What you need to know ahead of the 2026 Indianapolis 500
The 110th Indianapolis 500 begins on Sunday.
This year’s Memorial Day weekend racing bonanza looks a bit different for race fans. While Formula 1 is also racing on Sunday, the Monaco Grand Prix isn’t the first race of the day. Indy is.
F1 isn’t racing at Monaco for two more weeks. Instead, the series is in Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix in a race that starts at 4 p.m. ET. NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 begins two hours later at 6 p.m. ET.
The 500 starts at Noon ET on Fox. Here’s what you need to know ahead of one of the world’s biggest races.
Can Alex Palou add to his IndyCar legacy?
The IndyCar Series is Alex Palou’s world. He’s the three-time defending series champion. He’s the defending Indy 500 champion. He’s the current points leader. And he’s starting Sunday’s race on the pole.
So yeah, it’s no surprise that Palou is an absolutely massive favorite to go back-to-back. Palou is +225 to win the Indy 500. Based on implied odds, that’s a roughly 30% chance of winning. In a 33-car field, that’s remarkable — even for a driver who has been as dominant as Palou.
Palou has won 18 of 57 races dating back to the start of his title run in 2023. The four-time series champion finished on the podium 13 times in 17 races in 2025, yet his average finish of 4.1 was worse than it was in 2023 when he had an average finish of 3.7.
A year ago, Palou was the closer. After running near the front of the field all day, he took the lead for the first time with 14 laps to go and led the rest of the way.
If Palou wins again in 2026, he’ll follow Josef Newgarden’s back-to-back wins with consecutive victories of his own. It’d be the first time ever that a back-to-back winner was followed by another back-to-back winner.
Alexander Rossi and Pato O’Ward in backup cars
Two of the favorites to win (behind Palou, of course) will be starting the race in backup cars.
Rossi’s car snapped loose in Turn 2 during practice on Monday and hit the wall so hard that it almost went airborne. As Rossi spun, O’Ward spun while trying to avoid him and ended up slamming into the side of Rossi’s car.
Both drivers qualified in the top six — Rossi is starting on the front row — and will now be spending Carb Day shaking down their backup cars rather than fine-tuning the primary cars that earned them starting spots on the first two rows.
Rossi, the 2016 Indy winner, underwent procedures for a finger injury and an ankle injury after the crash. Per his Ed Carpenter Racing team, they should not preclude him from starting the race.
Helio Castroneves goes for win No. 5
The four-time Indy 500 winner is attempting to stand alone among the IMS greats once again. Castroneves is tied with A.J. Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears for the most Indy 500 wins and just one of three drivers in the field with multiple Indy 500 victories along with two-time champions Takuma Sato and Newgarden.
Castroneves, 51, was one of the oldest Indy 500 winners ever when he scored his fourth victory in 2021. He’ll be the oldest by a long shot if he wins on Sunday. Unser became the oldest winner when he scored his fourth victory at the age of 47.
The former Team Penske driver appears to have a car capable of running up front — even if he’s an underdog. But can his immense familiarity with Indianapolis help overcome his lack of recent IndyCar experience? Sunday is his first start of the 2026 season, the 500 was Castroneves’ only race in 2025 and he ran just three races in 2024.
Katherine Legge’s double attempt
Legge is set to be the first woman to start both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 in the same day and the sixth person overall to try to run all 1,100 miles.
It will be a heck of a feat if she can come close. Legge, 44, is in backmarker equipment in both events. She’s racing for HMD Motorsports along with A.J. Foyt Racing in the Indy 500 and then with Live Fast Motorsports in the 600. Both are part-time teams with limited resources.
Legge is making her fourth Indy 500 start and her first since 2024. The 600 will be her ninth Cup race overall and the first at the Charlotte oval. Given the level of equipment that Legge will be driving, top-25 finishes and seeing the checkered flag in both races should be considered a success.
In case you’re wondering, the most successful double-duty attempt came in 2001, when Tony Stewart finished sixth in the 500 and then third in the 600.
Full starting grid
The starting lineup looks a bit different than it did immediately after qualifying. The times of Caio Collet — who made the second round — and Jack Harvey were disallowed because of inspection violations found after qualifying. They must start at the back of the field.
1. Alex Palou
2. Alexander Rossi
3. David Malukas
4. Felix Rosenqvist
5. Santino Ferrucci
6. Pato O’Ward
7. Kyffin Simpson
8. Conor Daly
9. Scott McLaughlin
10. Scott Dixon
11. Rinus VeeKay
12. Takuma Sato
13. Ed Carpenter
14. Helio Castroneves
15. Christian Rasmussen
16. Marcus Armstrong
17. Marcus Ericsson
18. Christian Lundgaard
19. Will Power
20. Nolan Siegel
21. Louis Foster
22. Ryan Hunter-Reay
23. Josef Newgarden
24. Romain Grosjean
25. Kyle Kirkwood
26. Katherine Legge
27. Mick Schumacher
28. Graham Rahal
29. Dennis Hauger
30. Jacob Abel
31. Sting Ray Robb
32. Caio Collet
33. Jack Harvey
