Indianapolis 500 Starting Lineup
The pole will be set in the final hour of today's qualifying as Carpenter will lead the fastest nine in a winner-take-pole shootout, starting at 5 p.m. on ABC. The remaining drivers in the field will then fall in line, 10-33 on the grid, based on speed.
You can follow live streaming of Sunday's final sessions at IndyCar's Race Control. Sunday qualifications will also be live streamed on WatchESPN and SN NOW.
Those watching Saturday saw Sebastian Bourdais, the two-time former Grand Prix of Cleveland winner, hit the wall hard during the third lap of his qualifying run. He suffered fractures of his hip and pelvis and had late-night surgery at Indianapolis University Methodist Hospital.
Along with Carpenter, the spotlight remains on Formula I driver Fernando Alonso, the two-time F-1 champion from Spain who is making his Indy 500 debut with the Michael Andretti race team. Alonso is one of the nine fastest, posting a speed of 230.034 mph and is a serious challenger for the pole.
All of this came after Bourdais had posted the two fastest qualifying laps of the day, 231.472 mph followed by 231.595 mph. During the third of his four qualifying laps around the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway, his car twitched from the rear in the second turn, then turned nose-first and went into the wall.
After the initial hard hit, the car spun, caught fire, and flipped upside down, sliding down the track before flipping back. Bourdais, awake and alert throughout, was extracted from the vehicle and immediately taken to Methodist.
Team owner Dayle Coyne said he will likely get a replacement driver for Bourdais to be ready for the May 28th Indianapolis 500. One other driver, Zach Veach, also did not qualify Saturday. Veach crashed in practice earlier this week.
Sunday's Indianapolis 500 Qualifying schedule
- 12:45 p.m.: Practice (Positions 10-33)
- 1:15-2 p.m.: Practice (Fast 9)
- 2:45-4:45 p.m.: Group One Qualifying (Positions 10-33)
- 5-5:45 p.m.: Fast Nine Qualifying (Fast 9)
