IndyCar: Qualifying format for the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500

The qualifying format for the crown jewel of the IndyCar schedule, the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500, is slightly different than what it was last year.

A total of 36 drivers are set to attempt to qualify for the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500, but to preserve the tradition of the 33-car field for the crown jewel on the IndyCar schedule, only 33 of these 36 drivers will be successful in doing so.

As a result, three of these 36 drivers will be bumped from the field, marking the highest number of drivers bumped from the field since 41 drivers were on the entry list for the 95th running of the race back in 2011 and eight of them failed to make it into the 33-car field.

How will the 33-car field for this year’s running of the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” be determined?

The qualifying format for this 200-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana is slightly different than it was last year and in the years before that.

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From 11:00 a.m. ET to 5:50 p.m. ET on Saturday, May 18, all 36 of the drivers who are entered into this race are guaranteed one qualifying attempt. Each attempt is a four-lap run around the track that will be compared to the four-lap runs of the other drivers using the four-lap average speed.

After all 36 of these four-lap qualifying attempts are completed, drivers will be allowed to make additional four-lap qualifying attempts if time permits. They will not be required to withdraw their previous four-lap average speeds if they do so, but if they opt to make an additional four-lap run by going to the front of the line as opposed to waiting in it, their previous four-lap average speeds will, in fact, be withdrawn.

The top 30 drivers on Saturday will lock themselves into the field for the race, with the drivers who finished from 10th through 30th place locking themselves into their respective positions from the fourth through 10th rows on the starting grid.

The top nine drivers will advance to the Fast Nine Shootout on Sunday, May 19, which is scheduled to take place after the last row qualifying session.

On Sunday, May 19, the slowest six drivers from Saturday will each make one additional four-lap qualifying attempt from 12:15 p.m. ET to 1:15 p.m. ET. The fastest three of these six drivers will lock themselves into 31st through 33rd place on the last row of the starting grid for the race while the slowest three of these six drivers will fail to qualify for it.

The Fast Nine Shootout is scheduled to take place from 1:15 p.m. ET to 2:15 p.m. ET. The fastest nine drivers from Saturday will each make one additional four-lap qualifying attempt. Their four-lap average speeds from these attempts will determine first through ninth place on the first three rows of the starting grid for the race.

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From 11:00 a.m. ET to 5:00 p.m. ET on Saturday, May 18, qualifying for the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500 is set to be broadcast live on NBC Sports Gold from Indianapolis Motor Speedway. From 5:00 p.m. ET to 6:00 p.m. ET, it is set to be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network.

From 12:00 a.m. ET to 3:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, May 19, qualifying for this race is set to be broadcast live on NBC from the track. The race itself, which is the sixth of 17 races on the 2019 IndyCar schedule, is scheduled to begin at roughly 12:45 p.m. ET on Sunday, May 26, and it is set to be broadcast live on NBC starting at 11:00 a.m. ET.