It’s almost time for on-track activities to begin at Indianapolis Motor Speedway as IndyCar Series teams prepare for the 105th Indianapolis 500.
Thirty-five cars are entered for the famed event, including nine Indy 500 champions. Only 33 drivers will make the race, leaving two cars out of contention, barring any entry list changes. Helio Castroneves will pilot the No. 06 Honda of Meyer Shank Racing, Juan Pablo Montoya is in the No. 86 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet and Tony Kanaan’s driving the No. 48 Chip Ganassi Racing entry.
Three rookies are also entered: RC Enerson, driving the No. 75 Top Gun Racing car, Pietro Fittipaldi in the No. 51 Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing entry, and Scott McLaughlin, wheeling the No. 3 Team Penske car.
Additionally, Simona de Silvestro will attempt to qualify for the Indy 500 for the first time since 2015; she’s in the No. 16 Paretta Autosport Chevrolet.
Andretti Autosport has six drivers trying to make “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” including Stefan Wilson and Marco Andretti.
2021 Indianapolis 500 Entry List
Practice at IMS begins next Tuesday, May 18 and lasts through May 21. Qualifying runs on May 22-23.
Indy 500 coverage starts on May 30 at 11 a.m. ET on NBC; green flag is set for 12:30 p.m. ET.
Joy joined Frontstretch in 2019 as a NASCAR DraftKings writer, expanding to news and iRacing coverage in 2020. She's currently an assistant editor and involved with photos, social media and news editing. A California native, Joy was raised watching motorsports and started watching NASCAR extensively in 2001. She earned her B.A. degree in Liberal Studies at California State University Bakersfield in 2010.
The Indy 500 has become the Ghost of Christmas Past.
When young I was a member of a winning Indy car team for a couple of seasons. The racing has always been pretty boring, but it was a job.
Thirty-five entries? I remember when there were about fifty.
And there were half dozen different chassis design/manufacturers. Today there is only one and only two engines.
I remember when out-dated Indy cars were running at Oswego Speedway as super-modifieds before Colin Chapman brought rear-engine F1 cars to Indy since it was part of the F1 schedule. Back when “Carb Day” was carb day and “Bump Day” really meant something.