By: Spencer Neff
May 17, 2026
Ed Carpenter Racing’s Christian Rasmussen led Sunday’s hour-long practice ahead of qualifying for the 110th running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge. Rasmussen posted a best lap of 232.255 mph (38.7505 seconds) on the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Last year, he started 18th and improved to sixth in his second Indianapolis 500 start.
Following Rasmussen’s ECR Chevrolet was the Rahal Lettermann Lanigan Racing Honda of Takuma Sato, the 2017 and 2020 Indianapolis 500 winner. Sato was .0829 of a second back of Rasmussen. Sato brought out the only caution flag of the session when he brushed the wall in the north chute between Turns 3 and 4. He drove hiss car to pit lane with minimal damage following the incident.
ECR teammates Alexander Rossi (2016 race winner) as wel three-time pole winner (2013-14, 2018) and Car Owner/Driver Ed Carpenter followed in third and fourth.
Meyer Shank Racing’s Helio Castroneves was fifth as he makes his 26th start and looks for a fifth pole (2003, 2007, 2009, 2010) and record-breaking fifth victory (2001-02, 2009 and 2021).
Sato’s teammate Mick Schumacher was the lone rookie on-track during the session, as only 14 of 33 entrants made a lap in Sunday morning’s practice. Most teams opted to save their cars for qualifying this afternoon,
After rain canceled on-track activity for Saturday, the schedule and qualifying procedure has changed, as detailed below.
Qualifying Draw
Here is the order for Sunday’s first round of qualifying as determined by Friday evening’s traditional random draw:
- Scott Dixon
- Christian Lundgaard
- Ryan Hunter-Reay
- Ed Carpenter
- Rinus VeeKay
- Scott McLaughlin
- Nolan Siegel
- Graham Rahal
- Josef Newgarden
- Will Power
- Felix Rosenqvist
- Santino Ferrucci
- Marcus Ericsson
- Conor Daly
- Mick Schumacher
- Romain Grosjean
- Marcus Armstrong
- Pato O’Ward
- David Malukas
- Alexander Rossi
- Dennis Hauger
- Sting Ray Robb
- Kyle Kirkwood
- Caio Colllet
- Helio Castroneves
- Takuma Sato
- Christian Rasmussen
- Louis Foster
- Kyffin Simpson
- Jack Harvey
- Alex Palou
- Jacob Abel
- Katherine Legge
Qualifying begins at 12 with each driver allowed a single, four-lap run. Positions 13-33 will be locked in and 1-12 will advance to the Fast 12.
At 4:00, the Fast 12 will begin and positions 7-12 will be set. 1-6 will run for the pole at 6:00 and the first two rows of the grid will be set, locking in the 33-car field.
Monday practice after qualifying is set for 1:00 p.m. ET on Monday, May 19. Final Practice will be held on Carb Day (Friday, May 22) at 11:00 a.m (FS1). with the annual Pit Stop Competition at 2:00 (FOX).
Pre-Race begins at 10:00 a.m. ET on Sunday, May 24th (FOX) with the green flag for the 200-lap race on the 2.5-mile oval at 12:45 p.m. Stick with IndyCar1909.com and our social media platforms for all the latest on the NTT INDYCAR SERIES.
Header Image By Matt Fraver/INDYCAR
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