Indy 500 qualifying schedule has been changed, eliminating bumping for the 2026 race. Qualifying will take place over two days, determining positions for the race without the traditional bumping process.
Key points
Indy 500 qualifying schedule altered
No bumping will occur for the 2026 race
Qualifying takes place over two days
Fastest nine cars advance to top-12 session
Pole position earns a $100,000 prize
Mentioned in this story
Indianapolis Motor SpeedwayIndyCar
Indianapolis 500
Indy 500 qualifying schedule altered with no bumping to occur at IMS
The first day of qualifying, set for Saturday (May 16), will run from 11 a.m. to 5:50 p.m., determining positions 16-33 for the race. The fastest nine cars from that session will be locked into the top-12 session on Sunday (May 17).
Cars ranked 10 to 15 on Saturday will advance to the Final 15, to begin at 4 p.m. Sunday. The top 12 round will then follow (approximately 5 p.m.), then the Fast Six to determine the front three rows at approximately 6:35. The fastest driver will earn pole position and the accompanying $100,000 prize.
A rear-engine Tucker Torpedo Special prototype built by the famed Harry Miller qualified for the 1946 Indianapolis 500 with George Barringer at the wheel. This concept eventually became the Tucker 48. Gear trouble forced Barringer out of the race. The production version, not shown here, 1946–1948 Tucker Torpedo sedan designed by Preston Tucker, changed automobile history forever with its rear engine, safety chamber, roll bar, padded dashboard, and collapsible steering column, cyclops headlight which turned with the car and pop-out shatter proof windshield.
Q&A
What changes were made to the Indy 500 qualifying schedule?
The Indy 500 qualifying schedule was altered to eliminate bumping, allowing for a different format in determining race positions.
When will the Indy 500 qualifying take place in 2026?
Indy 500 qualifying will occur on May 16 and May 17, 2026.
How will the qualifying positions be determined for the Indy 500?
Positions 16-33 will be determined on the first day, with the fastest nine cars advancing to a top-12 session on the second day.
What is the prize for the fastest driver in the Indy 500 qualifying?
The fastest driver will earn pole position and a prize of $100,000.
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Clessie Cummins, Co-Founder of Cummins Inc. and the honorary chairman of the board sits in the cockpit of the 1931 No. 8 Cummins Diesel car, the first Cummins to enter the Indy 500. The first car in history to complete all 500 miles without pit stops, the Cummins-Powered Duesenberg finished 13th with an average speed of just over 86 mph. After the win, Cummins founders W.G. Irwin and Clessie Cummins drove the car on a European tour to promote the engines.
In 1909, just after the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was paved with 3.2 million bricks, J. Walter Christie drove his front-wheel-drive Christie V-4 racer in speed trials at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, setting a record running a half-mile in 17.53 seconds. Christie achieved high speeds on the straits, but was slowed by the turns. The car featured no mechanic’s seat and was described as a torpedo on wheels. In 1916 it became the first car to officially lap the Indianapolis Motor Speedway at over 100 mph, when it was driven by Barney Oldfield.
Fire protection suit engineer, Ed Gough, who designed the suit, walks through 45 feet of flame in 3,5000 degrees heat to demonstrate the protective suit for Indy 500 drivers on Oct. 13, 1964, at the Central Indiana Firemen’s Convention at the Marion County Fairgrounds. The suit developed a minor problem when Gough brushed the face mask used for the first time in this test. “This was the first time we exposed the mask (plastic with gold coating) to direct flame and we found it that it will pull up and crack. I got my nose burned when I brushed the mask and it collapsed inward. Well replace the plastic with tempered glass.”
(From left) Three time Indy 500 winner Wilber Shaw holds an early racing helmet while chatting with Barney Oldfield, “The Speed King,” at the Legion Ascot Speedway in California. Shaw used his experience working at Firestone to help develop synthetic rubber tires, the “Channel Tread" tire, and self sealing inner tires to prevent blowouts. Oldfield, a safety advocate, wore a safety harness long before it was standard and was the first to do a 100 mph lap at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Flames leap from a racing suit worn by Bill Simpson, president of Simpson Safety Equipment, after he was doused with gasoline and set on fire on Wednesday, May 15th, 1986. The demonstration showed how technical advances in fire retardant clothing have benefitted race car drivers. The flames burned for about 20 seconds before being extinguished.
Ray Harroun sits in his Marmon Wasp after winning the first Indianapolis 500 in 1911. He averaged 74.602 mph in completing the first 500 in 6 hours, 42 minutes and 8 seconds. The Wasp's safety innovations, including the first known rear view mirror, allowed the car to be a single seater, without a mechanic, reducing weight.
