Everything To Know For The 2026 Indianapolis 500

Welcome to The Greatest Spectacle In Racing. The Indianapolis 500 is set for Sunday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. From “Back Home Again In Indiana” to “Taps” to “Drivers, Start Your Engines” to the green flag to the checkered flag to the milk in Victory Lane, there is no other prerace like it, there is no other race like it, there is no other victory celebration like it. The drivers of the INDYCAR Series work all year toward this race. Approximately 350,000 people — one person for approximately every 1,000 Americans — will attend. Several million will watch on television in the United States and around the world. Here’s what to know about the 2026 Indianapolis 500: What time will the race start? The green flag is scheduled for 12:45 p.m. ET. FOX coverage begins at 10 a.m. ET. How long is the race? It is 500 miles — 200 laps around the 2.5-mile oval. Unlike some other forms of racing, there is no overtime or provision for additional laps. An official race, if it rains or there are other factors for the race not to get to the finish, is 250 miles or beyond. Is it really an oval? It is a rectangular circuit. The frontstretch and backstretch are five-eighths of a mile each (1.25 miles total). The four turns are each a quarter mile (1 mile total). And the short chute between each turn one-eighth of a mile (0.25 mile total). The turns are banked 9 degrees, 12 minutes. The frontstretch and backstretch have no banking. The straightaways width is 50 feet; the turns width is 60 feet. Does IMS have lights? Not for the racing surface to be able to race at night. How many Indy 500s have there been? This is the 110th running of the Indianapolis 500. Who are the favorites? You have to start with polesitter Alex Palou. He is the defending winner of the race and a four-time INDYCAR champion driving for Chip Ganassi Racing. And then? Most every other driver in the field could conceivably win the race depending on strategy, when they choose to pit, when the cautions come out and if they have to save fuel to make it work. In the 109 races, 21 winners have come from the pole and 46 have come from the front row. That should be good news for Palou, ECR Racing’s Alexander Rossi and Team Penske’s David Malukas. Another 21 drivers have won from the second row. This year, that’s Felix Rosenqvist, Santino Ferrucci and Pato O’Ward. And nine have come from the third row. This year that’s Kyffin Simpson, Conor Daly and Scott McLaughlin. That leaves 33 winners (30 percent) who have won outside the third row. No driver who has started 18th, 23rd, 24th, 26th or 29th-33rd has ever won the race. Rossi and O’Ward do have to go to backup cars after a hard crash in practice Monday. They get to keep their starting positions. [WHO TO ROOT FOR: Guide To Choosing Your Favorite INDYCAR Driver] How many former winners are in the field? There are nine former winners in the field: –Helio Castroneves (2001, 2002, 2009, 2021)–Takuma Sato (2017, 2020)–Josef Newgarden (2023, 2024)–Scott Dixon (2008)–Ryan Hunter-Reay (2014)–Alexander Rossi (2016)–Will Power (2018)–Marcus Ericsson (2022)–Alex Palou (2025) Castroneves, to me and other reporters, on the Drive for 5: “Last year, when I finished the race, I tell you what — I was already thinking about. I was actually angry a little bit because it was a lot of small mistakes. And even with the small mistakes, we still finished in the top 10. And that’s where my frustration came in because the car was excellent, the setup was really good.” Is there anyone doing The Double? Yes. Katherine Legge will drive in the Indianapolis 500 for HMD Motorsports as part of an alliance with A.J. Foyt Racing. She will then travel to Charlotte and compete in the Coke 600 for Live Fast Motorsports. Legge has made eight Cup starts over the last two years. [WHO IS KATHERINE LEGGE? The Double Driver On Dogs & Being Fearless] “It is the opportunity of a lifetime,” Legge said in a virtual news conference last week. “I’ll be the sixth person to have ever [done] it, and that’s in the world, right? That’s really cool. So I’m excited.” Do any other drivers in the field have NASCAR national series experience? Yes. Conor Daly has three Cup starts, three O’Reilly Series starts and six truck starts. Santino Ferrucci has nine O’Reilly Series starts. Are there any former F1 racers in this event? Yes. There are five drivers who have competed in a Formula 1 race. –Takuma Sato raced from 2002-2008–Marcus Ericsson raced from 2014-2018–Romain Grosjean raced from 2012-2020.–Mick Schumacher competed from 2021-2022.–Alexander Rossi did five races in 2015. Speaking of Rossi, is he injured from his crash Monday? The team says he has minor injuries to a finger on his left hand and his right ankle, both of which needed outpatient procedures. They say he plans to participate in practice Friday and race in the Indianapolis 500. Are there any other drivers nursing injuries? It’s hard to know. Mick Schumacher has been nursing an injured wrist from an accident at the start of the season that will likely require offseason surgery. Who are the rookies in the race? There are four drivers who will start their first Indy 500: –Mick Schumacher, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing–Caio Collet, A.J. Foyt Racing–Dennis Hauger, Dale Coyne Racing–Jacob Abel, Abel Motorsports Schumacher, Collet and Hauger are full-time rookies in the series. Abel was a rookie last year but did not make the race. This will be his first start of the 2026 season. Mick Schumacher, that name sounds