INDIANAPOLIS -- Indianapolis 500 fans: Strap in and get ready for a wild ride on qualifying weekend. Bumping is back.
There are two unique challenges within the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil this year. One is the 500-mile run for racing immortality and a spot on the Borg-Warner Trophy on Sunday, May 27. But first comes the 10-mile dash to earn one of the coveted 33 spots in the starting field on “bump day” today.
You read that right: Bump day is on Saturday, with pole day on Sunday. As has been the case in recent years, that’s the reverse sequence of the decades-long qualifying format at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but the drama will be just as thrilling and intense as ever at the 2.5-mile oval.
With 35 drivers entered and just 33 spots available, drivers could fall in and out of the field during bump day qualifying for the first time since 2011. Two drivers are slated to go home Saturday night without a spot in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”
“There are two kinds of races, the pole day and the Indy 500,” three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves said. “I say, it is four laps (in a qualifying attempt); it feels like sometimes 500 miles. It's so difficult to go out there. It's so difficult to be right at the limit.
“It's becoming even more of a challenge with the new format of qualifying, so it's very, very tough. It's very difficult. That's what separates the boys from the men.”
Here’s a look at how qualifying weekend will unfold, weather permitting:
Saturday: Bump Day
Qualifications take place from 11 a.m.-5:50 p.m. ET, establishing the 33 drivers who will comprise the starting field, but not the exact order in which they will start the 200-lap race. That comes Sunday.
Since 35 drivers are assigned to cars this year, two will be left without a spot in a 33-seat game of musical chairs at speeds of 230 mph when qualifying ends at 5:50 p.m.
All entries are guaranteed one qualification attempt, and multiple attempts are allowed with or without withdrawing a previous time. But there is a risk-reward scenario for withdrawing a time and trying to requalify since two qualifying lanes will exist on pit lane Saturday.
The Fast Lane will be filled by cars that have not qualified, have withdrawn previous qualifying times or been bumped from the field by a faster-qualifying car. The withdrawal of the previous qualifying time takes effect when the car enters the Fast Lane.
Lane 2 will be filled by cars that have posted a qualifying time, do not wish to withdraw it but wish to qualify again in an attempt to go faster. If a car making an attempt from this lane does not improve its qualifying time, the original qualifying time remains as its official attempt.
Cars in the Fast Lane always will have priority to enter the track over cars in Lane 2. But jumping in the Fast Lane comes with the risk of losing a faster qualifying time just to have quicker access to the track.
The 33 drivers with the fastest four-lap average speeds at the end of bump day will earn a spot in the starting field and return Sunday to re-qualify. The nine fastest drivers Saturday will compete in the Fast Nine Shootout on Sunday to fill the first three rows of the starting grid. The remaining 24 drivers will re-qualify to fill spots 10 through 33.
Remember: Any attempt by a car that has left pit lane when the gun is fired at 5:50 p.m. Saturday will count – the driver does not have to take the green flag to start the attempt by that time.
Live coverage of the day is available on WatchESPN from 11 a.m.-3 p.m., with ABC televising the final two hours from 4-6 p.m. nationwide.
Sunday: Pole Day
Qualifications will take place from 2:45-5:45 p.m. ET, with just the 33 fastest drivers from bump day. All qualifying times from Saturday are erased, but they are used to determine the qualifying order on Indy 500 pole day.
Each of the 33 fastest cars from Saturday will make one four-lap qualifying attempt in two groups, Group 1 from 2:45-4:45 p.m. and the Fast Nine Shootout from 5-5:45 p.m. WatchESPN streams it live from 2:30-4 p.m., with ABC picking up the broadcast nationally from 4-6 p.m.
The qualifying order in both groups will be based on slowest to fastest from Saturday qualifying times. The 33rd fastest from Saturday will be first on track Sunday and 10th will be last in Group 1; ninth will go first and first will enter the track last in the Fast Nine Shootout. The fastest driver in the Fast Nine Shootout wins the Verizon P1 Award and will start from the pole position on May 27.
“Trust me, everybody is hanging it out,” said Graham Rahal, driver of the No. 15 United Rentals Honda for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. “This isn’t easy. I don't think by any stretch of the imagination that it's been easy before, but I do think this year it is going to be really close across the board. I think there's going to be a lot of people on a very tight window.”
Check the graphic below for a detailed explanation of qualifying weekend:
