Due to constant rain showers throughout the day on Saturday, qualifying for the 110th running of the Indianapolis 500 has been canceled for the day, with hopes to get on track on Sunday.
Saturday was supposed to set grid positions 16-33 while also deciding which drivers would advance into the 'Final 15' for Pole Day.
Now, there will be no 'Final 15' as IndyCar scraps the newly created round, which was their answer to a year with no bumping.
Every car will get one attempt, and the fastest 12 will transfer to the Top 12, with a chance to then advance further into the Firestone Fast Six and fight for pole.
Qualifying for the 110th running of the Indianapolis 500 is off to a rainy start, and IndyCar officials called off the planned practice session on Saturday morning. There was lightning as well, so IMS cleared the grandstands of fans. While that storm has moved through, the threat of inclement weather remains.
Saturday sets the grid for positions 16-33, with the fastest 15 advancing into the 'Final 15' tomorrow, and the fastest nine automatically locking themselves into the 'Top 12' round tomorrow. A full rundown of the 2026 qualifying format can be found HERE. There will be no bumping and all drivers entered will start the race next Sunday.
Fans in wet weather
Fans in wet weather
With the threat of more rain throughout the day, if IndyCar cannot give all 33 entries an opportunity to make at least one qualifying attempt, than those who did go out on track will have to re-run in an altered Sunday schedule. They will need about a three-hour window in order to allow all cars to complete a four-lap qualifying run.
Six-time IndyCar Series champion and 2008 Indy 500 winner Scott Dixon was ninth, ahead of three-time Indy 500 pole-sitter Ed Carpenter in 10th.
Pato O'Ward, Arrow McLaren Chevrolet
Pato O'Ward, Arrow McLaren Chevrolet
Takuma Sato, a two-time Indy 500 winner who led the most laps in the event last year, was fastest on the no-tow list, nailing a run of 223.828mph in the #45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda.
“Solid day today in qualifying (trim),” McLaughlin said. “Overall, the Pennzoil Chevy feels pretty strong in race, and now qualifying trim. Always a nervous sort of energy before you drop it in qual trim. We’ll find out again tomorrow when we turn up the boost. Overall the Chevy power feels good and the car feels in a nice spot. We’ll see what we have come tomorrow.”
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing’s Jack Harvey suffered a mechanical fuel-related issue and logged just 16 laps, which stood as the fewest on the day. Graham Rahal (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing) ran the second-fewest number of laps with 19.
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