According to 4four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves, "the Speedway chooses her winner" even before the day starts. After a qualifying weekend that was anything but traditional, the only question remains: who will the Speedway choose this year?Alex Palou, four-time IndyCar Champion and reigning Indianapolis 500 winner, willstart the race from pole after his team pulled out stunning laps in the Fast 6. He will be joined on the front row by Penske's newest driver, David Malukas, and former Indianapolis 500 winner, Alexander Rossi.Rossi isn't just starting in 2nd, though. After a high-speed crash out of Turn 2 during the Monday Practice Session, Rossi was left with an injured foot and hand. He underwent emergent procedures at a local hospital after the crash and was only cleared to drive late Thursday evening with a non-weight-bearing injury to his foot.Ed Carpenter Racing driver Alexander Rossi (20) waves to the crowd Saturday, May 23, 2026, during a drivers meeting ahead of the 110th running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. | Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn ImagesNaturally, although Rossi is 'okay' after his crash, the car is not. Both his #20 ECR and the number five of Pato O'Ward, starting 6th,were not salvageable, and backup cars will have to be used for the 500. This could have a significant impact on speed on Sunday.The other notable story post-qualifying was the news of two disqualifications, moving drivers to the back of the grid. First, Dreyer Reinbold's Jack Harvey, who qualified 29th, was moved back to 33rd. More notably, though, the rookie from AJ Foyt, Caio Collet, who qualified 10th, was moved back to 32nd.Both of these disqualifications were due to their cars failing post-technical inspection, with both cars being caught not using the Dallara-supplied hardware to mount their Energy Management System. Indianapolis 500 starting gridRowPositionNumber/ Driver/ Team11#10 Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi12#20 Alexander Rossi, ECR13#12 David Malukas, Penske24#60 Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank25#14 Santino Ferrucci, AJ Foyt26#5 Pato O'Ward, McLaren37#8 Kyffin Simpson, Chip Ganassi38#23 Conor Daly, Dreyer & Reinbold39#3 Scott McLaughlin, Penske410#9 Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi411#76 Rinus Veekay, Juncos Hollinger412#75 Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan513#33 Ed Carpenter, ECR514#6, Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank515#21 Christian Rasmussen, ECR616#66 Marcus Armstrong, Meyer Shank617#28 Marcus Ericsson, Andretti618#7 Christian Lundgaard, McLaren719#26 Will Power, Andretti720#6 Nolan Siegel, McLaren721#45 Louis Foster, Rahal Letterman Lanigan822#31 Ryan Hunter-Reay, McLaren823#2 Josef Newgarden, Penske824#18 Romain Grosjean, Dale Coyne925#27 Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti926#11 Katherine Legge, HMD w/ AJ Foyt927#47 Mick Schumacher, Rahal Letterman Lanigan1028#15 Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan1029#19 Dennis Hauger, Dale Coyne1030#51 Jacob Abel, Abel1131#77 Sting Ray Robb, Juncos Hollinger1132#4 Caio Collet, AJ Foyt1133#24 Jack Harvey, Dreyer & ReinboldThere are plenty of questions that remain with this final grid: Can Palou two-peat? Will Josef Newgarden, a two-time winner, be able to make up places from back in 23rd? Can Rossi overcome his injury and a backup car to win? Or will a new driver kiss the bricks and drink the milk this afternoon?Josef Newgarden drinks milk in victory lane after winning the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 26, 2024. | Grace Hollars / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn ImagesIndy 500 start timeThe green flag drops for the Indianapolis 500 at 12:45 p.m. ET, Sunday, May 24, 2026, with live coverage beginning on FOX Sports at 10 AM ET. Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow