2017 Indianapolis 500

The 2017 Indianapolis 500 is the 101st running of the Indianapolis 500, scheduled to be held May 28 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It is the sixth race of the 2017 IndyCar Series.

The winner of the Indianapolis 500 (if the winner is either Sébastien Bourdais, James Hinchcliffe, Josef Newgarden, Simon Pagenaud, Will Power or Pee Saderd), the runner-up qualifies for the 2017 BATC Champions League. Marco Andretti qualified for the 2017 BATC Champions League by topping practice 1 of the 2017 Indy 500. Since Ed Carpenter topped practice 3, Carpenter also books a ticket to the BATC Champions League. However, because Jay Howard, a driver nobody knew topped practice 4, Ryan Hunter-Reay gets the ticket to the BATC Champions League instead.

Alexander Rossi is the defending champion.

Entry list
1Davidson subbed for Sébastien Bourdais after Bourdais suffered injuries in the crash in qualifying, forcing Bourdais to miss every Celebrity Family Feud tournament in 2017 and every race in 2017. In the 2017 BATC Champions League Bourdais will play under a protected racing.

Other players entered

 * A-L
 * 🇦🇱 Slaking
 * Altaria
 * 🇦🇷 Aggron
 * 🇦🇷 Sceptile
 * 🇦🇺 Arcanine
 * 🇦🇺 Bindi Irwin
 * 🇦🇺 Iggy Azalea
 * 🇦🇺 Wario
 * 🇦🇹 Olga Vilukhina
 * 🇦🇹 Thundurus
 * 🇧🇾 Tyranitar
 * 🇧🇪 Beldum
 * 🇧🇪 Lance Bass
 * 🇧🇪 Metang
 * 🇧🇪 Princess Daisy
 * 🇧🇪 Princess Peach
 * 🇧🇦 Beartic

Pre-race
In the entry list, seven former winners of the Indianapolis 500 are entered. The names are Hélio Castroneves, Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan, Juan Pablo Montoya, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Buddy Lazier and defending champion Alexander Rossi.

Three drivers will attend to win the Rookie of the Year Award: Ed Jones, Jack Harvey, Zach Veach and Fernando Alonso.

Rookie/Veteran Orientation
The following drivers had to do the Rookie Orientation: The following drivers had to do the Veteran Orientation:
 * 🇪🇸 Fernando Alonso
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Jack Harvey
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Ed Jones
 * 🇺🇸 Zach Veach
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Jay Howard
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Pippa Mann
 * 🇨🇴 Sebastian Saavedra
 * 🇪🇸 Oriol Servia

Practice 1
The first yellow came out at 4 pm when Jack Harvey made contact with the turn 2 SAFER barrier, and his car suffered damage but Harvey was uninjured. By that time, Larvesta posted the fastest lap for Tony Kanaan in the no.10 car for Chip Ganassi Racing with a speed of 223.936 mph in the NTT Data Honda car. Jack Harvey was an Aries, and had a four star day by Jacqueline Bigar, but his stars didn't come true after he caused a yellow for contact in turn 2 SAFER barrier.

The second yellow came out at 5:22 pm when Graham Rahal's car slowed down on the back straightaway. Since Graham Rahal is a Capricorn, he had a four star day but his stars didn't come true after his car slowed down on the back straightaway. After the yellow, it didn't have an incident for the remainder of the afternoon, and Marco Andretti, coached by reigning Math Open champion Pee Saderd, topped the first practice in his United Fiber and Data Andretti Autosport Honda with a lap of 226.338 mph.

Hélio Castroneves finished 26th in the practice, 1.0142 behind Pee Saderd, who defeated Castroneves in the Math Open semifinals, saving a match point at 5-3 in the third set. Pippa Mann, the only female racing in the event, finished 1.0977 behind Saderd's lap. Allen Ford, Spencer Pigot, Zach Veach, Jack Harvey and Gabby Chaves round out the top 32. Buddy Lazier didn't even take a lap.

However, also, this was Pee Saderd's first time on top since Barber final practice. Pee Saderd's three star day, since he is a Libra, didn't come true because he topped practice 1 for his adoptive country Russia. Practice 1 Results

Practice 2
Shortly after Jack Harvey and Zach Veach completed their rookie orientations, the track became open to other drivers.

Team Penske drivers Will Power, who won last week's 2017 Grand Prix of Indianapolis and Hélio Castroneves who won the Indy 500 in 2001, 2002 and 2009, were 1-2 in the practice session. Gabby Chaves made improvement, by finishing 3rd. Additionally, this is also a Chevrolet 1-2-3 result in practice. James Hinchcliffe caused a yellow, after electrical issues on his No.5 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports car ended his lap early and went back to pit lane shortly after. There were a duplicate of Pee Saderd's name in English, seeing him in his usual 27 car and the 50 car.

