IndyCar Preview: 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500
- Dan Jones
- 10 hours ago
- 9 min read
Written by Dan Jones
"We're talking about the greatest automobile race ever put on anywhere on the face of the earth. Everything connected with it is going to have to be bigger and better than ever before."
The words of the mastermind behind Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Carl G. Fisher even before the first Indianapolis 500 had taken place. 115 years later the same words still ring out true today.
500 miles over the course of 200 laps will be competed by 33 drivers, all vying for their face to be permanently shown on the Borg-Warner Trophy for generations and generations to come. Of those 33, only one will drink the milk, kiss the bricks and create themselves a legacy that will last forever.
It can only truly mean one thing. After two weeks of meticulous preparation, all that awaits is for the green flag to fly signalling the start of the 'Greatest Specatcle in Racing.' It will be the moment that a year of preparation has built up toward for the 33 aiming for Indianapolis glory. It's finally time for the 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500 to commence, Round 6 of 17 in the 2025 IndyCar season.
What happened in qualifying?
Unlike any other motorsport event of the year, we've already had 40 hours of on-track action to get an insight into what to expect on the day that all IndyCar drivers and fans alike have circled on their calendars. This includes setting the 11 rows of three that will come to green for one of the most glorious sights of the motorsport calendar.
And against all the odds, it will be Robert Shwartzman who will lead the field to green, after becoming the first rookie since 1983 to take pole at Indianapolis. Shwartzman will compete in his first ever oval race this weekend, as well as his team, PREMA Racing, who became the first team to take pole on debut at the Speedway since 1984. It was the most seismic of shocks and the ultimate underdog story for an entry that was favoured to be bumped.
With 34 entries attempting to qualify and only 33 spaces in the field, Jacob Abel was the individual who saw their Indianapolis 500 dream over before it had already begun. Dale Coyne Racing were clearly lacking in qualifying pace, and Abel was unable to bump out teammate, Rinus VeeKay signifying consecutive years that the team had a driver bumped from the field.
However, qualifying was marred by further cheating allegations around Team Penske, after the No.2 and No.12 entries of Josef Newgarden and Will Power were found to have illegal filler in their attenuators. They failed technical inspection and did not run in the Fast 12, before IndyCar later relegated both to the back row for Sunday's race.
Scott McLaughlin's crashed in Sunday practice but was found to have a car that was not foul of the IndyCar rulebook. It has since emerged the team added the filler for aesthetic purposes, and that it did not give a performance-enhancing advantage.
However, after the second cheating scandal in 13 months, Roger Penske has once again taken action. Penske removed Tim Cindric (IndyCar Team President), Ron Ruzewski (IndyCar Managing Director) and Kyle Moyer (IndyCar General Manager) from their roles in the wake of the controversy. All three individuals serve as strategists on the team, with Luke Mason, Ben Bretzman and Jonathan Diuguid now stepping up to those respective roles.
Who to look out for?
With a field of 33 and as is the case every year, every single driver has their own storyline heading into race. But there's some drivers who could truly re-write history, and here's who it could be worth looking out for...
Hélio Castroneves stands atop of the Indianapolis 500 winner list with four previous successes, alongside Rick Mears, Al Unser and A.J. Foyt. Castroneves celebrated his 50th birthday this year, and an Indianapolis win would put him by himself on the roll of honour. The Brazilian starts 22nd so has an immense amount of work to do, but is a driver who heads into his 25th Indianapolis 500. Castroneves is by no means one of the favourites, but he certainly was not a favourite when he claimed his fourth '500' win in 2021, and who's to say history won't repeat itself?
Even after a dramatic week for Penske, Newgarden heads into Indianapolis with his own historical achievement on the line. The double-defending race winner aims to become the only driver to win three-in-a-row at the Brickyard. However, after his penalty relegated him to 32nd, Newgarden certainly has his work cut out and no Indianapolis 500 winner has won from beyond 28th. Winning three consecutively would be a historic story in itself, for Newgarden to do it from where he's starting after the month Penske have had would be truly monumental.
