IndyCar: After Long Beach, all eyes turn to Indianapolis, 103rd Indy 500

By Asher Fair | Apr 15, 2019

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MAY 27: Alexander Rossi, driver of the #27 NAPA Auto Parts Honda (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) /

The next stop on the IndyCar schedule is Indianapolis Motor Speedway, first for the road course race and next for the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500.

The 2019 IndyCar season got underway just over five weeks ago with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida. But with the 17-race season’s first four races in the books, the next stop on the schedule is officially Speedway, Indiana.

Sans the controversial third place battle between Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Graham Rahal and Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon, all eyes turned to Indianapolis Motor Speedway once Andretti Autosport’s Alexander Rossi took the checkered flag to put an exclamation point on one of the most dominant IndyCar performances in a long time as the winner of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on the streets of Long Beach, California.

This race was the earliest final race prior to the series annual trip to the famed Brickyard since the 2003 season. The race at Twin Ring Motegi in Motegi, Japan served as the final race prior to this trip in the 2003 season, as it was held on Sunday, April 13.

The next two races on the IndyCar schedule are the only two races on the schedule for the month of May, and they are both set to take place at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

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The next race on the IndyCar schedule is the IndyCar Grand Prix, which is scheduled to take place at the 13-turn, 2.439-mile (3.925-kilometer) Indianapolis Motor Speedway natural terrain road course. This race is scheduled to take place on Saturday, May 11 to get the iconic month of May underway at the track.

After that race, all eyes will shift to the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500. This year’s running of the 200-lap “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval is scheduled to take place on Sunday, May 26. Qualifying for this race, which you can read more about here, is scheduled to take place on Saturday, May 18 and Sunday, May 19.

Additional entries are still expected for this year’s Indy 500, as the entry list currently contains 33 drivers, which is the maximum number of drivers allowed to complete in the race. In fact, deals for three drivers in addition to the 33 drivers who have already been confirmed have pretty much been solidified, just not yet confirmed.

Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden is set to enter the month of May as the leader of the championship standings with 166 points. He holds a 28-point lead over Rossi in second place. Rossi sits five points ahead of Dixon in third.

Newgarden, Rossi, Harding Steinbrenner Racing rookie Colton Herta and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Takuma Sato have all earned one victory through the season’s first four races.

Only two drivers have won the five races that have been held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. Team Penske teammates Will Power and Simon Pagenaud have earned three and two victories at the track, respectively, although Pagenaud was driving for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports when he earned his first back in the inaugural race at the track 2014 season.

Meanwhile, the Indy 500 has featured eight different winners in the last eight years, and this year’s field is set to feature seven former winners of the race. These seven former winners include six one-time winners, including five of the last six winners, and three-time winner Helio Castroneves.

Castroneves, the only non-full-time driver of the seven former Indy 500 winners entered into this year’s running of the race, is set to drive for Team Penske in the IndyCar Grand Prix in addition to the Indy 500.

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The IndyCar Grand Prix and the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500 are both set to air on NBC, with the former set to be broadcast live starting at 3:00 p.m. ET on Saturday, May 11 and the latter set to be broadcast live starting at 11:00 a.m. ET on Sunday, May 26.