From Sting Ray To Palou: Ranking Entire Indy 500 Field, 33 To 1

Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Speedway, Ind.) — Who will have the speed on Sunday in the Indianapolis 500? Good question. Many of the drivers who were fast before they got the extra 100 horsepower boost for qualifying did not have the best qualifying results. The temperatures and the wind have impacted who has shown speed and who has not. And there is something to be said about bringing it when it means the most and navigating a 200-lap, 500-mile race. So here’s my best attempt at ranking the Indy 500 field, all the way from 33rd to 1st. 33. Sting Ray Robb (Starting: 31st)Juncos Hollinger Racing No. 77 Chevrolet This is, admittedly, a little bit harsh to put Robb here behind some of the one-off drivers. But he struggled so much in qualifying, that it’s going to be hard for him to get out of his head. He did finish on the lead lap in the 2024 race as he finished 23rd. 32. Katherine Legge (Starting: 26th)HMD Motorsports w/ A.J. Foyt Racing No. 11 Chevrolet Legge makes her fifth career start in the race, and starting 26th is the best starting position for Legge in her career. She arguably has the fastest car she has ever had in this race. She’ll need more than that to be fast as she tries to get from Indy to Charlotte for the NASCAR race Sunday night in her quest to race 1,100 miles in one day for The Double. 31. Jacob Abel (Starting: 30th)Abel Motorsports No. 51 Chevrolet Abel failed to qualify for the race last year, so making this race is big, even if there were only 33 entries. He is also doing it with his family team, certainly giving them a sense of pride. A solid day finishing all the laps with a top-20 would be considered a respectable finish. 30. Dennis Hauger (Starting: 29th)Dale Coyne Racing No. 19 Honda The defending Indy NXT Series champion has not had an Indy to remember … yet. He has steadily improved his results throughout his INDYCAR rookie season and I expect him to finish better than where starts. 29. Mick Schumacher (Starting: 27th)Rahal Letterman Lanigan No. 47 Honda Schumacher has competed on an oval just once before (earlier this year at the 1-mile Phoenix Raceway) and nothing compares to Indianapolis. The former F1 driver is still learning. He’ll get an education on Sunday. 28. Caio Collet (Starting: 32nd)A.J. Foyt Racing No. 4 Chevrolet Collet had an impressive qualifying run of 10th wiped out after his car failed tech. The Brazilian appears comfortable at Indy, but the 500 is so unique and he’s starting from the back, so he’s going to have to be patient. 27. Jack Harvey (Starting: 33rd)Dreyer & Reinbold Racing No. 24 Chevrolet Harvey had a transmission issue in his qualifying lap and then his car failed tech. So a bummer of qualifying day for Harvey, who is in his ninth Indy 500 — but his first INDYCAR race since the Indy 500 a year ago, when he finished 19th. Harvey will relish every minute of this week before returning to his full-time role as a FOX analyst. 26. Romain Grosjean (Starting: 24th)Dale Coyne Racing No. 18 Honda Grosjean returns to Indy after a one-year absence, and this hasn’t been one of his best tracks. He failed to finish his first two 500s and then was 19th in 2024. This one could be a struggle for the former Formula 1 driver. 25. Louis Foster (Starting: 21st)Rahal Letterman Lanigan No. 45 Honda Foster was more than respectable as an Indy 500 rookie last year as he started 20th and finished 12th. The field seems a little tighter this year, and matching that finish could be a challenge. 24. Ryan Hunter-Reay (Starting: 22nd)Arrow McLaren No. 31 Chevrolet A week ago, he might have been 10 spots or better on this list, but he didn’t have a good week of practice leading into qualifying and where he’s starting is frankly disappointing. Yet, last year he started 25th and nearly won in a backup car that the team had used for pit-stop practice. The 2014 winner knows how to get it done, but the question is if he can shake the funk of practice and qualifying. 23. Ed Carpenter (Starting: 13th)ECR No. 33 Chevrolet Carpenter was frustrated with his qualifying lap and yet he’s starting in the fifth row — he has started in the fifth or sixth row in the last three years. The team co-owner now just races the Indy 500, continuing his quest to win this race — he has three top-fives in 22 career starts. 