After weather delays cut short his attempts last year, Kyle Larson aims to re-attempt the 'double.' After all is said and done at Indianapolis, Larson will head straight to Charlotte Motor Speedway for NASCAR's Charlotte 600. If Larson completes all 1100 miles of racing, he will be only the second individual to accomplish the feat after Tony Stewart did it in 2001. Larson is by no means an IndyCar driver either, this is just his second IndyCar race, but with his super-human reputation there would be little surprise if the Californian found himself in victory lane, even from 19th in the field. Should Larson have to skip Indianapolis due to weather conditions, Arrow McLaren team principal, Tony Kanaan, will step in to replace him.
Close calls have been the defining factor of Pato O'Ward's Indianapolis 500 career so far. He lost in a last lap shootout to Marcus Ericsson in 2022 before clashing with the Swede when competing for the win late on in 2023. He would fall short with just two corners to go last year after Newgarden stunningly pulled off a move around the outside. O'Ward has his best ever starting position of third at the Speedway, and comes into the race as one of the favourites. The 350,000 in attendance at IMS may cause an earthquake if IndyCar's most popular driver is victorious, and all those frustratingly close calls can be a thing of the past for O'Ward.
The 2025 season has thus far been dominated by Álex Palou, who has won four of five races and has a 97 point lead in the championship standings. However, no driver in the field will be worrying about the points standings this weekend - this race alone is bigger than the IndyCar Championship. Palou is already one of the modern greats, but he's yet to have an oval win and by Palou's own admission, he won't consider his career a success without an Indianapolis 500 win. Palou's got a very strong race car and starts in sixth and this is his opportunity to firmly solidify himself as an all-time IndyCar great.
It's ben some 85 years since a Hoosier won the Indianapolis 500, but this could well be Conor Daly's best chance yet at putting that long wait to an end. Daly has ran very well at Indianapolis in recent years, sounded by all the fans breaking into rapture when he has previously taken the lead. Daly lines up 11th - equalling his best ever start and is believed to have a very strong car in traffic. Daly has never won an IndyCar race, and now would be the perfect time to do it.
Shwartzman's incredible pole run will be remembered in Indianapolis folklore for years to come. He will aim to become the first driver since Alexander Rossi to win on their Indy 500 debut in 2016. As I mentioned earlier, incredibly, this is PREMA and Shwartzman's first ever oval event, and although they don't expect to be strong in race trim, it could continue the most fairytale of stories.
What else is of note?
This weekend will mark Scott Dixon becoming the driver with the most career IndyCar starts as he reaches his 408th career event, moving him clear of the great Mario Andretti. Dixon won the Indianapolis 500 in 2008 but has since been plagued with misfortune when in good positions to win the race again. He starts fourth on Sunday. Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner, Takuma Sato starts alongside Shwartzman and O'Ward on the front row. He's only ever started within the top four two other times at Indianapolis in 2017 and 2020. Those two years were the two that Sato tasted the milk at Indianapolis.
However, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing are not confident about their race pace, in particular, Graham Rahal. Rahal avoided having to fight for his spot in the field for the third year in a row on this occasion, but does not expect the team to be strong on race trim. Devlin DeFrancesco starts 16th whilst Louis Foster starts 20th. Rahal will start in 28th.
Foster will be competing against pole sitter Shwartzman, as well as Nolan Siegel for the Rookie of the Year honours. Siegel failed to qualify for the race last year, but lines up 24th in his first Indianapolis with Arrow McLaren. Shwartzman will be the firm favourite due to his heroics in qualifying - but don't rule out Siegel or Foster if they can spring a surprise.
Andretti Global were one of the pre-race favourites, in particular both Kyle Kirkwood and Colton Herta. However, 2022 Indianapolis 500 winner, Marcus Ericsson lines up as the best Andretti in ninth. Kirkwood said it was a 'head-scratcher' into why he qualified 23rd, whilst Herta lines up 27th after he crashed on his opening run in qualifying and had to resort to a back-up car. Marco Andretti, in his only race of the year, will start 29th.
