Your 2026 Guide to the Indianapolis 500

Roughly One hundred and twenty-one days into every year, the calendar flips from April to the month of May.

May is notorious for a great many things, including warmer temperatures, Star Wars Day – May the 4th, and of course, the Indianapolis 500.

This year’s running of the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” will be the 110th in the event’s history. So, before the big day, let’s make sure you are in the know on all things Indianapolis 500.

History

The inaugural “International 500-Mile Sweepstakes Race,” yes this is what it was called, was run on Memorial Day in 1911 and has been scheduled on that weekend every year since, excluding the first two world wars when the race was not run at all and in 2020 when it was run in August due to the on-going pandemic.

The first winner of the race was Ray Harroun and since then 76? others have won it. 20 drivers have won it more than once and a whopping four have been lucky enough to win it four times. A.J. Foyt, Al Unser, Rick Mears, and Helio Castroneves.

Now that we know about the winners of the past, let’s jump ahead of this year and the cars these drivers pilot.

IR-18

The Dallara IR-18 Universal Aero-Kit IndyCar is currently in its 9th year of service for the NTT IndyCar series, with the aero-screen configuration being in its 7th season.

The aero-kit sits on the DW-12 chassis which has been utilized by IndyCar since 2012, and the hybrid unit in these vehicles was officially introduced at the midway point of the 2024 season at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, adding more power and weight to the overall unit.

There are two aerodynamic configurations that are utilized for IndyCar: an oval-specific version that features noticeably smaller front and rear wings and a road/street course specific which has larger ones. For the 500, the oval iteration will be utilized.

Updated Practice & Qualifying

A week before the Indy 500, we’ll be treated to four days of practice leading into a full weekend of qualifying.

As of this recording, the official Indianapolis 500 entry list confirms 33 cars for 33 positions, which means qualifying will take on a slightly different format this year. This segment is being recorded a week later with these updates confirmed – hence the wardrobe change- but let’s dive in.

Each qualifying run consists of 4 consecutive laps (4 LAPS) and the combined average speed of those circuits determines your position on the grid. There are two days of qualifying from Saturday to Sunday.

Day 1 sets part of the field for the Indy 500 in two ways.

First, it locks in starting positions 16 through 33 based on qualifying speeds.

Second, it determines who moves on to Day 2 starting with the fastest 9 cars of the day automatically advancing to Sunday to battle for the pole

Also moving on to Day 2 are drivers with times that land them in positions 10 through 15 where they’ll go to a second-chance round of qualifying to get the final three spots in the Fast 12.

Day 2 will start by determining positions 13th – 15th with a last chance qualifying effort with drivers who previously made speeds that landed them 10th-15th on Saturday.

That LCQ for those spots will take us to our contenders in the Fast 12.

taking those who previously qualified 10th-15th into a last chance qualifying round to make the Fast 12. Those drivers will make their four consecutive laps and the six fastest from that will move on to the Fast 6, and those 6 drivers will battle for the Indy 500 pole.

So in short, Saturday is positions 16-33 and Sunday is positions 13-15, then positions 7-12, then positions 1-6. All of this because again, there is no bump from the field, there are 33 cars for 33 positions. Now let’s jump back to my future self

So, now the field is set but the fun’s not over.

Those that survive that chaos will be rewarded with another practice session on Monday, which starts the process of turning these qualifying set ups into race day setup.

Then we skip ahead to Friday of race week which is the day everyone loves… The Weinie 500… just kidding kind of… it’s Carb Day, consisting of the final two hour practice session before the race, and again later that day the the absolutely life changing Wienie 500 and the pit stop competition.

The Race

And with that, we’re ready for the 11 rows of 3 to take the green for 200 laps around the 2.5 mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway to crown another Indy 500 champion.

And winning the Greatest Spectacle in Racing isn’t easy. All involved will be looking to avoid the carnage lurking at every turn. Between the aero-wash, changing wind directions and track temp, what you’re presented with lap to lap is anyone’s guess.

Each car will need a minimum of 5 stops for tires and fuel during the race. Drivers will need to avoid exceeding the speed limit of 60MPH (96.5KPH) on pit entry, but will have a limiter to use as they travel down the length of pit road as they make their way to the attention of their pit crews.

And when it’s all said and done, every driver will look to drink the winners milk, a tradition started in 1936 by the races first 3 time victor Louis Meyer who drank a glass of buttermilk in victory lane. To do that, you’ll likely need to place yourself within the top 3 for the last stint of the race. If you get stuck any further back, the draft is a lot harder to overcome. This was fully on display in the 2025 500 when Palou and Ericsson were caught behind 2 cars on the tail end of the lead lap that made the battle come to a premature end as Marcus wasn’t able to mount a charge in the final 14 laps. Although the Ericsson’s 28 car was disqualified in post race technical inspection, so maybe it was for the best. Alex Palou, the 4-time and defending IndyCar Champion took the checkered flag and is looking to defend his first 500 victory in this year’s running.

Conclusion

As I previously mentioned, the 500’s moniker is “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing”, and for good reason. Beyond the on-track activity, which should leave any casual or hardcore racing fan in awe, attending the race for yourself is something every race fan should do at least once. There’s nothing quite like watching a historic race with 300,000 others who, while maybe not all the most avid race watchers, are queued in to take part in a tradition over a century in the making.

So, we’ll be watching the Indy 500 just like you to see who adds their name to the history books this year.