22. Graham Rahal (Starting: 28th)Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing No. 15 Honda This could be another frustrating year at Indy for the Rahal team. They thought they had a little more speed for 2026, but qualifying didn’t prove that out. The good thing is that the race is different than qualifying. Rahal will lean on his 18 Indy 500s to help him methodically gain spots. 21. Rinus VeeKay (Starting: 11th)Juncos Hollinger Racing No. 76 Chevrolet VeeKay is used to starting in the first few rows as he qualified in the top-seven in each of his first five seasons, with a best finish of eighth in 2021. But that was with an Ed Carpenter team that typically had some of the best cars at the track. VeeKay does have three top-10 finishes in the 500, so to see him in the top-10 wouldn’t rank as a surprise. 20. Nolan Siegel (Starting: 20th)Arrow McLaren No. 6 Chevrolet Siegel finished 13th last year as a rookie as he was involved in an accident on the final lap. So he has shown potential top-10 ability at Indy. But qualifying overall was not kind to Arrow McLaren and that doesn’t ooze confidence for the race. Veteran drivers might be able to shake it off, but will Siegel? 19. Christian Rasmussen (Starting: 15th)ECR No. 21 Chevrolet Rasmussen enjoys his best starting spot in his third Indy 500, but he didn’t seem all that happy after his qualifying lap. When you finished sixth the previous year, you want to feel like you have something to build on. And Rasmussen does — just look that his teammate Alexander Rossi is on the front row. 18. Takuma Sato (Starting: 12th)Rahal Letterman Lanigan No. 75 Honda Sato won the Indy 500 in 2017 and 2020, so this annual quest for a third is always a dynamic one to watch. He led 51 laps last year before winding up ninth. He has the race craft but whether he has the car and the team (a fourth RLL car) remains questionable. [INDY 500 QUALIFYING: 4 Takeaways From Alex Palou Snagging Pole] 17. Kyffin Simpson (Starting: 7th)Chip Ganassi Racing No. 8 Honda Simpson nearly made the Fast Six for his best starting spot in his third Indy 500. He got collected in the Kyle Larson accident last year. He has a fast enough car that he should earn his best finish (his best in his two starts is 21st); the question is by how much. 16. Will Power (Starting: 19th)Andretti Global No. 26 Honda It’s hard to put Power this low, but he hasn’t finished better than 14th in his last six Indy 500 starts. And he still seems to be adapting to what the Andretti car likes. As much as the storyline of him winning this race in his first year after 17 at Penske, it’s probably not in the cards. 15. Christian Lundgaard (Starting: 18th)Arrow McLaren No. 7 Chevrolet Lundgaard comes off the Indy Grand Prix win a couple of weeks ago, but the oval is a different beast. He has finished better than he has qualified in each of his four 500 starts, including a seventh last year when he started eighth. But the entire Arrow McLaren group seems to be scratching their head more this year. 14. Kyle Kirkwood (Starting: 25th)Andretti Global No. 27 Honda Kirkwood has four Indy 500 starts and this will be his third with Andretti. He’s accustomed to not qualifying great, but 25th is worse than predicted and probably a little frustrating for a driver who has shown speed with the car in race configuration. Combine that with how strong he runs most weeks, you’d like to say he’s a gimmie for a top-10 if he has no issues, but that isn’t necessarily the vibe. 13. Marcus Armstrong (Starting: 16th)Meyer Shank Racing No. 66 Honda Putting him this high seems a little optimistic considering he has not finished on the lead lap in his two Indy 500 starts. But he will build on those experiences and should have a faster car than the qualifying result. 