INDY 500
Qualifying Rules & Procedures
2022
  • The grid consists of 11 rows, 3 cars wide.

  • There are two days of qualifying.

  • Each driver must put together four good laps around the track (10 miles) and his time is
      used to determine his starting position in the race.

  • Before a car completes the four laps, the team may choose to wave it off, indicating they
      were not setting the pace desired.

  • The drivers have the track to themselves during their qualifying attempts.

  • A blind draw is held the day before qualifying to decide what order the drivers will qualify in.

  • If drivers do not want to qualify during a period due to conditions, the track will open for practice.

  • Each car is permitted two warm-up laps prior to the timed qualification laps.
      IndyCar Series officials may permit three warm-up laps if they deem it necessary.

  • Practice sessions before time trials commence are scheduled for both days.
1st Day of Qualifying - Saturday (Noon - 6 pm)
  • The 27-fastest race cars qualify for the race and positions 13-30 for the race are set.

  • Any slower cars outside the 30 fastest will compete tomorrow for a spot on the last row.

  • The 12-fastest cars move on to compete in the "Shootout" tomorrow.
2nd Day of Qualifying - Sunday
  • Unqualified cars from yesterday will have a shoot-out to qualify for the last row.

  • Then the fastest 12 cars from yesterday qualify again.  Positions 7-12 are set.

  • Then the 6 fastest cars qualify to determine positions 1-6 on the grid.
Qualifying Procedures
Verizon 200 At The BRICKYARD
Qualifying Procedures
2021 - present
Pennzoil150 At The Brickyard
Qualifying Rules
2020
IndyCar Grand Prix
Current Qualifying Rules
2012 - Present
The same as Nascar Cup rules above.
  • Qualifying is held on Friday, the day before the race.

  • The grid is two cars wide.

  • A Grand Prix event takes place over three days, with the first two of those for practice and
qualification for each class (Moto3, Moto2, MotoGP).

  • Qualifying is broken down into three segments:
  • Segment 1 - The field is split in half and each half gets to run 10 minutes.  The fastest six
from each group moves on to Segment 2, while the remaining cars are assigned positions
13+. Group One drivers occupy the odd-numbered positions (13, 15, 17...) while Group Two
drivers occupy the even-numbered positions (14, 16, 18...) based on their fastest lap times
during the segment.

  • Segment 2 - Twelve cars get to run for 10 minutes.  The fastest six move on to Segment 3,
while the remaining six cars are ranked in positions 7-12 based on their fastest laps during
the segment.

  • Segment 3 - The six advancing cars receive 10 minutes of track time, with a guarantee of five   
minutes of green flag time. Each car receives one additional set of Firestone Firehawk tires
for use during this final segment. At the end of the session, the cars are ranked 1-6 based
on their fastest laps during the segment.
Cautions - If a car causes a red or full course yellow condition in any segment or otherwise
interferes with qualifications as determined by the Race Direetor, the car’s best two timed
laps of the segment will be disallowed. An interfering car will not be allowed to advance to
the next segment. If a car causes two red or full course yellow conditions in any segment,
all segment times shall be voided and the car shall not be permitted to participate in the
remainder of qualifying.

Doubleheader Weekends – Qualifying for Race 2 of a doubleheader weekend shall consist
of one 30-minute qualifying session for all cars of which 10 minutes is guaranteed Green
Condition time. The fastest time from either session will be awarded the pole position, with
the fastest time from the session that did not receive the pole being awarded the outside front
row position. This qualification session will also serve as the warmup for Race 1.
RACE QUALIFYING AT IMS
Details:
Once every car has been presented with at least once chance to qualify, teams must choose from
two lanes for subsequent attempts.

 Lane 1 is the Priority Lane.  Cars in this lane get priority access to the track ahead of Lane 2.  
 However, cars in this lane must withdraw their qualified time.

 Lane 2 is for cars that have already qualified, but wish to try and improve their position.
Details:
Last Chance Qualifying runs from 2-3 pm.
      - Each unqualified car is guaranteed one attempt.
      - If more than 33 cars are entered for the race, bumping can occur.
      - They can make multiple qualifying attempts until time runs out.

Top 12 Qualifying runs from 4-4:45 pm
     - The order in which they qualify is determined by their speed from yesterday.
     - Each entry is guaranteed one attempt.
     - The fastest 6 advance to the Fast Six.
     - IndyCar Series Points are awarded to each driver.  The slowest gets 1 point
        and increases by a point up through the qualifying speed order, with the fastest
        driver getting 12 points.

Fast Six Qualifying runs from 5:10-5:40 pm
     - The order in which they qualify is determined by their speed from Top 12 qualifying.
     - Each entry is guaranteed one attempt.
     - The fastest driver wins the Pole Position and a cash reward.
Road-course Qualifying Format:

20-minute warm-up/practice separated into two groups.

Qualifying Round 1, Group A (15 minutes) -       Top 5 transfer to Final Round

Qualifying Round 1, Group B  (15 minutes) -       Top 5 transfer to Final Round

Qualifying Final Round  (10 minutes)
Includes GMR Grand Prix in May and
Big Machine Spiced Coolers Grand Prix in July.
Home    Contact    About    Site Map    Privacy
Copyright © 2022  IndySpeedway.com All Rights Reserved