Allison Engineering Company building at 1200 North Main Street in Speedway circa 1917. James A. Allison, a partner with Carl Fisher in the Prest-O-Lite, which made automobile lamps, began the business as a machine shop in 1913 and changed its name to the Allison Engineering Company in 1917. The company was a major producer of aircraft engines, hardware, and transmissions. Allison and Fishers were two of the four founders of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. General Motors purchased the company in 1929, a year after James Allison died. The building was home to Riley & Scott who built open-wheel racing car chassis, including the Indy Racing League chassis from 1997-2000. The building is currently in private hands.
Allison Engineering Company building at 1200 North Main Street in Speedway circa 1917. James A. Allison, a partner with Carl Fisher in the Prest-O-Lite, which made automobile lamps, began the business as a machine shop in 1913 and changed its name to the Allison Engineering Company in 1917. The company was a major producer of aircraft engines, hardware, and transmissions. Allison and Fishers were two of the four founders of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. General Motors purchased the company in 1929, a year after James Allison died. The building was home to Riley & Scott who built open-wheel racing car chassis, including the Indy Racing League chassis from 1997-2000. The building is currently in private hands.
Norman Graham Hill, nicknamed "Mr. Monaco,” checks his hair in his side mirror at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He won the 1966 Indy 500 with the Mecom Racing Team. It was the 50th running of the race, and 150th anniversary of Indiana’s statehood.
"Preston Tucker and His Battle to Build the Car of Tomorrow" by Steve Lehto (Chicago Review Press)
This pair of extremely advance rear engine Gulf Miller racers, shown with George Bailey, were built in the late 1930’s and possessed design features which are used today. They were far ahead of themselves, however, and were not successful. The remaining one is still in existence, May 27, 1972. In the 1941 Indy 500, two Gulf Oil Miller Rear- Engine Racers were entered in Indy 500 Race by Eddie Offutt. One #35, was eventually purchased by George Barringer, and the other was destroyed in a race day garage fire. In 1946 Preston Tucker entered the #12 racer in the 500, which finished 28th. In 1947 Preston Tucker wanted to promote his dream of the Tucker '48 sedan by racing a team of three in the 1947 Indy 500. The #66 Tucker '48 Special Racer.
Preston Tucker was an American automobile entrepreneur who developed the Tucker 48, also known as the "Tucker Torpedo.” The innovative vehicle introduced many of the safety innovations in modern cars of today. Tucker learned to drive at age 11 and set about buying old junkers and fixing them up to sell. In the 1930’s Tucker spent time at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway where he met Harry Miller. Tucker moved to Indianapolis and they formed "Miller and Tucker, Inc." in 1935. After Miller’s death in 1943, Tucker helped Miller’s widow pay for the funeral. During this time Tucker also met the Chevrolet brothers and John Eddie Offutt, who would later help him build his prototype of the Tucker 48.
Jeff Bridges starred as automobile visionary Preston Tucker in the 1988 biopic "Tucker: A Man and his Dream."
Record breaking aviator and honorary official for the Indianapolis 500 Roscoe Turner drives fellow aviator Eddie Rickenbacker’s #10 Maxwell, which Rickenbacker drove in the 1916 race. Turner was a three-time winner of the Thompson Trophy air race and flew in the Howard Hughes film Hell’s Angels. He was also awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1952. In 1962, Turner was named "Character of the Year" by aviation’s International Order of Characters after flying with Gilmore Oil’s mascot, a lion cub named Gilmore.
Jimmy Murphy’s Durant Special in 1923 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Murphy became the first Californian to win the Indy 500 in 1922.
The debut of the turbine-powered STB Turbocar at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, May 27, 1968, in Indianapolis.
The Pope-Hartford racer driven in the 1911 and 1912 Indy 500. The car was wrecked when it blew out a tire. Driver Frank Fox and his riding mechanic, Fred J. Horey, were injured.
Jimmy Jackson sits in his #61 Cummins Diesel Special, 1950, nicknamed the Green Hornet. Jackson was forced to drop out of the 500 after 50 laps due to mechanical issues. Jackson also set a land speed record of 165.23 mph on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah in the car the same year.
1 / 19
Photos:The Indy 500 cars that changed safety on and off the track
A rear-engine Tucker Torpedo Special prototype built by the famed Harry Miller qualified for the 1946 Indianapolis 500 with George Barringer at the wheel. This concept eventually became the Tucker 48. Gear trouble forced Barringer out of the race. The production version, not shown here, 1946–1948 Tucker Torpedo sedan designed by Preston Tucker, changed automobile history forever with its rear engine, safety chamber, roll bar, padded dashboard, and collapsible steering column, cyclops headlight which turned with the car and pop-out shatter proof windshield.
