Often referred to as ‘The Greatest Spectacle in Racing’, the Indy 500 is the biggest race of the IndyCar season. Here’s your 2023 Month of May recap as we race to the checkered flag of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway:

Qualifying

After a dramatic qualifying session on Sunday that had fans on the edge of their seats till the last moment, Graham Rahal was bumped out at the last moment by his teammate Jack Harvey. With only 34 drivers and only 33 grid spaces, the emotions shown after the final 3 spots were declared show how much it means to the drivers and teams to get to race the Indianapolis 500.

Matt Fraver/Penske Entertainment

In the Firestone Fast 6 session following Last Chance Qualifying, Alex Palou took pole position marking Chip Ganassi Racing’s third pole in a row at the Indy 500. The gap between speeds competing for pole was close as Palou beat Rinus VeeKay by 0.006mph with a four lap average of 234.217 mph. This is the second fastest ever qualifying run at the Speedway and also makes for the fastest ever front row. VeeKay and Rosenqvist, the rest of the front row, set the third and fourth fastest qualifying runs at the speedway.

Between the three drivers on the front row, there’s only 10 Indy 500 starts. This is also the first time the front row consists of only European-born drivers with Palou from Spain, VeeKay from the Netherlands, and Rosenqvist from Sweden.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway

At over 100 years old, IMS is one of the oldest purpose-built racing tracks in the USA. It’s often referred to as ‘The Racing Capital of the World’. With over 250,000 permanent seats, it is the world’s largest sports seating facility. It also hosts the largest single-day sporting event in the world, the Indy 500.

Chip Ganassi and Marcus Ericsson kiss the bricks after winning the 106th running of the Indianapolis 500 (Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment)

IMS was the first track to be called a speedway and the second purpose-built banked oval in the world. Originally the racing surface consisted of crushed stone sprayed with tar. However this was quickly changed to 3.2 million paving bricks, covering the original surface. This is also why the track is sometimes referred to as ‘The Brickyard’.

Kissing the bricks

In 1939 the track was resurfaced again to asphalt, only leaving a 36 inch strip of bricks. This strip of bricks place an important part in a tradition hailing from 1996. NASCAR driver Dale Jarrett, kissed the bricks after his Brickyard 400 victory in 1996. His team followed and that created a tradition that winners at IMS have followed since.

Traffic

Navigating a track with only 4 corners may seem like an easy task, but it’s far from that. Keeping momentum throughout the whole lap is super important as a lift at the wrong spot can have big consequences. Perfecting a race set-up is also important, being able to navigate traffic is vital. That’s why a car that handles well in traffic is needed.

The start-finish straight feels completely different to the backstretch as there’s grandstands on both sides. Drivers say it creates a tunnel vision which makes it feel even faster going into turn 1. Turn 1 reference points are changing all time because of the shadows coming from the grandstand Turn 2 has a small bump which might catch some drivers out.

Photo via Luis Torres

The backstretch is important to set up for an overtake, it is heavily influenced by tailwind which makes speeds higher. A driver can set up a pass going into turn 3 and 4, but turn 4 can also be prone to crashes. As drivers stay close to the cars in front which means the car can snap on exit.

Strategy is one of the biggest parts of the race. Teams won’t have to worry about different compounds of tires, as IndyCar only uses one compound on ovals. Stopping out of sequence when it’s green, usually doesn’t have much of an effect as stopping under green at this track means you lose a complete lap. Getting out of traffic won’t work as you’ll be in the exact same spot as before, just a lap down. As always, cautions will play a big part in strategy as well and teams will attempt to time their pit stops with this in mind. Teams will also have an eye on restarts as they are the biggest opportunity to gain places.

The Borg-Warner Trophy

Only one driver will get to claim a spot on the Borg-Warner trophy, a sterling silver cast with likenesses of winners past since 1936. Although the trophy is permanently on display at the IMS museum, the winner will also be presented with “the Baby Borg”, an 18” replica of the trophy for them to take home. 

The Indy 500’s Borg-Warner Trophy (left) with the NHL’s Stanley Cup (right) (Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment)

Drinking Milk

Since Louis Meyer drank a glass of buttermilk while in Victory Lane in 1936, Indy 500 winners have historically drunk a glass of milk to celebrate their victory since 1956. The drivers are now given a choice of skim, 2%, or whole milk, as buttermilk has changed in the last few decades.

The only exception to the tradition of milk in Victory Lane came in 1993 with Emerson Fittipaldi where he drank orange juice to support his Brazilian orange farmers. He later had to rectify his mistake with a sip of milk and apologize to the American Dairy Association and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Past Winners

• 2022: Marcus Ericsson
• 2021: Hélio Castroneves
• 2020: Takuma Sato
• 2019: Simon Pagenaud

Race Info:

• Race Length: 500 Miles/200 Laps
• Turns: 4
• Track Length: 2.5 Miles (4km)
• Most Wins: Tied between A.J. Foyt, Al Unser, Rick Mears & Hélio Castroneves at 4 wins
• Race lap record: 37.895 sec (237.498 mph/382.182 km/h) (Arie Luyendyk)