One IndyCar driver guaranteed to miss the 2024 Indy 500

Abel Motorsports initially planned on entering the Indy 500 again by fielding the No. 50 Chevrolet for R.C. Enerson after Enerson overcome the odds to qualify for the race a year ago. However, that entry did not ultimately come to fruition for 2024.

Enerson's No. 50 Chevrolet would have been the 35th confirmed car on the entry list for the 108th running of the 200-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Speedway, Indiana oval. Instead, the list is set with 34.

Bumping was already confirmed for this year's running of the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing" when Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing announced that they would be adding a fourth entry, the No. 75 Honda, for two-time Indy 500 winner Takuma Sato.

With 34 cars on the entry list, one driver will fail to qualify for the Indy 500.

The Indy 500 entry list still has not featured 35 cars since 2021. But as we saw last year, when full-time driver Graham Rahal was the only one of the 34 drivers on the entry list who failed to qualify, Indianapolis Motor Speedway plays no favorites, and anybody can be the one driver left on the outside looking in.

When Bump Day exists at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, nobody is safe. There are no guaranteed starting spots for IndyCar teams or drivers in the Indy 500 like there are for NASCAR teams and drivers in the Daytona 500. Of the last four Bump Days, three have resulted in a full-time driver failing to qualify.

Qualifying for the 108th running of the Indy 500 is scheduled to take place on Saturday, May 18 and Sunday, May 19, with Sunday set to feature the Bump Day session at 4:15 p.m. ET on NBC. The race is set to be broadcast live on NBC from Indianapolis Motor Speedway beginning at 11:00 a.m. ET on Sunday, May 26.