1 / 19
Photos:The Indy 500 cars that changed safety on and off the track
A rear-engine Tucker Torpedo Special prototype built by the famed Harry Miller qualified for the 1946 Indianapolis 500 with George Barringer at the wheel. This concept eventually became the Tucker 48. Gear trouble forced Barringer out of the race. The production version, not shown here, 1946–1948 Tucker Torpedo sedan designed by Preston Tucker, changed automobile history forever with its rear engine, safety chamber, roll bar, padded dashboard, and collapsible steering column, cyclops headlight which turned with the car and pop-out shatter proof windshield.
2 / 19
Photos:The Indy 500 cars that changed safety on and off the track
Clessie Cummins, Co-Founder of Cummins Inc. and the honorary chairman of the board sits in the cockpit of the 1931 No. 8 Cummins Diesel car, the first Cummins to enter the Indy 500. The first car in history to complete all 500 miles without pit stops, the Cummins-Powered Duesenberg finished 13th with an average speed of just over 86 mph. After the win, Cummins founders W.G. Irwin and Clessie Cummins drove the car on a European tour to promote the engines.
3 / 19
Photos:The Indy 500 cars that changed safety on and off the track
In 1909, just after the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was paved with 3.2 million bricks, J. Walter Christie drove his front-wheel-drive Christie V-4 racer in speed trials at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, setting a record running a half-mile in 17.53 seconds. Christie achieved high speeds on the straits, but was slowed by the turns. The car featured no mechanic’s seat and was described as a torpedo on wheels. In 1916 it became the first car to officially lap the Indianapolis Motor Speedway at over 100 mph, when it was driven by Barney Oldfield.
4 / 19
Photos:The Indy 500 cars that changed safety on and off the track
Fire protection suit engineer, Ed Gough, who designed the suit, walks through 45 feet of flame in 3,5000 degrees heat to demonstrate the protective suit for Indy 500 drivers on Oct. 13, 1964, at the Central Indiana Firemen’s Convention at the Marion County Fairgrounds. The suit developed a minor problem when Gough brushed the face mask used for the first time in this test. “This was the first time we exposed the mask (plastic with gold coating) to direct flame and we found it that it will pull up and crack. I got my nose burned when I brushed the mask and it collapsed inward. Well replace the plastic with tempered glass.”
5 / 19
Photos:The Indy 500 cars that changed safety on and off the track
(From left) Three time Indy 500 winner Wilber Shaw holds an early racing helmet while chatting with Barney Oldfield, “The Speed King,” at the Legion Ascot Speedway in California. Shaw used his experience working at Firestone to help develop synthetic rubber tires, the “Channel Tread" tire, and self sealing inner tires to prevent blowouts. Oldfield, a safety advocate, wore a safety harness long before it was standard and was the first to do a 100 mph lap at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
6 / 19
Photos:The Indy 500 cars that changed safety on and off the track
Flames leap from a racing suit worn by Bill Simpson, president of Simpson Safety Equipment, after he was doused with gasoline and set on fire on Wednesday, May 15th, 1986. The demonstration showed how technical advances in fire retardant clothing have benefitted race car drivers. The flames burned for about 20 seconds before being extinguished.
7 / 19
Photos:The Indy 500 cars that changed safety on and off the track
Ray Harroun sits in his Marmon Wasp after winning the first Indianapolis 500 in 1911. He averaged 74.602 mph in completing the first 500 in 6 hours, 42 minutes and 8 seconds. The Wasp's safety innovations, including the first known rear view mirror, allowed the car to be a single seater, without a mechanic, reducing weight.
8 / 19
Photos:The Indy 500 cars that changed safety on and off the track
Allison Engineering Company building at 1200 North Main Street in Speedway circa 1917. James A. Allison, a partner with Carl Fisher in the Prest-O-Lite, which made automobile lamps, began the business as a machine shop in 1913 and changed its name to the Allison Engineering Company in 1917. The company was a major producer of aircraft engines, hardware, and transmissions. Allison and Fishers were two of the four founders of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. General Motors purchased the company in 1929, a year after James Allison died. The building was home to Riley & Scott who built open-wheel racing car chassis, including the Indy Racing League chassis from 1997-2000. The building is currently in private hands.