12. Helio Castroneves (Starting: 14th)Meyer Shank Racing No. 06 Honda Castroneves won his first Indy 500 just a mere 25 years ago as he went back-to-back in 2001 and 2002. He also won in 2009 and 2021. The Drive For Five continues. Castroneves will be strong, but will he be stronger than his teammate Felix Rosenqvist or some of the Ganassi alliance cars? That could be a tough ask. 11. Conor Daly (Starting: 8th)Dreyer & Reinbold Racing No. 23 Chevrolet Daly, the hometown favorite, has never started better than 11th, so he was thrilled with what he did in qualifying. He has shown impressive speed the whole time at Indy, the only race the Dreyer & Reinbold team competes in during the year. He is a longshot, but a legitimate longshot. 10. Josef Newgarden (Starting: 23rd)Team Penske No. 2 Chevrolet The two-time Indy 500 winner (2023, 2024) certainly had a disappointing qualifying result, which surprised many, but Newgarden said it didn’t necessarily surprise him, that he didn’t think he would post a top qualifying speed. He seemed optimistic, though, for the race. But maybe not as optimistic as he was at the start of the month. Don’t count him out, but he might not rank as the favorite many had pegged at the start of the month. 9. Marcus Ericsson (Starting: 17th)Andretti Global No. 28 Honda Ericsson won the 2022 Indy 500 and has come close a couple other times. So the fact he’s starting 17th isn’t inspiring, but his history at Indy is. Don’t be surprised if he finds his way into contention again. 8. Santino Ferrucci (Starting: 5th)A.J. Foyt Racing No. 14 Chevrolet Ferrucci has achieved one amazing feat in his career — he has never finished outside the top-10 in the Indy 500. And that’s over seven races. This place just fits his style, and don’t be surprised to see him in the mix. 7. David Malukas (Starting: 3rd)Team Penske No. 12 Chevrolet Malukas finished second in the race last year and that was driving for the Penske technical affiliate A.J. Foyt Racing. Now he’s in a full-fledged Penske car and is running better at every track. So shouldn’t he be higher? Yes, but he has veteran teammates and the Ganassi-Shank alliance who are going to be tough to beat. Plus, even though he has performed well for Penske this year, can he handle the pressure of racing for Penske at the Indy 500? 6. Scott McLaughlin (Starting: 9th)Team Penske No. 3 Chevrolet McLaughlin exorcised one demon from last year as he didn’t crash on pole day. So starting ninth certainly feels good. Now he needs to just get through the pace laps. He should, and then he will seek his first top-five finish in an Indy 500. 5. Felix Rosenqvist (Starting: 4th)Meyer Shank Racing No. 60 Honda Rosenqvist traditionally qualifies well at Indy as this is his fifth consecutive start in the front three rows. He has shown speed in both race and qualifying setups, and that bodes well for him on Sunday. Last year, he started fifth and finished fourth without leading a lap. A similar result seems more likely than a win for a driver with one career INDYCAR victory. 4. Alexander Rossi (Starting: 2nd)ECR No. 20 Chevrolet Rossi won the Indy 500 as a rookie in 2016. Since then, he’s had a second, two fourths and two fifths. So he’s always run solid and felt comfortable at Indy. And he feels that ECR has made strides, indicative by him starting on the front row. There’s a lot to like about Rossi and his chances Sunday. 3. Pato O’Ward (Starting: 6th)Arrow McLaren No. 5 Chevrolet O’Ward feeling frustrated with his qualifying run despite starting sixth tells you everything you need to know about the driver. He loves this place, but he desperately wants to perform at a track where he has led 95 laps and has finished second or third in three in the last four years. Is this the year to end the heartbreak? 2. Scott Dixon (Starting: 10th)Chip Ganassi Racing No. 9 Honda Dixon hasn’t won this race since 2008, but this could be one of those 500s where experience matters even more than usual. Dixon never got a chance to challenge last year after an early brake issue. Don’t sleep on Dixon. But the big question: How will he beat his teammate Palou? 1. Alex Palou (Starting: 1st)Chip Ganassi Racing No. 10 Honda Who else would fill this spot? You’d want to say Palou isn’t the favorite — it’s getting a little frustrating or old that he wins everything, right? — but he won this race last year and sits on the pole this year. He has finished top-five in four of his last five 500 starts. He smoothly adjusts to what the track and strategy gives him. He’s certainly beatable, but the race will run through him.