Basics Of The 2026 Indy 500: Announcers, Favorites, Trophy And More

The Indianapolis 500 is “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” and the 110th running takes place this weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. From Friday’s festivities to Sunday’s race, FOX will broadcast all the event’s exciting moments. Here’s what to know about the 2026 Indy 500. This will come in handy if you’re new to racing or just need a refresher on how everything works. If you’re looking for more racing details ahead of the Indy 500, we’ve got you covered there too. Basics Of The Indy 500 The Indy 500 will take place at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the suburb of Speedway, just outside of Indianapolis. The green flag for 2026 is approximately set for 12:45 p.m. ET on Sunday, May 24. One lap around this oval track is 2.5 miles long, meaning the 500-mile race consists of 200 laps. Alex Palou, the 2025 Indy 500 winner, finished the race in two hours, 57 minutes. The average run time is around three hours. Who Are The Indy 500 Announcers? How To Watch You can watch the Indy 500 pre-race and race broadcasts on FOX and stream the broadcasts on FOX One, FOX Sports.com and the FOX Sports App. Coverage for the Indy 500 begins at 10 a.m. ET on Sunday, May 24, on FOX with the pre-race show. Veteran host Chris Myers will lead the pre-race coverage, with former INDYCAR drivers Tony Stewart and Danica Patrick alongside him. Will Buxton, Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe will be on the call for the live broadcast of the race, while Jamie Little, Kevin Lee and Georgia Henneberry report from the pits. FOX Sports’ Tom Rinaldi will be on site with features and interviews. FOX Sports’ “First Things First” will make an appearance. Rob Gronkowski will be part of the all-day party in the Snake Pit (more on that later) on Sunday. Who Are The Top Betting Favorites To Win The Indy 500? Who Won The Indy 500 Pole? Alex Palou, the reigning Indy 500 champ, won pole position for this year’s Indy 500 during qualifying at IMS on Sunday, May 17. Alexander Rossi will join Palou on the front row, and David Malukas will start behind Palou in third place. Palou also earned pole position at the Indy 500 in 2023 but finished the race in fourth place. [Read More: 4 Takeways From Alex Palou Snagging Indy 500 Pole] This time around, however, Palou became the first defending Indy 500 champ to win the pole the following year since Hélio Castroneves did it in 2010. What Is The Indy 500 Trophy? The Indy 500 trophy is known as the Borg-Warner Trophy — named after creator and sponsor, automotive supplies company BorgWarner. It stands at 5-feet-4, weighs 110 pounds and is valued at around $3.5 million. The trophy is fitted with a sculpted face and engraved name of each winner, dating back to Ray Harroun in 1911. What Do The Flags Mean At The Indy 500? The flags at the Indy 500, and in motorsports in general, are similar to traffic lights. Green: Go Yellow: Caution, when all drivers must slow down Red: All drivers must stop Black: A driver must stop and go to the pits Black-and-white checkered: End of the race Previous Indy 500 Winners In The 2026 Field The Indy 500 field is always stacked, and this year is no exception. There are nine previous Indy 500 winners in the field — including three multi-time winners — and five previous INDYCAR champions. Here are the past Indy 500 champs, and the year(s) they won, competing for the 2026 crown: Alex Palou (2025), Josef Newgarden (2023, 2024), Marcus Ericsson (2022), Hélio Castroneves (2001, 2002, 2009, 2021), Takuma Sato (2017, 2020), Will Power (2018), Alexander Rossi (2016), Ryan Hunter-Reay (2014) and Scott Dixon (2008). Who Are The 2026 Indy 500 Rookies? There are four rookie drivers in the Indy 500 including, Jacob Abel, Caio Collet, Dennis Hauger and Mick Schumacher. Collet initially did the best in qualifying 10th, but he was dropped to the back of the field after a technical violation on his car. Schumacher (27th), Hauger (29th) and Abel (30th) will all start toward the back of the pack. What Is Carb Day? Carb Day is the final day of hype before the weekend. On Friday, Indianapolis Motor Speedway will play home to a slew of festivities. The day starts at 11 a.m. ET with the final Indy 500 practice. At 2 p.m. ET, there’s the famous Oscar Mayer Wienie 500. And after the Indy 500 Pit Stop Challenge, there will be performances from Switchfoot and Counting Crows. Why Is Indianapolis Motor Speedway Nicknamed The Brickyard? The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is nicknamed the Brickyard because, in 1909, it was entirely repaved with bricks. It was originally an asphalt-based racetrack, but that resulted in dangerous and fatal accidents. After more than 25 years of racing on bricks, the IMS returned to an asphalt track. The track remains majority asphalt, except for a middle portion of the straightaway at the start-finish of the race — a line of bricks that the winner and team kiss to honor tradition after finishing the Indy 500. What Are Some Indy 500 Traditions? “Back Home Again in Indiana” is not the official state anthem, but considering the song’s popularity, some might argue that it could be. It’s a 75-year tradition at the Indy 500 that was first performed in 1946 by James Melton to celebrate soldiers returning home after World War II. Winners of the Indy 500 douse themselves with a bottle of milk. That tradition began in 1936, when winner Louis Meyer was presented with a bottle of buttermilk following the race. A dairy industry executive pushed to turn this into a yearly custom, but it didn’t stick until after the Indy 500 returned from its World War II hiatus in 1946. Now, each year, two Indiana dairy farmers are present in Winner’s Circle. One executes the handoff of the ice-cold milk to the winning driver, while the other delivers bottles of milk to the winning chief mechanic and team owner. Prior to the race, each racer submits their preference for type of milk, choosing between whole, 2 percent and skim. [INDY 500: 7 Things To Know About The Indy 500 Milk Tradition] Similar to being drowned in milk, as mentioned above, the winners kiss the bricks. After a race, winning drivers and their teams kneel on the start-finish line to kiss the track’s exposed 3-foot wide, 100-year-old strip of original brick paving. This tradition debuted 30 years ago in 1996 when crew chief Todd Parrott and driver Dale Jarrett kissed the bricks after winning the race. Ricky Rudd followed suit in 1997, and thus the tradition stuck. Who Is Performing At The Indy 500? The Indy 500 isn’t just a race, it’s a communal experience filled with festivities and music performances. As for the artists, Grammy-winner Jordin Sparks will sing the national anthem prior to Sunday’s race. Then there’s Jim Cornelison, who will sing “Back Home Again in Indiana.” Along with Friday night concerts featuring Switchfoot and Counting Crows, there will be Sunday performances at the Snake Pit featuring the famous DJ Zedd. What Is The Snake Pit? The Snake Pit is an all-day concert that is held in the infield of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday. Grammy-award winning DJ Zedd headlines the lineup. Crankdat, Wooli, it’s murph and Wax Motif will also perform at the concert on race day during the 110th Indy 500. Who Are The Indy 500 Dignitaries? Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti will be driving the pace car, which is the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X. Actor Brendan Fraser will initiate the start of the race, waving the green flag as the honorary starter. WNBA and Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark was named the grand marshal.