2018 Indianapolis 500

The 2018 Indianapolis 500 is the 102nd running of the annual Indianapolis 500, scheduled to be held May 27 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It is also the sixth race of the 2018 IndyCar Series season.

Apolo Anton Ohno is the defending race winner.

Entry list
35 cars are entered for the race. Because there are 35 cars entered for the 2018 Indy 500 instead of the usual 33, bumping is required and two cars will have to be bumped out of the Indy 500 on Bump Day. Pietro Fittipaldi was originally the driver of the no.19 car. Because Fittipaldi was seriously injured at Spa that took him out of the race, Fittipaldi is ruled out of the Indy GP, the Indy 500, Texas, and the remainder of the 2018 season. However, Fittipaldi will still participate in the first Celebrity Family Feud episodes until the 2018 FIFA World Cup Final with a protected ranking. Zachary Claman DeMelo was named his replacement.

Changes

 * The Monday practice on May 14 will not be held. Eventually the first practice is scheduled for May 15.
 * The switch from road to oval kits is scheduled for May 14.
 * The track will close on Mother's Day; it has been closed since 2014.

Practice 1
Originally this practice was scheduled for May 14. IndyCar decided to eliminate the Monday post-Indy GP practice from 2018 onwards. Practice 1 was for Oval Veterans only. Simon Pagenaud took the session, with Hélio Castroneves 2nd and Josef Newgarden in 3rd. Pee Saderd in 4th and Ed Carpenter in 5th rounded the top five. Sage Karam was slow during practice and only did a nine-minute lap finishing him well behind the others. All the top 5 were Chevrolet cars expect for Pee Saderd's, which was Honda.

Practice 1 results: Practice 1 Results

Practice 2
Pee Saderd, 4th in practice 1, was the session leader when the practice was called at 1 hour 2 minutes due to possible rain. The leader Pee Saderd's speed was at 224.217 mph; eventually it was the Russian veteran's best speed during practice. IndyCar revealed it was for lightning. IndyCar resumed the practice at 4:50 PM EST. After the lightning, Hélio Castroneves took the session off Pee Saderd and finished 1st. Saderd still kept his top 5 finish despite leading when the yellow came out. Part-timers led the session and the top three spots, with Castroneves first, Ed Carpenter, Jay Howard 3rd. The best full-time drivers Scott Dixon finished in 4th and Pee Saderd, also representing a former Soviet Union country, rounded the top 5 in 5th. Practice 2 Results: Practice 2 results

Practice 3
Pee Saderd topped the session, and was Saderd's first time getting a 1st place since the 2018 Rolex 24 at Daytona; when Saderd eventually won the tournament. No caution was reported. Saderd was aiming to top a session for the first time since January; and coming back from losses in the final to Beartic at the Math Open and to Ueli Kestenholz at the Sebring Open. The top five were all Hondas expect for Ueli Kestenholz, who finished 5th. Practice 3 Results

Practice 4
Graham Rahal came back from 34th in Wednesday's practice to topping the fourth practice. Larvesta finished 2nd and Pee Saderd, 1st in Wednesday's practice finished 3rd. The first incident was for JR Hildebrand crashing in turn 3 and hitting the SAFER Barrier in turn 4, and was uninjured. Beedrill, who had improved their season 3 result of Group semifinals (with Pee Saderd) and qualified for Champ vs. Champ in The Mask Singer season 4, only finished 26th in practice. Practice 4 results: Practice 4 results

Practice 5 (Fast Friday)
Pee Saderd topped the session for the 2nd time this 500, after he topped Practice 3, the first time Saderd won multiple practices since the 2018 Sebring Open, where Saderd was upset by Ueli Kestenholz. He turned the fastest lap at 231.802 mph per hour. James Davison was the only incident in the practice when he tried to exit turn 2, but he hit the SAFER barrier. Volcarona led early of the session until veteran Pee Saderd made the best lap of the session. With Saderd topping the session and Volcarona 2nd, it ended with The Unlikely Hero of IndyCar B finishing 1-2.

Practice 5 results: Practice 5 results

Four Laps of Qualifying
Nidoking is not considered a rookie, as Matheus Leist is a rookie in the 2018 season. This was due to Nidoking's previous success with Hélio Castroneves between 2002 and 2017.

Volcarona is not considered a rookie, as Robert Wickens is a rookie in the 2018 season.

Oriol Servia's car lost time due to a possible spin and may come out again. Due to moisture on the track, qualifying was delayed by two hours and 35 minutes; and resumed at 2:15 PM EST. Some Twitter accounts said qualifying would not resume until 2:30 PM EST. Moisture once again halted Volcarona's qualifying run. Qualifying resumed again at 4:10 PM EST.

Failed to qualify

 * TBD -
 * TBD -