The Indianapolis 500 is one of the few races in American motorsports that can make a career. Drivers can win championships but still be judged by whether or not they’ve won the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”For casual viewers, the Indy 500 can look like pageantry first: milk in victory lane, the anthem, the flyover, the packed grandstands, the weight of all that history. But the race itself is harder and less sentimental than the traditions around it. It’s traffic, timing, fuel strategy, restraint and 33 drivers trying to keep a fast car underneath them for 500 miles.Beforehand, Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark will serve as the grand marshal for the race, while Indiana Hoosiers football coach Curt Cignetti will drive the honorary pace car. Academy Award winner Brendan Fraser, who was born in Indianapolis, will be the honorary starter and wave the green flag when the race begins Sunday at 12:45 p.m. ET.Here’s how to tune in to the festivities this weekend, from Carb Day to the 110th running of the Indianapolis 500.How to watch Indy 500 weekend
Venue: Indianapolis Motor Speedway — Speedway, Ind.
Dates: May 22-24
EventTime (ET)TVStreamIndy 500 practice11 a.m., Fri.Fox Sports 1Fubo (Watch Now)Wienie 5002 p.m., Fri.FoxFubo (Watch Now)Pit Stop Challenge2:30 p.m., FriFoxFubo (Watch Now)Indy 50012:45 p.m., Sun.FoxFubo (Watch Now)Pre-race coverage begins at 10 a.m. ET Sunday. Fox is free over the air. It’s also available with a Fox One subscription. In the midst of a dominant season, four-time NTT IndyCar Series champion Álex Palou will start on the pole after a four-lap qualifying average of 232.248 mph. Palou is the defending Indy 500 champ and one of IndyCar’s most controlled front-runners. Only six drivers have ever won this race in consecutive years, but starting up front gives him clean air early.Alexander Rossi and David Malukas join Palou on the front row. Behind them, the grid already has a little disorder. Post-qualifying technical inspection penalties knocked Caio Collet’s No. 4 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet and Jack Harvey’s No. 24 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Chevrolet from their original positions. Their cars failed inspection over unapproved modifications to the Dallara-supplied Energy Management System covers and mounting points.Collet will start 32nd and Harvey 33rd, leaving both to work from the back of the field.Katherine Legge, the only woman in this year’s race, will start 26th. She has a separate piece of history available as well: becoming the first woman to compete in the Indy 500 and NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 on the same day.Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a flat, 2 1/2-mile oval, which is part of what makes the track so unforgiving. The corners are banked at just over 9 degrees, so the track doesn’t give drivers the help they’d get from a steeper oval. Each corner has its own demands, closer in feel to a road-course problem than a simple superspeedway rhythm.That’s the challenge of the Indy 500. At 200 laps, it’s long enough for strategy to count and fast enough for one wrong choice to erase a month of preparation.Friday’s Carb Day is the last on-track work before the race, with final practice, the second annual Oscar Mayer Wienie 500, the Indy 500 Pit Stop Challenge and a concert all on the schedule. Saturday is Legends Day, which includes the public drivers’ meeting and veteran driver autograph sessions. It’s the ceremonial pause before the whole place turns into noise, heat and traffic.Updated 2026 Indianapolis 500 oddsStreaming links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process, and do not review stories before publication.May 22, 2026Connections: Sports EditionSpot the pattern. Connect the termsFind the hidden link between sports terms