If you're on the lookout for other previous winners, Rossi lines up in 12th as the lead Ed Carpenter Racing car in his first year for the team. Rossi has finished in the top five in three consecutive years at Indianapolis, and has finished inside the top seven in all his Indy 500 attempts bar two.
Ryan Hunter-Reay, 2014 winner, will start 25th in his only race of the year with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, who are the only part-time team racing in the Indianapolis 500. They also signed Jack Harvey after his departure from Dale Coyne Racing as the Brit lines up 26th.
Santino Ferrucci has an unbelievable record at Indianapolis, and has never finished outside the top 10 in seven attempts at the Speedway. He hasn't been able to claim that all-illusive win yet but is always box office when big moves need to be made late on.
This will also importantly mark the first Indianapolis 500 with the hybrid in use. The hybrid has been criticised thus far in 2025 for making overtaking difficult and generally leading to duller races. The Indianapolis 500 will mark it's biggest test yet, with many drivers feeling that it has made cars more on the edge and difficult to drive which could lead to closer racing and less margin for error.
This year also marks the first Indianapolis 500 since the 100th Running in 2016 to have a sell out crowd, with approximately 350,000 people flocking to Speedway, Indiana for the 'Greatest Spectacle in Racing.' One in every 1,100 people in the entirety of the United States will be located inside Indianapolis Motor Speedway come race day.
And due to the sell out, IMS have lifted the local broadcast delay - often referred to as the 'blackout,' meaning people in the Indianapolis region can watch the race live.
Pre-race ceremonies will see Natalie Grant sing the national anthem and Arturo Chacón-Cruz to sing 'God Bless America.' The two-seater car will also return with a pair of sporting legends, with seven-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion, Jimmie Johnson driving round seven-time Super Bowl winner, Tom Brady.
2025 Indianapolis 500 starting line-up
Row 1: Shwartzman, Sato, O'Ward
Row 2: Dixon, Rosenqvist, Palou
Row 3: Malukas, Lundgaard, Ericsson
Row 4: McLaughlin, Daly, Rossi
Row 5: Simpson, Carpenter, Ferrucci
Row 6: DeFrancesco, Robb, Rasmussen
Row 7: Larson, Foster, Ilott
Row 8: Castroneves, Kirkwood, Siegel
Row 9: Hunter-Reay, Harvey, Herta
Row 10: Rahal, Andretti, Armstrong
Row 11: VeeKay, Newgarden, Power
Read Archie's details on the field of 33 here if you'd like to get to know the drivers a little more.
Milk Choices
It's the all-important Indianapolis 500 milk choices! All 33 drivers were given an option to select whole, skim or 2% milk to drink in victory lane, should they be the winner of the 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500.
Whole: Shwartzman, O'Ward, Dixon, Rosenqvist, Palou, Malukas, Lundgaard, Ericsson, McLaughlin, Simpson, Carpenter, Ferrucci, DeFrancesco, Robb, Rasmussen, Larson, Foster, Ilott, Kirkwood, Siegel, Hunter-Reay, Harvey, Herta, Andretti, Armstrong, VeeKay, Newgarden, Power
2%: Sato, Daly, Rossi, Castroneves, Rahal
Timings
Pre-Race: 10:00 ET
Driver Introductions: 11:47 ET
National Anthem: 12:24 ET
Back Home Again in Indiana: 12:36 ET
Command: 12:38 ET
109th Running of the Indianapolis 500: 12:45 ET
The milk choices have been locked in. Drivers have had two weeks to prepare their cars. The 11 rows of three are set. The grandstand tickets have been cleared.
All the boxes have been ticked, and all the festivities are coming to a close. It's the biggest day of these driver's years, as they all dream to become the individual who drinks the milk, kisses the bricks and create themselves a legacy that will last themselves forever.
"We're talking about the greatest automobile race ever put on anywhere on the face of the earth. Everything connected with it is going to have to be bigger and better than ever before."
Indianapolis always certainly is that, and undoubtedly it is, and always will be, the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.
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