Once again weather will be a factor for how Indianapolis 500 on-track activity will be operated and now there have been changes made to the practice and qualifying sessions this weekend.
Saturday’s forecast has the possibility of rain, with slow moving thunderstorms throughout the later afternoon. There was a morning practice session scheduled for 9 a.m. ET and it is now bumped up to 8:30 a.m. and will run to 9:30 a.m. Teams will be split into two groups for the hour long session with 30 minutes for each group.
Qualifying has been moved up to 11 a.m. as it was originally scheduled for noon. Despite moving up an hour, it is still planned to wrap up at the same time of 5:50 p.m.
The NTT IndyCar Series has a game to be played with the rain. There are 6-hours and 50-minutes on tab, but the sport’s intention is to get the field of 33 to at least complete one qualifying run which is comprised of four consecutive laps. If all drivers get an opportunity to put at lease one run in, then it’s off to Sunday for the Fast 12 to set the Fast Six and then pole position.
If every driver does not put a run together then lap times from Saturday will be disregarded and the process would restart on Sunday. Following that the plan would continue as normal, the Fast 12 would start at 4 p.m. that evening, before the Fast Six set the pole.
| Date | Time (Eastern) | Event | TV / Streaming / Radio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat May 21 | 8:30 - 9:30 AM | Practice 6 | Streaming: Peacock / Radio: IndyCar Radio |
| 11 AM - 5:50 PM | Qualifications - Day 1 | Streaming: Peacock / Radio: IndyCar Radio | |
| Sun May 22 | 12:30 - 2:00 PM | Practice 7 | Streaming: Peacock / Radio: IndyCar Radio |
| 4 - 6 PM | Qualifications Top-12 / Fast Six | TV: NBC / Streaming: Peacock / Radio: IndyCar Radio |
