Indianapolis 500 Qualifying 101

SATURDAY QUALIFYING

• All entries are guaranteed one attempt to qualify between 11 a.m. and 5:50 p.m.

• The fastest 33 cars will make up the provisional field for the 98th Running of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race based on the fastest four-lap average time.

• Once the qualifying session ends, the top 30 cars are locked in to the field.

• However, all 33 cars must re-qualify on Sunday to determine final starting positions.

• The fastest nine cars advance to a shootout on Sunday to determine the Verizon P1 Award.

Qualifying Lines:

• There will be two qualifying lines at the end of pit lane:

o Line 1: Cars that are unqualified or have withdrawn their previous qualifying times. Priority will be given to this lane.

o Line 2: Cars that have already qualified but want another attempt and have not withdrawn their previous qualifying times.

• Multiple attempts are permitted without withdrawing a time by entering Line 2.

• Teams can withdraw their time and enter Line 1, which will have priority over cars already in the field.

• Teams that make multiple attempts can only improve their times if they have not withdrawn their time to enter Line 2, meaning, even if a driver records a slower four-lap average, that driver's previous (faster) time will stand.

Qualifying Points, Saturday:

1st - 33 points

2nd - 32 points

3rd - 31 points

4th - 30 points

5th - 29 points

6th - 28 points

7th - 27 points

8th - 26 points

9th - 25 points

10th - 24 points

11th - 23 points

12th - 22 points

13th - 21 points

14th - 20 points

15th - 19 points

16th - 18 points

17th - 17 points

18th - 16 points

19th - 15 points

20th - 14 points

21st - 13 points

22nd - 12 points

23rd - 11 points

24th - 10 points

25th - 9 points

26th - 8 points

27th - 7 points

28th - 6 points

29th - 5 points

30th - 4 points

31st - 3 points

32nd - 2 points

33rd - 1 point

SUNDAY QUALIFYING

Group 1:

• All Saturday times are erased and positions 10-30 will re-qualify to determine starting position.

• Order will be the reverse of Saturday's rankings.

• Lineup will be determined based on fastest four-lap averages.

• In the event that there are only 33 cars entered, this group will determine positions 10-33.

Group 2 (Only used in the event there are more than 33 cars):

• All Saturday times are erased and positions 31-33, and any entry that has yet to make one attempt to qualify, will re-qualify to determine the 11th row of the race.

Group 3:

• The top nine cars will run in reverse order based on Saturday's times.

• All cars will make one attempt.

• At the end of the session, the cars are ranked 1-9 based on their four-lap average during the segment.

Qualifying Points, Sunday:

1st - 9 points

2nd - 8 points

3rd - 7 points

4th - 6 points

5th - 5 points

6th - 4 points

7th - 3 points

8th - 2 points

9th - 1 point

Note: The Indianapolis 500 will award double points for race results, but the qualifying points and any bonus points awarded for leading a lap (1 point) or most laps (2 points) will not be doubled.


Related Motorsport Articles

84,520 articles