9 / 19
Photos:The Indy 500 cars that changed safety on and off the track
Allison Engineering Company building at 1200 North Main Street in Speedway circa 1917. James A. Allison, a partner with Carl Fisher in the Prest-O-Lite, which made automobile lamps, began the business as a machine shop in 1913 and changed its name to the Allison Engineering Company in 1917. The company was a major producer of aircraft engines, hardware, and transmissions. Allison and Fishers were two of the four founders of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. General Motors purchased the company in 1929, a year after James Allison died. The building was home to Riley & Scott who built open-wheel racing car chassis, including the Indy Racing League chassis from 1997-2000. The building is currently in private hands.
10 / 19
Photos:The Indy 500 cars that changed safety on and off the track
Norman Graham Hill, nicknamed "Mr. Monaco,” checks his hair in his side mirror at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He won the 1966 Indy 500 with the Mecom Racing Team. It was the 50th running of the race, and 150th anniversary of Indiana’s statehood.
11 / 19
Photos:The Indy 500 cars that changed safety on and off the track
"Preston Tucker and His Battle to Build the Car of Tomorrow" by Steve Lehto (Chicago Review Press)
12 / 19
Photos:The Indy 500 cars that changed safety on and off the track
This pair of extremely advance rear engine Gulf Miller racers, shown with George Bailey, were built in the late 1930’s and possessed design features which are used today. They were far ahead of themselves, however, and were not successful. The remaining one is still in existence, May 27, 1972. In the 1941 Indy 500, two Gulf Oil Miller Rear- Engine Racers were entered in Indy 500 Race by Eddie Offutt. One #35, was eventually purchased by George Barringer, and the other was destroyed in a race day garage fire. In 1946 Preston Tucker entered the #12 racer in the 500, which finished 28th. In 1947 Preston Tucker wanted to promote his dream of the Tucker '48 sedan by racing a team of three in the 1947 Indy 500. The #66 Tucker '48 Special Racer.
13 / 19
Photos:The Indy 500 cars that changed safety on and off the track
Preston Tucker was an American automobile entrepreneur who developed the Tucker 48, also known as the "Tucker Torpedo.” The innovative vehicle introduced many of the safety innovations in modern cars of today. Tucker learned to drive at age 11 and set about buying old junkers and fixing them up to sell. In the 1930’s Tucker spent time at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway where he met Harry Miller. Tucker moved to Indianapolis and they formed "Miller and Tucker, Inc." in 1935. After Miller’s death in 1943, Tucker helped Miller’s widow pay for the funeral. During this time Tucker also met the Chevrolet brothers and John Eddie Offutt, who would later help him build his prototype of the Tucker 48.
14 / 19
Photos:The Indy 500 cars that changed safety on and off the track
Jeff Bridges starred as automobile visionary Preston Tucker in the 1988 biopic "Tucker: A Man and his Dream."
15 / 19
Photos:The Indy 500 cars that changed safety on and off the track
Record breaking aviator and honorary official for the Indianapolis 500 Roscoe Turner drives fellow aviator Eddie Rickenbacker’s #10 Maxwell, which Rickenbacker drove in the 1916 race. Turner was a three-time winner of the Thompson Trophy air race and flew in the Howard Hughes film Hell’s Angels. He was also awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1952. In 1962, Turner was named "Character of the Year" by aviation’s International Order of Characters after flying with Gilmore Oil’s mascot, a lion cub named Gilmore.
16 / 19
Photos:The Indy 500 cars that changed safety on and off the track
Jimmy Murphy’s Durant Special in 1923 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Murphy became the first Californian to win the Indy 500 in 1922.
17 / 19
Photos:The Indy 500 cars that changed safety on and off the track
The debut of the turbine-powered STB Turbocar at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, May 27, 1968, in Indianapolis.
18 / 19
Photos:The Indy 500 cars that changed safety on and off the track
The Pope-Hartford racer driven in the 1911 and 1912 Indy 500. The car was wrecked when it blew out a tire. Driver Frank Fox and his riding mechanic, Fred J. Horey, were injured.
19 / 19
Photos:The Indy 500 cars that changed safety on and off the track
Jimmy Jackson sits in his #61 Cummins Diesel Special, 1950, nicknamed the Green Hornet. Jackson was forced to drop out of the 500 after 50 laps due to mechanical issues. Jackson also set a land speed record of 165.23 mph on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah in the car the same year.
Saturday's session will air on FS2 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., FS1 from 2 to 4 p.m. and Fox from 4 to 6 p.m. Sunday's sessions will all be on Fox, with practice being aired from 1 to 3 p.m. on FS2.
