Indy 500 qualifying postponed to Sunday with condensed format
IndyCar will set the entire grid on Sunday as they make another tweak to the qualifying format following Saturday's rainout
Track drying at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Photo by: Brian Spurlock of Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Due to constant rain showers throughout the day on Saturday, qualifying for the 110th running of the Indianapolis 500 has been canceled for the day, and the entire session has been pushed to Sunday.
Saturday was supposed to set grid positions 16-33 while also deciding which drivers would advance into the 'Final 15' for Pole Day tomorrow.
Now, there will be no 'Final 15' as IndyCar scraps the newly created round, which was their answer to a year with no bumping.
Instead, every car will get one attempt at a four-lap qualifying run with no additional attempts allowed. The fastest 12 will transfer to the Top 12 round, with a chance to then advance further into the Firestone Fast Six and fight for pole at the end of the day.
FOX Sports 2 and FOX will split the coverage between Sunday's on-track action with all of it also being streamed on FOX One, and the full updated schedule for Sunday is as follows:
9:30am EST -- Qualifying practice -- FOX SPORTS 2
12:00pm EST -- Qualifying (all cars) -- FOX SPORTS 2
4:30pm EST -- Top 12 qualifying (coverage begins at 4pm) -- FOX
6:00pm EST - Fast 6 qualifying for pole -- FOX
This marks the first time since 2008 that an entire day of qualifying was lost, per IMS president Doug Boles. "We tried hard," he said online after the postponement. "Would have gone late. Mother Nature had other plans. Thanks fans for being here and so patient.
2025's rookie pole-sitter Robert Shwartzman will not have a chance to go back-to-back as both he and Prema Racing are not taking part in this year's race. He is the first Indy 500 pole-sitter since Bruno Junqueira in 2003 to not be back at the event the following year.
Scott Dixon, who will be the first driver out on the track for qualifying, will be seeking a record-tying sixth pole in IndyCar's crown jewel event, matching Rick Mears.
Defending race winner Alex Palou, Jacob Abel, and 'Double' hopeful Katherine Legge will be the final three drivers to go out on track in the first round of qualifying.
The full qualifying order can be found below:
Share Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments