridiculous.”

Power believes the talented Verstappen still would be the F1 champion if the equipment were spec, but he also thinks there would be more challengers.

“There’s got to be a bunch of those guys that must just be frustrated,” Power said. “Think about Lewis Hamilton, George Russell, Lando Norris, (Fernando) Alonso. Those are some great drivers that don’t get a chance to even win. They’re just extracting the most out of the piece of equipment they have.

“All I can say is if everyone had a Red Bull car, there’s no way that Max would win every race. There are so many guys who would be winning races. It’d just be similar to (IndyCar) and different every week, which it should be that way for the top level of the sport.”