2026 Indianapolis 500 Contenders, Longshots & Event Information

A rite of Memorial Day Weekend for the last century-plus, the Indianapolis 500, commemorates its 110th running on Sunday, May 24 at its traditional location of Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. The Greatest Spectacle in Racing is part of the IndyCar Series and the most prominent component of the Triple Crown of Motorsport alongside the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Monaco Grand Prix.

Reigning champion Alex Palou is in pole position for this year’s race, sharing the first row with Alexander Rossi and David Malukas. Palou still has a long way to go catch the quartet that is tied for most victories in Indy 500 history, with that foursome consisting of A.J. Foyt, Al Unser Sr., Rick Mears and Hélio Castroneves. Castroneves is the only active racer of the group, and he lines up in the 14th position in Row 5 for the 2026 race.

In addition to featuring the defending champion in the pole position, the 2026 edition of the Indy 500 also will be making some history. Katherine Legge, who’ll start the race in the No. 26 position (Row 9), is the first female driver to attempt the infamous “double” — racing in both the Indianapolis 500 and Charlotte’s Coca-Cola 600 on the same day, a pair of races that encompass a combined 1,100 miles.

2026 Indianapolis 500 Schedule & Information 

The Indianapolis 500 is the culmination of nearly two weeks of practices, qualifying trials and other assorted events. The week leading up to the race is particularly eventful, as we detail below:

Friday, May 22

Miller Lite Carb Day:

• 11:00 a.m. ET – 1:00 p.m. ET: Indianapolis 500 practice
• 2:00 p.m. ET: Wienie 500
• 2:30 p.m. ET – 4:00 p.m. ET: Oscar Mayer Indy 500 Pit Stop Challenge
• 4:00 p.m. ET – 7:00 p.m. ET: Miller Lite Carb Day Concert

Saturday, May 23

Legends Day:

• 9:00 a.m. ET – 10:00 p.m. ET: Full-Field Autograph Session
• 10:30 a.m. ET – 11:00 a.m. ET: Public Drivers Meeting
• 12:00 p.m. ET – 1:00 p.m. ET: Veteran Driver Autograph Session A
• 1:30 p.m. ET – 2:30 p.m. ET: Veteran Driver Autograph Session B

Sunday, May 24

• 11:47 a.m. ET – Driver Introductions
• 12:24 p.m. ET – National Anthem
• 12:29 p.m. ET – “Drivers, To Your Cars” Command
• 12:36 p.m. ET – Rendition of Back Home In Indiana
• 12:38 p.m. ET – Green Flag of the 110th Running of the Indianapolis 500 Presented by Gainbridge

2026 Indianapolis 500 Field

Row 1: 

• 1. (10) Alex Palou (W), Honda, Chip Ganassi Racing, 232.248
• 2. (20) Alexander Rossi (W), Chevrolet, Ed Carpenter Racing, 231.990
• 3. (12) David Malukas, Chevrolet, Team Penske, 231.877

Row 2:

• 4. (60) Felix Rosenqvist, Honda, Meyer Shank, 231.375
• 5. (14) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, AJ Foyt Racing, 230.846
• 6. (15) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, Arrow McLaren, 230.442

Row 3:

• 7. (8) Kyffin Simpson, Honda, Chip Ganassi Racing, 230.883
• 8. (23) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, Dreyer & Reinbold, 230.712
• 9. (3) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, Team Penske, 230.577

Row 4:

• 10. (9) Scott Dixon (W), Honda, Chip Ganassi Racing, 230.347
• 11. (76) Rinus Veekay, Honda, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 229.585
• 12. (75) Takuma Sato (W), Honda, Rahal Letterman Lanigan, 230.995

Row 5:

• 13. (33) Ed Carpenter, Chevrolet, Ed Carpenter Racing, 230.829
• 14. (06) Hélio Castroneves (W), Honda, Meyer Shank, 230.811
• 15. (21) Christian Rasmussen, Chevrolet, Ed Carpenter Racing, 230.705

Row 6:

• 16. (66) Marcus Armstrong, Honda, Meyer Shank, 230.701
• 17. (28) Marcus Ericsson (W), Honda, Andretti Global, 230.667
• 18. (7)  Christian Lundgaard, Chevrolet, Arrow McLaren, 230.661

Row 7:

• 19. (26) Will Power (W), Honda, Andretti Global, 230.279
• 20. (6)  Nolan Siegel, Chevrolet, Arrow McLaren, 230.213
• 21. (45) Louis Foster, Honda, Rahal Letterman Lanigan, 230.212

Row 8: 

