Courtesy of the Verizon IndyCar Series
Race weekend: Friday, May 25 – Sunday, May 27
Track: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a 2.5-mile oval
Starting lineup: 102nd Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil
Race distance: 200 laps / 500 miles
Firestone tire allotment: Thirty-six sets for use throughout the event.
Twitter: @IMS @IndyCar, #Indy500 #ThisIsMay, #IndyCar
Event website: www.ims.com
INDYCAR website: www.IndyCar.com
2017 race winner: Takuma Sato (No. 26 Andretti Autosport Honda)
2018 Verizon P1 Award winner: Ed Carpenter (No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevrolet), 2:36.7818, 229.618 mph (four laps)
NBCSN Miller Lite Carb Day broadcast: Friday, May 25 (11 a.m. ET)
Kevin Lee will anchor NBCSN’s coverage of Indianapolis 500 final practice, the Indy Lights Freedom 100 race 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 Anders Krohn and Donald Davidson. Nick Yeoman (Turn 2), Jake Query (Turn 3) and Chris Denari (Turn 4) are the turn announcers with Dave Furst, Rob Howden, Ryan Myreh and Michael Young on pit lane. All Verizon IndyCar Series races are broadcast live on the Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network, Sirius 219, XM 209, IndyCar.com, indycarradio.com and on the INDYCAR Mobile app. The Verizon IndyCar Series final practice session on May 25 is available on IndyCar.com, indycarradio.com and the INDYCAR Mobile app.
At-track schedule (all times local):
Friday, May 25
11 a.m.-noon – Indianapolis 500 final practice
1:30 p.m. – Indianapolis 500 Pit Stop Competition
Sunday, May 27
11:38 a.m. – Driver Introductions
12:14 p.m. – Command to Start Engines
12:21 p.m. – Indianapolis 500 Mile Race (200 laps/500 miles), ABC (live at 11 a.m.)
Race notes:
* The Indianapolis 500 will be the 102nd 500-mile Indy car race conducted on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s oval. Ray Harroun won the inaugural race in 1911. Takuma Sato won the race in 2017 to become the first Japanese winner.
* Six drivers entered have won the Indianapolis 500. Helio Castroneves has won the race three times (2001, 2002 and 2009) while Scott Dixon (2008), Tony Kanaan (2013), Ryan Hunter-Reay (2014), Alexander Rossi (2016) and Takuma Sato (2017) are the other former winners entered.
* There have been four different winners in five Verizon IndyCar Series races in 2018. Sebastien Bourdais (Streets of St. Petersburg), Alexander Rossi (Streets of Long Beach), Josef Newgarden (ISM Raceway and Barber Motorsports Park) and Will Power (IMS road course) have won races in 2018.
* Ed Carpenter became the sixth difference pole winner of 2018 by winning the Verizon P1 Award for the Indianapolis 500. Carpenter won his third Indianapolis 500 pole, all since 2013.
* Tony Kanaan has finished in the top four in four of the last seven Indianapolis 500s, including his win in 2013.
* Four drivers will race Verizon IndyCar Series cars on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval for the first time: Zachary Claman De Melo, Kyle Kaiser, Matheus Leist and Robert Wickens.
* Twenty drivers have won the race from the pole – most recently Castroneves in 2009.
* Team Penske has 16 wins at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the most of any team. Andretti Autosport has five wins while Chip Ganassi Racing has won four times. 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.
* Danica Patrick is the only female driver in the field. It marks the 19th consecutive Indy 500 that a woman has qualified for the race.
* Tony Kanaan seeks to start his 289th consecutive race this weekend, which would extend his Indy car record streak that began in June 2001 at Portland. Teammate Scott Dixon has made 229 consecutive starts heading into the weekend which is the second-longest streak in Indy car racing.
