2024 Indianapolis 500

108th Indianapolis 500

Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Indianapolis 500
Sanctioning body	IndyCar
Season	2024 IndyCar season
Date	May 26, 2024
Winner	Josef Newgarden
Winning team	Team Penske
Average speed	167.763 mph (269.988 km/h)
Pole position	Scott McLaughlin
Pole speed	234.220 mph (376.940 km/h)
Rookie of the Year	Kyle Larson
Most laps led	Scott McLaughlin (66)
Pre-race ceremonies
National anthem	Jordin Sparks[1]
"Back Home Again in Indiana"	Jim Cornelison
Starting command	Roger Penske
Pace car	Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray 3LZ[2]
Pace car driver	Ken Griffey Jr.[3]
Starter	Aaron Likens
Honorary starter	Austin Butler and Jodie Comer[4]
TV in the United States
Network	NBC (including WTHR, blackout lifted 2:30pm ET)
Announcers	Leigh Diffey, Townsend Bell, James Hinchcliffe
Nielsen ratings	2.6 (5.344 million viewers)[5]
Chronology
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The 2024 Indianapolis 500, branded as the 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge for sponsorship reasons, was a 500-mile (804.5 km, 200 lap) race in the 2024 IndyCar Series, that was held on Sunday, May 26, 2024, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States. The month of May activities formally began on Saturday, May 11 with the Sonsio Grand Prix on the combined road course. Practice on the oval began on Tuesday May 14. Time trials were held on May 18–19, and Carb Day, the traditional final day of practice, along with the Pit Stop Challenge, took place on May 24. It was the final Indy 500 to air on NBC because less than a month later, Fox would gain the rights to the NTT IndyCar Series from NBC.

Josef Newgarden of Team Penske entered the race as the defending winner. His teammate Scott McLaughlin won the pole position with a four-lap average speed of 234.220 miles per hour (376.941 km/h), the fastest pole position speed (and second-fastest qualifying speed) in Indy history. McLaughlin, Newgarden, and their teammate Will Power took all three spots on the front row, the first for a single team since Penske did so in 1988.

A heavy thunderstorm swept through the area on the morning of the race. The race was delayed by four hours, but was run to completion without further interruption. Josef Newgarden won the race after passing Pato O'Ward in turn three on the final lap for his second-consecutive Indianapolis 500 victory. It was the fourth Indianapolis 500 to end in a last-lap pass after 2006, 2011, and 2023. Newgarden became the first driver to win the race two years in a row since Hélio Castroneves won in 2001–2002.^[6] It was the record-extending 20th Indy victory for Team Penske and car owner Roger Penske, and second victory for the team since Penske bought the track in late 2019.

For the first time since 2014, a driver attempted "Double Duty": Kyle Larson attempted to compete in the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte on the same day. But rain delayed the start of the race at Indy, and the race at Charlotte was ended early due to rain, foiling Larson's attempt. Larson led 4 laps during the race, finished 17th, and was named rookie of the year. Later in the season, Larson won the Brickyard 400, in becoming the 7th driver to race in the Indy 500 and Brickyard 400 in the same year.