101st Running of the Indianapolis 500 Presented by PennGrade Motor Oil Fast Facts
Race weekend: Friday, May 26 – Sunday, May 28
Track: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a 2.5-mile oval
Race distance: 200 laps / 500 miles
Starting lineup: Indianapolis 500 (PDF)
Firestone tire allotment: Thirty-six sets for use throughout the month
Twitter: @IMS @IndyCar, #Indy500, #IndyCar
Event website: www.indianapolismotorspeedway.
INDYCAR website: www.IndyCar.com
2016 race winner: Alexander Rossi (No. 98 NAPA Auto Parts/Curb Honda)
2017 Verizon P1 Award winner: Scott Dixon (No. 9 Camping World Honda), 2:35.0603, 232.164 mph
NBCSN Carb Day broadcast: Friday, May 26 (11 a.m. ET)
Kevin Lee will anchor NBCSN’s coverage of Indianapolis 500 final practice, the Indy Lights’ Freedom 100 and TAG Heuer Pit Stop Competition. Robin Miller, Paul Tracy and Townsend Bell will serve as analysts with Katie Hargitt, Jon Beekhuis and Marty Snider as pit reporters.
ABC race broadcast: Sunday, May 28 (11 a.m. ET)
Allen Bestwick is the lead announcer for ESPN on ABC broadcasts for the third consecutive year alongside analysts Scott Goodyear and Eddie Cheever Jr. Rick DeBruhl, Dr. Jerry Punch and Jon Beekhuis are the pit reporters.
Radio broadcasts: Mark Jaynes is the chief announcer alongside analyst Davey Hamilton. All Verizon IndyCar Series races are broadcast live on the Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network, Sirius 212, XM 209, IndyCar.com, indycarradio.com and on the INDYCAR Mobile app. Verizon IndyCar Series final practice session is available on IndyCar.com, indycarradio.
INDYCAR Mobile App: Verizon’s INDYCAR Mobile app is available across all carriers. Exclusive features of the app for Verizon Wireless customers will stream live through the app and include enhanced realtime leaderboard and car telemetry; live in-car camera video streaming for select drivers during Verizon IndyCar Series races; live driver and pit crew radio transmissions during races and live Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network audio streaming during all track activities.
At-track schedule (all times local):
Friday, May 26
11 a.m – Noon. – Indianapolis 500 final practice
1:30 p.m. – TAG Heuer Indianapolis 500 Pit Stop Competition
Sunday, May 28
11:35 a.m. – Driver Introductions
12:12 p.m. – Command to Start Engines
12:19 p.m. – Indianapolis 500 Mile Race (200 laps/500 miles), ABC (Live at 11 a.m.)
Race notes:
* The Indianapolis 500 will be the 101st 500-mile Indy car race conducted on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s oval. Ray Harroun won the inaugural race in 1911. Alexander Rossi won the race in 2016 to become the first rookie winner of the race since 2001.
* There have been five different winners in five Verizon IndyCar Series races in 2017. Sebastien Bourdais (Streets of St. Petersburg), James Hinchcliffe (Streets of Long Beach), Josef Newgarden (Barber Motorsports Park), Simon Pagenaud (Phoenix Raceway) and Will Power (IMS road course) have won races in 2017. Since 2012, the Verizon IndyCar Series has averaged 8.75 different race winners per season, including a record-tying 11 winners in 2014.
* Scott Dixon stopped a streak of pole winners from Team Penske in 2017 by winning the Verizon P1 Award for the Indianapolis 500. Dixon’s speed was the fastest pole speed at Indianapolis Motor Speedway since 1996. Team Penske’s Helio Castroneves (Phoenix and Long Beach) and Will Power (St. Petersburg, Barber, IMS road course) had earned every Verizon P1 Awards through qualifying.
* Seven drivers entered have won at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Helio Castroneves has won the race three times (2001, 2002 and 2009), while Team Penske teammate Juan Pablo Montoya has won the race twice (2000 and 2015). Buddy Lazier (1996), Scott Dixon (2008), Tony Kanaan (2013), Ryan Hunter-Reay (2014) and Alexander Rossi (2016) are the other former winners entered.
* Tony Kanaan has finished in the top four in four of the last six Indianapolis 500s, including his win in 2013.
* Juan Pablo Montoya has finished in top five in three of his four Indianapolis 500 starts.
* Four drivers will race Verizon IndyCar Series cars on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval for the first time: Fernando Alonso, Jack Harvey, Ed Jones and Zach Veach. Alonso and Harvey will be making their series debut
* Twenty drivers have won the race from the pole – most recently Helio Castroneves in 2009.
* Team Penske has 16 wins at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the most of any team. Chip Ganassi Racing has won four times. Andretti Autosport has four wins while A.J. Foyt Enterprises has won twice.
* Two drivers have a chance to become the first to win on both the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and the famed 2.5-mile oval: Simon Pagenaud and Will Power have road course wins.
* Pippa Mann is the only female driver in the field. It marks the 18th consecutive Indy 500 that a female has qualified for the race.
* Tony Kanaan seeks to start his 271st consecutive race this weekend, which would extend his Indy car record streak that began in June 2001 at Portland. Teammate Scott Dixon has made 212 consecutive starts heading into the weekend which is the second-longest streak in Indy car racing.
* Helio Castroneves will attempt to make his 333rd career Indy car start, which ranks fourth on the all-time list. Tony Kanaan will attempt to make his 332nd Indy car start, which is fifth all-time. Both are competing in their 20th season of Indy car racing in 2017.
Sources: Curt Cavin/Verizon IndyCar Series PR