storylines to watch for ahead of the 2026 indianapolis 500
• will alex palou continue his mastery and win the fabled race two years in a row, this time starting from pole?
• helio castroneves and his drive for five. can he make his way up from p14 to a win?
• conor daly and his performance so far with d&rr. he's seemed very fast so far, will this team finally get him the 500 podium he deserves?
• josef newgarden, two time indy 500 winner, is starting from p23. how will that play out for him on sunday, will he be in contention for anything other than top 20?
• caio collet, who was the highest starting rookie before his unfortunate disqualification. could he still put in a good drive even starting at the back of the grid?
• indy 500 rookie of the year award: who will it be? dennis hauger is a fan favorite, especially coming off of his 2025 championship in the indynxt series, but his performance in indycar has been less than optimal so far. mick schumacher is the highest starting rookie after collet's dsq, but he's only starting from p27.
• alex-on-alex battling. alex palous is, of course, alex palou, but alex rossi looked very very fast in qualifying so it will be interesting to see how that plays out for them both.
• pato o'ward and his performance issues. he seems very unconfident in his car and its ability to get him anywhere, but in 2024 he also started from 5th and ended up right there in that battle for the win, so we can't write him off just yet.
• david malukas in his new number 12 penske car. at last year's 500 he managed to get second place (third before ericsson's penalty) in the race starting from 4th, and that was in an a.j. foyt car. what can he do in a penske? are we hopefully going to get another podium from him?
• arrow mclaren in general. how much pace will christian lundgaard (who already has one race win under his belt this season) ultimately have? will nolan siegel manage to get a few crucial points in his quest for a top 10 finish in the championship? will ryan hunter-reay, part time indycar driver and multiple race winner, do anything interesting this 500? and of course, pato o'ward
• felix rosenqvist, who appeared to be coming for alex rossi in the fast 6 after topping the time charts in full field qualis and the fast 12, only managed to go 4th fastest. will he want to change that and prove he has more in him?
• kyle kirkwood, who has already won a race this season and is clearly fast, starts at the back half of the grid in p25. how can he improve on that?
• santino ferrucci, one of the most consistent finishers in the indy 500 (top 10 in all of his 7 entries), is starting from 5th. literally no one wants to see him do well ever, but its gonna be interesting to see where he ends up at the checkered.