familiar? Mick Schumacher is the son of seven-time Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher, who had great success at Indianapolis — on the road course, where he won five Formula 1 races. Mick Schumacher is a rookie this year driving for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. “I’m very much now looking forward to the race,” Schumacher said Tuesday in a virtual news conference. “I think that’s going to be the highlight of the year. It’s such a special event and such a special race, and I just can’t wait for everybody to be here.” Who are other big names in new places? Will Power, after 17 years at Penske, is now at Andretti Global, where he replaced Colton Herta. Power hasn’t had an easy transition as he sits 14th in the standings. He has speed but not the results. “This organization is great,” Power said in a news conference Monday. “The people are great. Obviously we’re working hard putting processes in place. I think we had really good handling cars here [in qualifying], but obviously there was a little bit of speed lacking. “But, honestly, I think our race cars are really good just with the work we’ve done in the short period we’ve had leading up to this. I’m definitely looking forward to the race.” His replacement at Penske, David Malukas, sits third in the standings and will start the race Sunday in the front row. “There was a lot of pressure going into preseason, not just even for this race, but also all the races,” Malukas said at his post-qualifying news conference. “It’s just been an incredible start. I’m just so thankful, so grateful. And every single day I show up to the track a little bit more confident, a little bit more happy to just to be here and be a part of this Team Penske family.” Speaking of Penske, where are the executives who were released last year? The three executives released after a technical violation was discovered in qualifying prior to the 2025 Indy 500 are all at Indianapolis hoping to win the race. –Former Penske INDYCAR President Tim Cindric is back at Team Penske, but only as a strategist for Scott McLaughlin. –Former Penske INDYCAR managing director Ron Ruzewski is now the team principal at Andretti Global. –Former Penske INDYCAR general manager Kyle Moyer is director of competition at Arrow McLaren and strategist for Christian Lundgaard, who won the Indy Grand Prix on the road course a couple weeks ago. Moyer said it is “odd” to be at Indy and not with Team Penske. Part of that is because he has been reunited with Tony Kanaan, who he had worked with at Andretti, and they are in the old Andretti shop. “I thought I would probably retire at Penske,” Moyer told me. “That didn’t happen. It was very, very nice that McLaren and TK and [McLaren CEO] Zak [Brown] gave me the offer for her to be able to run another professional team and be on top of the game. “I was hoping I could do another one of the bigger teams again and fortunate enough that it worked out here.” Ruziewski said being at the Indy 500 isn’t emotional because it is with a new team. “Independent of what group I’m working with, this place is — it’s an emotional place,” Ruzewski said during a news conference Monday. “Honestly, it’s why I do it. It’s why I’m in INDYCAR and not another series. “This place is special. It’s the greatest race in the world. I’ve been super fortunate to drink the milk seven times, and I only want to drink it the eighth time even worse.” What are these cars? These specifically-built cars, designed by Dallara, use twin-turbocharged, 2.2-liter, V-6 engines with hybrid technology. Chevrolet and Honda provide engines to teams. The cars weigh 1,635 pounds without driver or fuel. The cars are about 40 inches high with a wheelbase of 117.5-121.5 Inches. Firestone does the tires. The cars reach 240 mph in qualifying and will reach around 225 mph during the race. Why does the winner drink milk? The milk tradition goes back 90 years ago to 1936 when Louis Meyer, celebrating as the first driver ever to win three Indianapolis 500s, drank buttermilk in victory lane. [GOT MILK? Drivers’ Make Celebratory Milk Choice If They Win In 2026] Who will sing the national anthem? Jordin Sparks. She also sang the national anthem in 2015 and 2024. Singing “America The Beautiful” will be Indiana native Ephraim Owens. Who will give the command? There are two major commands for the Indianapolis 500. The first is “Drivers To Your Cars” — that will be done by Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark. The second is the command to start engines. That likely will be Roger Penske, owner of INDYCAR and IMS parent company Penske Corporation (and owner of Team Penske). Penske gave the command last year, and it traditionally has been someone from the track owner’s family. Who will drive the pace car? NCAA champion Indiana University football coach Curt Cignetti will drive the pace car prior to the opening lap of the race. Don’t know who he is? Google him. Who will wave the green flag? Actor Brendan Fraser, who was born in Indianapolis. Will Gronk be there? Of course. Rob Gronkowski will be the “grand marshal” of the Snake Pit. The Snake Pit? Yes, that is an area in Turn 3 where fans used to watch the race that IMS has now turned into a concert venue that has several acts before and during the first portion of the race. Expected to perform at the EDM festival are Crankdat, Wooli, it’s murph and Wax Motif before headliner Zedd takes the stage. Finally, what’s the weather forecast? As of Thursday morning, the FOX Weather forecast is for temperatures in the 70s and a 33 percent chance of rain.