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IndyCar GP Indy: Grid order, starting tire choice

The starting line-up for the GMR Grand Prix of Indianapolis, Round 5 of the 2021 NTT IndyCar Series, along with each driver’s choice of Firestone tire compound for the first stint.

Romain Grosjean, Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Honda

Romain Grosjean, Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Honda

Phillip Abbott / Motorsport Images

P No. Driver Team-Engine Starting tire
1 51 Romain Grosjean (R) Dale Coyne Racing with RWR-Honda Alternate
2 2 Josef Newgarden Team Penske-Chevrolet Alternate
3 60 Jack Harvey Meyer Shank Racing-Honda Primary
4 10 Alex Palou Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda Alternate
5 3 Scott McLaughlin (R) Team Penske-Chevrolet Alternate
6 20 Conor Daly Ed Carpenter Racing-Chevrolet Alternate
7 21 Rinus VeeKay Ed Carpenter Racing-Chevrolet Primary
8 26 Colton Herta Andretti Autosport-Honda Primary
9 18 Ed Jones Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser Sullivan-Honda Alternate
10 22 Simon Pagenaud Team Penske-Chevrolet Primary
11 15 Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing-Honda Primary
12 12 Will Power Team Penske-Chevrolet Primary
13 7 Felix Rosenqvist Arrow McLaren SP-Chevrolet Primary
14 27 Alexander Rossi Andretti Autosport-Honda Primary
15 8 Marcus Ericsson Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda Primary
16 9 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda Primary
17 30 Takuma Sato Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing-Honda Primary
18 5 Pato O'Ward Arrow McLaren SP-Chevrolet Primary
19 28 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport-Honda Alternate
20 14 Sebastien Bourdais A.J. Foyt Enterprises-Chevrolet Primary
21 11 Charlie Kimball A.J. Foyt Enterprises-Chevrolet Primary
22 29 James Hinchcliffe Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport-Honda Primary
23 48 Jimmie Johnson (R) Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda Primary
24 4 Dalton Kellett A.J. Foyt Enterprises-Chevrolet Primary
25 86 Juan Pablo Montoya Arrow McLaren SP-Chevrolet Primary

Event date: Friday, May 14 – Saturday, May 15

Track: 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course in Indianapolis, IN.

Race distance: 85 laps / 207.315 miles

Firestone tire allotment: 6 sets primary (7 sets for rookies), 4 sets alternate

At-track IndyCar schedule (local/Eastern Time) and broadcast details

Friday, May 14

9.30-10.15am – First practice – Peacock Premium
1.00-1.45pm – Second practice – Peacock Premium
4.30-5.45pm – Qualifying – Peacock Premium
6.00 – Qualifying, same-day delay broadcast – NBCSN

Saturday, May 15

10.45-11.15am – Warm-up – Peacock Premium
2.30pm – NBC broadcast
2.39pm –
NTT IndyCar Series “Drivers, start your engines” – NBC
2.45pm –
Green flag: GMR Grand Prix of Indianapolis (85 laps) – NBC

Leigh Diffey is play-by-play announcer for NBC's coverage of the NTT IndyCar Series, alongside analysts Townsend Bell and Paul Tracy.

IndyCar Radio Network broadcasts: Mark Jaynes is chief announcer alongside analyst Davey Hamilton. Nick Yeoman and Jake Query are the turn announcers. The GMR Grand Prix will air live on network affiliates, SiriusXM 205, indycar.com, indycarradio.com and the IndyCar Mobile app powered by NTT DATA. All NTT IndyCar Series practices and qualifying are available on SiriusXM 205, indycar.com and the IndyCar Mobile app.

Race Notes

2020 race winner: Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda).

2020 NTT P1 Award winner: Will Power (Team Penske-Chevrolet) 1m10.1779sec (125.116mph).

Qualifying lap record: Power (Penske-Chevy), 2017, 1m07.7044sec (129.687mph).

The GMR Grand Prix will be the 10th IndyCar race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course. Scott Dixon, Josef Newgarden, Simon Pagenaud and Will Power are the only drivers to win on the IMS road course. Power has four wins – three GMR GPs plus the second race of last October’s Harvest GP double-header; Pagenaud has three GMR GP wins; Dixon won the 2020 GMR Grand Prix; Newgarden won the first race of the 2020 Harvest GP doubleheader.

Power has five pole positions here – four for the GMR Grand Prix, one for the Harvest GP. Other drivers to win pole on the IMS road course are Sebastian Saavedra, Pagenaud, Felix Rosenqvist and Rinus VeeKay.

Twenty-three of the drivers entered in Saturday’s race have competed in IndyCar races on the IMS road course and 11 of them have led laps in the GMR Grand Prix: Power 210, Pagenaud 68, Dixon 66, Graham Rahal 36, Newgarden 25, Ryan Hunter-Reay 18, Rosenqvist 15, James Hinchcliffe 4, Alexander Rossi 2, Marcus Ericsson1 and Jack Harvey.

Dixon has finished first or second in the last four GMR Grand Prix at Indianapolis, including last year’s win – his first on the IMS road course.

Rookies Romain Grosjean (Dale Coyne Racing with RWR-Honda), Jimmie Johnson (Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda) and Scott McLaughlin (Team Penske-Chevrolet) will race IndyCars on Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course for the first time this weekend.

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