Here's Your Crash Course In What To Expect From The 109th Running Of The Indianapolis 500

The greatest weekend in motorsports is here with the Monaco Grand Prix, the Coca-Cola 600, and, of course, the Indianapolis 500 all taking place on the same day.

There has been plenty to talk about in the lead-up to the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500, so if you haven't been able to keep tabs on all of it, you're forgiven (although, consider this a warning for next year…).

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Let's run through a few big stories so that if you're watching the race with someone, you can sound like you know at least a little bit about what you're talking about..

Now, before we get into it, here's the starting grid:

Interesting, huh?

Now, where to begin?

Rookie Robert Shwartzman and Prema Racing stunned everyone with a pole win in the first race on an oval for both Shwartzman and the team. (Photo by Brian Spurlock/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Robert Schwartzman

Let’s get rolling with one of the feel-good stories this year, and that is pole sitter Robert Shwartzman.

He’s an accomplished driver over in Europe in F2 and F3, and has served as a reserve and test driver in F1 for Ferrari and Sauber, but he’s an IndyCar rookie and he’s driving for Prema Racing, a team with a decorated history in Europe, but no IndyCar experience until this season.

So, that was a recipe for a nightmare couple of weeks, and it started poorly with Prema missing a full day of practice with both drivers — Shwartzman and teammate Callum Ilott — while they worked to set up their cars.

This led to the expectation that one of the Premas might struggle to make the 33-car field, but both did, with Shwartzman stunning everyone and starting from pole.

Now, this is where it all gets tricky, and why I don’t know that I expect Shwartzman to be the leader after more than a couple of corners. Starting next to him in P2 is Takuma Sato in the No. 75 Honda for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, and he’s a two-time Indy 500 winner and one of the best IndyCar drivers of all-time.

Next to Sato on the outside of Row 1 is Pato O’Ward in the No. 5 Chevrolet for Arrow McLaren (we’ll talk more about him in a bit). He’s searching for his first Indy 500 win after coming close a few times, but he’s a seasoned vet.

Shwartzman will lead the field to green and will be the one to decide when to put the loud pedal to the floor, but will he be able to outsmart the two veterans on his row, or will they outsmart him and get a run in Turn 1.

It’s going to be fascinating to watch, and I’m sure a big part of Shwartzman and Prema’s race prep will be on the start, because it is going to be critical. 

Josef Newgarden's attempt at becoming the first driver to win three-straight Indy 500s has been marred by controversy.  (Photo by Brandon Badraoui/Lumen via Getty Images)

Josef Newgarden/Penske Drama

Now, we move on to a guy who has won a couple of Indy 500s in a row, Josef Newgarden, driver of the No. 2 Chevrolet for Team Penske.

He’s looking to become the first driver ever to win three-straight at Indy, and unfortunately for him, despite showing some serious pace all week leading up to and through the first day of qualifying, he’s going to be starting his race on the last row of the grid alongside his teammate Will Power, driver of the No. 12 Chevy.

Why? Well, in what has proven to be the biggest story of the week leading up to the race — bigger than a rookie taking pole with a brand-new team — Newgarden and Power were both disqualified from the second day of qualifying when it was found that the attenuator on the back of the car had been modified.

A crack between two sheets of carbon fiber had been filled in and smoothed out, and while that’s not an alteration that should provide huge performance advantages, it could help with the floor at the rear of the car, but crucially, the attenuator is a spec part, meaning that teams can’t modify it.

That’s a slam dunk penalty for IndyCar, but it gets more complicated as Newgarden’s 2024 Indy 500-winning car — currently sitting in the IMS museum — allegedly has a similar alteration.

Given that Team Penske is the most successful team in the sport, and is owned by the same guy, businessman and motorsports legend Roger Penske, who owns the entire IndyCar Series and IMS, it’s not a great look.

That’s why the Captain announced this week that three of the team’s top executives had been let go.

Interestingly, all three worked as race strategists, which means the Team Penske drivers will have some different voices in their ear for the biggest race of the season.

Can Newgarden or Power come from the back to win? I guess so, but it won’t be easy.

This makes Team Penske’s best hope Scott McLaughlin in the No. 3 Chevy in the iconic "Yellow Submarine" Pennzoil livery, who is starting in P11, but he has a bit of a problem too.