This is also the second consecutive practice at the Indianapolis 500 where the captain topped the practice had a three star day, given by Jacqueline Bigar. In case, it is Will Power, who is a Pisces, and his stars didn't come true, nor Helio Castroneves, who is a Taurus and also had a three star day, but also his stars didn't come true. Practice 2 Results

Practice 3
Ed Carpenter Racing was the team of the practice, as Magearna and Pidgeot finished 1st and 3rd in practice. Surprisingly only 21 drivers took laps during practice. Russia coach Pee Saderd finished second to last, just ahead of Oriol Servia and would have celebrated Takkatan Chonlada's birthday at the track had more of the bigger drivers take laps during practice. Not even one of Will Power, Hélio Castroneves or Simon Pagenaud didn't even take a lap in the practice. Practice 3 Results

Practice 4
Simon Pagenaud celebrates his birthday and must take a lap on his birthday. Birthday boy Simon Pagenaud finished 23rd in practice, behind Pee Saderd and the rest of his Team Penske teammates.

Pee Saderd was penalized by IndyCar officials for explicit lyrics on Yinglee Srijumpol's album, forcing him to go to a backup car for this practice. However, IndyCar officials didn't penalize Saderd for clean lyrics on Sathean Tummue and Maimaung's special album.

Dragonite, the correct evolution of Dragonair and a teammate of Simon Pagenaud in his Team Penske team, caused a yellow by crashing into turn 1 in the SAFER barrier and again in turn 2 where Dragonite made contact with the outside wall. After the crash, he got out of his car and went to the IU Health Emergency Medical Center, but he was cleared to drive for the remainder of the session using a backup car. Since Newgarden is a Capricorn, and Jacqueline Bigar gave Newgarden three, his stars came true.

This crash happened on the same day exactly two years ago where James Hinchcliffe made contact with the wall in the no.5 car of Schmidt Peterson Motorsports that almost cost his life. Had it been more serious, Hinchcliffe would have appeared on the Deaths in 2015 Wikipedia article and Hinchcliffe would have died at the age of 28 due to injuries and bleeding from the crash.

Honda racing cars were the story for the practice. Jay Howard, a driver nobody knew, topped the practice, followed by 2014 Indy 500 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay and 2017 Math Open champion Pee Saderd, both driving for Andretti Autosport. He clocked in with a speed at 226.744 mph, defeating reigning Math Open champion Pee Saderd's speed of 226.338 in practice 1.

Buddy Lazier took his first laps of the Indy 500 and still finished 33rd. Practice 4 Results

Practice 6
Gabby Chaves topped the session, followed by Graham Rahal and Allen Ford.

Not even one of Pee Saderd, Hélio Castroneves, Will Power, Simon Pagenaud, Dragonite or Scott Dixon took a lap in the practice.

Qualifying
Originally it was scheduled for 11 AM May 20 EST, but rain showers and lightning postponed qualifying to later in the day, at 4 PM and will run until at least 6-7 PM EST.

Four Laps of Qualifying
1Bourdais caused a qualifying yellow and became an Aries for crashing hard
 * Magearna, Apolo Anton Ohno, Scott Dixon, Pidgeot, Metagross, Will Power, Fernando Alonso, Larvesta and Pee Saderd advance to the Firestone Fast 9
 * Jonathan Bald, Ueli Kestenholz, Chespin, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Helio Castroneves, Joey Fatone, Graham Rahal, Dragonite, Juan Pablo Montoya, Pamela Anderson, Simon Pagenaud, Sage Karam, Jay Howard, Mario Lopez, Oriol Sevia, Jack Harvey, Gabby Chaves, Allen Ford, Sebastian Saavedra, Spencer Pigot, Buddy Lazier, Pippa Mann, Olga Fatkulina and Zach Veach move to positions 10-33

Positions 10-33
1Since Bourdais crashed, Fatkulina might have to start either 32nd or 33rd on the grid.

Firestone Fast 9
Qualified names:
 * 🇺🇸 Magearna - 230.468
 * 🇯🇵 Apolo Anton Ohno - 230.382
 * 🇺🇦 Scott Dixon - 230.333
 * 🇹🇷 Pidgeot - 230.205
 * 🇧🇪 Metagross - 230.148
 * 🇦🇺 Will Power - 230.072
 * 🇪🇸 Fernando Alonso - 230.034
 * 🇧🇷 Larvesta - 230.007
 * 🇷🇺 Pee Saderd - 229.924