• 22. (31) Ryan Hunter-Reay (W), Chevrolet, Arrow McLaren, 230.202
• 23. (2) Josef Newgarden (W), Chevrolet, Team Penske, 230.165
• 24. (18) Romain Grosjean, Honda, Dale Coyne Racing, 229.791

Row 9:

• 25. (27) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, Andretti Global, 229.607
• 26. (11) Katherine Legge, Chevrolet, HMD Motorsports/AJ Foyt Racing, 229.456
• 27. (47) Mick Schumacher (R), Honda, Rahal Letterman Lanigan, 229.450

Row 10: 

• 28. (15) Graham Rahal, Honda, Rahal Letterman Lanigan, 229.017
• 29. (19) Dennis Hauger (R), Honda, Andretti Global, 228.982
• 30. (51) Jacob Habel (R), Chevrolet, Abel Motorsports, 228.169

Row 11:

• 31. (77) Sting Ray Robb, Chevrolet, Juncos Hollinger, 226.572
• 32. (4)  Caio Collet (R), Chevrolet, AJ Foyt Racing, 230.539
• 33. (24) Jack Harvey, Chevrolet, Dreyer & Reinbold, 229.207

Indianapolis 500 Favorites & Contenders

Alex Palou (+250)

Palou is the defending Indy 500 champion and in the pole position, helping make him the odds-on favorite to once again be chugging the traditional milk bottle by race’s end in 2026. The Spaniard is a four-time IndyCar Series champion and has three wins this season, the most of any driver on the circuit. This is Palou’s seventh Indy 500 overall, and he also boasts three other top-5 finishes, including a No. 2 in 2021.

Pato O’Ward (+600)

O’Ward will notably be racing in a backup car following a Monday practice crash with Alexander Rossi, who’s in the No. 2 position in Row 1. O’Ward has logged second-place finishes at The Brickyard in both 2022 and 2024, and he’s impressively finished in the top 10 in five of six Indy 400 appearances; therefore, there’s no questioning the fact he has the track record and pedigree to thrive on the track and in the most critical moments of the race.

Conor Daly (+700)

Daly has flashed impressive speed in multiple practice sessions for the Indy and is making his 13th Indianapolis 500 appearance. His previous high finish in the race is sixth, which came back in 2022. Despite his lack of top-5 finishes in the race, Daly does hold the distinction of having led a race-high 40 laps during the 2021 edition of the Indy 500, and he’s finished in the top 10 on five occasions overall at The Brickyard.

David Malukas (+800)

Malukas makes for an interesting race winner bet at his odds, considering he just finished second in last year’s Indy 500 and put together an impressive set of qualifying runs to slot into the No. 3 position in Row 1. This year’s race marks Malukas’ fourth Indy 500, as he also finished No. 12 in the 2023 edition and No. 16 in his 2022 race debut.

Alexander Rossi (+900)

Rossi was involved in the aforementioned early-week crash that led to vehicle replacements for both him and O’Ward, but he still garnered a No. 2 spot in Row 1. Rossi is also an intriguing longer-shot bet when considering his experience on the track — this is his 11th start at The Brickyard — and he also has one win on his resume, back in 2016. Additionally, Rossi has seven top 10 finishes, including five of fifth place or better in addition to his one victory.

Indianapolis 500 Longshots

Marcus Ericsson (+4000)

Ericsson has a very eclectic history at Indy, with the 2026 race marking his eighth start overall. Ericsson’s results have been all over the map, having won in 2022 and the nearly pulling off back-to-back victories with a No. 2 finish in 2023. Ericsson also had a No. 11 finish in 2021 that served as a launchpad for his next two successful Indys, but he’s finished No. 23 or lower otherwise. However, his experience and past success is carrying some weight with oddsmakers, who place him about middle of the pack on the leaderboard.

Will Power (+4000)

The veteran Australian driver was the Indy 500 winner back in 2018, one of his 11 total top 10 finishes at The Brickyard. This year marks his 19th start in the race overall, and Power notably also had a No. 2 finish three years prior to his victory. Certainly not short on experience, the one ding on Power’s overall prospects is his recently Indy history — he’s finished no higher than 14th and as low as 30th in the last six years.

Ryan Hunter-Reay (+7000)

Hunter-Reay is another past winner, having finished atop the field back in 2014. Hunter-Reay has six top-10 finishes overall in the race, with half of those at No. 5 or better. For the most part, Hunter-Reay has a less shiny resume in the current decade — he has No. 26 and No. 21 finishes in the last two years — but he did garner No. 10 and No. 11 finishes in 2020 and 2023, respectively.