INDIANAPOLIS — The field for the 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500 will be set this weekend, but the qualifying process is a little complex.
Here's how the field of 33 drivers for the May 26 race will be determined:
Qualifying draw
The qualification process started Friday night, minutes after the "Fast Friday" practice ended at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, for the qualifying draw.
Drivers or members of their team stepped up in the IMS Pagoda Plaza in the order of their fastest lap Friday to draw numbers determining the qualifying order.
A crew member for Kyle Kirkwood drew the No. 1 coin, which will put the Andretti Global driver at the start of the line for Saturday's qualifying. Moments earlier, Arrow McLaren driver Alexander Rossi's father, Pieter, picked No. 34, putting his son last in the qualifying order.
Here's how the rest of the field will line up for qualifying.
Saturday qualifying
After a practice session from 8:30-9:30 a.m., the 34 drivers entered in the field will line up for qualifications, starting at 11 a.m.
Drivers will turn four laps on the 2 1/2-mile oval, with their average speed determining their place on the starting grid.
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Once each driver has had a chance to qualify, two lanes will form for drivers wishing to improve their position in the field. Drivers who enter Lane 1 will have priority over the cars in Lane 2, but will have to withdraw their qualifying time.
Cars in Lane 2 have already qualified, but will have a chance to improve their position without withdrawing their posted time.
When qualifying ends at 5:50 p.m. Saturday, the 30 fastest cars will lock their place in the field, filling Rows 5 through 10 on the starting grid. The four slowest drivers will return to the track Sunday to try to earn a spot in the last row.
Sunday qualifying
On Sunday at 3:05 p.m., the 12 fastest drivers from Saturday's qualifying will line up from slowest to fastest, based on Saturday's times, to record a new four-lap average speed. Each car is guaranteed an attempt to post a speed.
The six fastest drivers will advance to the Firestone Fast Six Sunday evening. The other six drivers will be slotted into Rows 3 and 4 based on their Sunday qualifying time.
Before the pole position is determined, the four drivers who failed to qualify for the grid on Saturday will take to the track at 4:15 p.m. for a one-hour qualifying session to fill the last row. Each car is guaranteed one attempt to qualify and can make multiple attempts as time allows.
Each car's most recent qualifying speed will be eligible for the starting grid until the time is withdrawn or qualifications end. During the first 50 minutes of the session, drivers will be allowed a second cool-down lap after their qualifying attempt.
At 5:15 p.m., the three fastest drivers in the "Last Chance Qualifying" session will fill Row 11, with the slowest driver left out of the field.
At 5:25 p.m., the six fastest drivers will make another qualifying attempt, based on their time from the Top 12 qualifying earlier in the day. The fastest driver will win the NTT P1 Award and start on the pole position for the Indianapolis 500. The other five drivers will fill the front two rows of the grid for the May 26 race.