Indy 500 qualifying: Effect on IndyCar championship standings
By Asher Fair
With the extra points awarded for Indy 500 qualifying, here are the updated IndyCar championship standings and oval standings.
Prior to the start of the 2017 IndyCar season, it was announced that the amount of points awarded for Indianapolis 500 qualifying would be altered. Previously, the points system awarded an amount of points to each qualifier similar to the amount of points awarded to each driver in regular races themselves.
The new system awards points only to the top nine qualifiers. With Indy 500 qualifying in the books, the championship standings and the oval standings have changed as a result of the fact that while not every driver received points, nine drivers did.
These nine drivers are set to start this year’s Indy 500 on the first three rows after competing in Sunday’s Fast Nine Shootout.
The nine drivers who competed in the Fast Nine Shootout were Ed Carpenter, Simon Pagenaud, Will Power, Josef Newgarden, Sebastien Bourdais, Spencer Pigot, Danica Patrick, Helio Castroneves and Scott Dixon.
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These nine drivers are set to start the race in first through ninth place, respectively, and they have earned an additional nine points through one point, respectively, in both the championship standings and the oval standings.
Ordinarily, there would not be an individual article posted for an IndyCar standings update, as there is a separate page for those updates. However, because the Indy 500 itself has not taken place yet, the points awarded are technically not yet official.
However, assuming all nine of the drivers who are set to start in the top nine in the Indy 500 do end up competing in it, the points that they received in qualifying will affect both the championship standings and the oval standings.
Including Indy 500 qualifying points, here are the current IndyCar championship standings after Indy 500 qualifying.
| Rank | Driver | Car, Team, Engine/Aero Kit | Points | Behind |
| 1 | Josef Newgarden | #1, Team Penske, Chevrolet | 184 | – |
| 2 | Alexander Rossi | #27, Andretti Autosport, Honda | 176 | -8 |
| 3 | Sebastien Bourdais | #18, Dale Coyne Racing, Honda | 157 | -27 |
| 4 | Scott Dixon | #9, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda | 148 | -36 |
| 5 | James Hinchcliffe | #5, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, Honda | 144 | -40 |
| 6 | Graham Rahal | #15, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Honda | 142 | -42 |
| 7 | Will Power | #12, Team Penske, Chevrolet | 142 | -42 |
| 8 | Robert Wickens | #6, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, Honda | 133 | -51 |
| 9 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | #28, Andretti Autosport, Honda | 125 | -59 |
| 10 | Marco Andretti | #98, Andretti Herta Autosport, Honda | 105 | -79 |
| 11 | Simon Pagenaud | #22, Team Penske, Chevrolet | 98 | -86 |
| 12 | Tony Kanaan | #14, A.J. Foyt Enterprises, Chevrolet | 95 | -89 |
| 13 | Takuma Sato | #30, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Honda | 90 | -94 |
| 14 | Ed Jones | #10, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda | 87 | -97 |
| 15 | Zach Veach | #26, Andretti Autosport, Honda | 84 | -100 |
| 16 | Spencer Pigot | #21, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet | 80 | -104 |
| 17 | Gabby Chaves | #88, Harding Racing, Chevrolet | 68 | -116 |
| 18 | Matheus Leist | #4, A.J. Foyt Enterprises, Chevrolet | 60 | -124 |
| 19 | Charlie Kimball | #23, Carlin Motorsport, Chevrolet | 60 | -124 |
| 20 | Max Chilton | #59, Carlin Motorsport, Chevrolet | 58 | -126 |
| 21 | Zachary Claman DeMelo | #19, Dale Coyne Racing, Honda | 49 | -135 |
| 22 | Jordan King | #20, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet | 44 | -140 |
| 23 | Kyle Kaiser | #32, Juncos Racing, Chevrolet | 35 | -149 |
| 24 | Ed Carpenter | #20, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet | 35 | -149 |
| 25 | Helio Castroneves | #3, Team Penske, Chevrolet | 30 | -154 |
| 26 | Jack Harvey | #60, Michael Shank Racing, Honda | 25 | -159 |
| 27 | Rene Binder | #32, Juncos Racing, Chevrolet | 22 | -162 |
| 28 | Pietro Fittipaldi | #19, Dale Coyne Racing, Honda | 7 | -177 |
| 29 | Danica Patrick | #13, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet | 3 | -181 |
Including Indy 500 qualifying points, here are the current IndyCar oval standings after Indy 500 qualifying.
| Rank | Driver | Car, Team, Engine | Points | Behind |
| 1 | Josef Newgarden | #1, Team Penske, Chevrolet | 57 | – |
| 2 | Robert Wickens | #6, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, Honda | 41 | -16 |
| 3 | Alexander Rossi | #27, Andretti Autosport, Honda | 36 | -21 |
| 4 | Ed Carpenter | #20, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet | 35 | -22 |
| 5 | Scott Dixon | #9, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda | 33 | -24 |
| 6 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | #28, Andretti Autosport, Honda | 31 | -26 |
| 7 | James Hinchcliffe | #5, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, Honda | 29 | -28 |
| 8 | Simon Pagenaud | #22, Team Penske, Chevrolet | 29 | -28 |
| 9 | Tony Kanaan | #14, A.J. Foyt Enterprises, Chevrolet | 24 | -33 |
| 10 | Sebastien Bourdais | #18, Dale Coyne Racing, Honda | 24 | -33 |
| 11 | Graham Rahal | #15, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Honda | 23 | -34 |
| 12 | Spencer Pigot | #21, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet | 20 | -37 |
| 13 | Takuma Sato | #30, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Honda | 19 | -38 |
| 14 | Marco Andretti | #98, Andretti Herta Autosport, Honda | 18 | -39 |
| 15 | Will Power | #12, Team Penske, Chevrolet | 18 | -39 |
| 16 | Gabby Chaves | #88, Harding Racing, Chevrolet | 15 | -42 |
| 17 | Zach Veach | #26, Andretti Autosport, Honda | 14 | -43 |
| 18 | Charlie Kimball | #23, Carlin Motorsport, Chevrolet | 13 | -44 |
| 19 | Max Chilton | #59, Carlin Motorsport, Chevrolet | 12 | -45 |
| 20 | Matheus Leist | #4, A.J. Foyt Enterprises, Chevrolet | 11 | -46 |
| 21 | Ed Jones | #10, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda | 10 | -47 |
| 22 | Kyle Kaiser | #32, Juncos Racing, Chevrolet | 9 | -48 |
| 23 | Pietro Fittipaldi | #19, Dale Coyne Racing, Honda | 7 | -50 |
| 24 | Danica Patrick | #13, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet | 3 | -54 |
| 25 | Helio Castroneves | #3, Team Penske, Chevrolet | 2 | -55 |
Next: Top 10 Indianapolis 500 drivers of all-time
Tune in to the 102nd running of the Indianapolis 500, which pays double points to all finishers, this Sunday, May 27. It is set to be broadcast live from the four-turn, 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval in Speedway, Indiana starting at 11:00 a.m. ET on ABC.