McLaughlin appeared to have a car that could contend for a race win in his hands, but he suffered a huge crash in practice before the second day of qualifying and ruined the car.

This year marks the first Indianapolis 500 with hybrid engines, something that will add a new wrinkle to this year's race.  (Photo by Jeffrey Brown/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

First Year of the Hybrid

For the first time in its history, the Indianapolis 500 will be run by cars using hybrid engines, and that doesn’t just create some good, green PR for the series; it creates some fascinating new strategy wrinkles and ways for drivers to both attack and defend.

For years now, the IndyCar series has used a "push-to-pass" button that allows drivers a certain number of seconds worth of extra horsepower, but that was only on road and street circuits.

The series debuted hybrid engines last season, and this will be their debut at Indy. This means there is no book out on how best to use this technology at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, so drivers and teams will be experimenting.

We saw this in qualifying with teams trying different tactics to get the most speed around the lap. Some tried to dump the battery all at once, others went with the "trickle" approach and tried to spread the power out over the course of a lap, but I think the most effective use was Robert Shwartzman, and I think he was the only one who did it.

He used the battery on his final lap, exiting Turn 2 and exiting Turn 4, which meant that he was getting big bursts of power at the start of the two longest straights and carrying that into the corner.

But as I said, that’s qualifying, so the best option in the race might be completely different.

Alex Palou already has a massive championship grid, but he is still hunting an elusive Indy 500 win, which would coincidentally be his first win on an oval.  (Photo by Geoff MIller/Lumen via Getty Images)

Alex Palou

Alex Palou comes into this race on the IndyCar heater to end all heaters, having won four of the first five races of the season and has opened up a gargantuan 103-point lead on second-place driver Kyle Kirkwood, the only other race-winner this season.

Despite having three championships already, seemingly on course for a fourth, and being one of the most consistent drivers on the planet, Palou is missing one major thing from his resume: an Indy 500 win.

In fact, somewhat unbelievably given the way IndyCar champions need to be well-rounded when it comes to rates on road courses, street courses, and ovals, Palou has never won on an oval.

He has come close, though, and came in second to Helio Castroneves back in 2021.

So, is this the year?

Starting P6 isn't going to hurt, and it's tough to count Palou out this season, but you never know what can happen at Indy.

Pat O'Ward will start on the first row for the first time as he looks to capture an Indy 500 win. (Photo by Brian Spurlock/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Pato O’Ward

Finally, let's talk about McLaren's Pato O'Ward.

O'Ward has come close to winning the Indianapolis 500 a couple of times, including a second-place finish just last year in which he was passed by Newgarden on the last lap.

So, if he's the one who gets to chug some milk and wear a wreath, a lot of people are going to be very happy.

He's already in a good spot with his best qualifying position ever, on the outside of Row 1 next to Takuma Sato in P2. However, O'Ward is about as feisty as they come, and I can assure you he'll be itching to get to the lead at some point, and I think we'll see that at some point on the opening stint.

But from there? Who knows?

You need some luck on your side at Indy, and you can create some of that by keeping your nose clean and keeping it silky smooth in the pits, and historically O'Ward and Arrow McLaren have done exactly that. 

Everyone has a bad day once in a while, but I'd expect to see Pato finishing toward the front of the field once again this year.

It's been a tough couple of weeks for Kyle Larson after a pair of crashes as he looks to complete the Indy 500/Coke 600 double. (© Kristin Enzor/For IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

Kyle Larson

We can't forget about Kyle Larson, who is once again attempting to pull double duty and race in both the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day.

Unfortunately, rain led to a delayed start at Indy last year, which caused Larson to miss a rain-shortened race in Charlotte, but hopefully the weather pans out for him.

Things haven't gone particularly smoothly for Larson this May. He had a crash in testing and another in practice, and he failed to make the Fast 12 after doing so in his first attempt.

That said, Larson is a supremely talented driver, and only lost out on a chance at the race win due to a pit land speeding penalty, so even though he's starting on Row 7, he could certainly work his way forward as the rave goes on.

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Be sure to tune in to the Indianapolis 500 this Sunday on Fox with pre-race coverage beginning at 10 am ET.