Indy 500: Is the 33-car tradition at risk in 2020?

By Asher Fair | Aug 6, 2020

Indy 500, IndyCar (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) /

Less than one week from the commencement of practice for the 104th running of the Indy 500, there are only 31 confirmed drivers.

While there won’t be fans in attendance for the 104th running of the Indy 500 as initially planned by IndyCar, practice for this year’s edition of the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” is scheduled to get underway next Wednesday, August 12, leading up to qualifying over the weekend and then the race the following Sunday, August 23.

So far, there are only 31 confirmed drivers for this 200-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval in Speedway, Indiana, with one additional confirmed entry for which a driver has not been specified.

While there are a number of other possibilities as far as additional entries go between now and the start of practice, none of these entries are guaranteed or even considered probable at this point, highlighting the strain which the coronavirus pandemic has placed on some of the smaller organizations.

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The last two Indy 500 races have seen bumping from the field of 33, after there was none in 2016 or 2017.

However, this year’s race may struggle just to see 33 cars.

The field for the Indy 500 has been limited to 33 cars since the 22nd running of the race back in 1934, back when it was known as the International 500. The previous four years had seen at least 38 cars in the race. Only twice since then has the race featured more than 33 cars, with extenuating circumstances causing the 63rd running in 1979 and the 81st running in 1997 to feature 35.

Just once during the 33-car era has the limit not even been reached, with 30 cars competing in the 31st running of the race in 1947. Other than that, you have to go all the way back to the 14th running of the race in 1926 to find the last time the race featured fewer than 33 cars. Only 28 cars competed in that race.

Will the Indy 500 get to see its traditional 11 rows of three later this month?

While there technically needs to be only one more car added to the entry list to make this happen, it would surprise nobody if yet another Indy 500 tradition is to be broken due to the pandemic, especially one that related directly to funding.

We are already preparing for the first Indy 500 ever to be run outside of the month of August, and there will be zero fans at the massive venue that typically houses close to 350,000 on Memorial Day Sunday. A 32-car field would be a disappointment, but it may very well become a reality unless things change within the next few days.

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The 104th running of the Indy 500 is set to be broadcast live from Indianapolis Motor Speedway on NBC beginning at 1:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, August 23.