The 98th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday May 25, 2014. It is the premier event of the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series season. Tony Kanaan entered the race as the defending champion. Ed Carpenter won the pole position, his second consecutive pole at Indy. The race was won by Ryan Hunter-Reay, the first American-born winner since Sam Hornish Jr. in 2006. Hunter-Reay held off second place Hélio Castroneves by a margin of 0.0600 seconds, the third-closest finish in race history. At an average speed of , it was also the second-fastest 500 in history. Marco Andretti, Carlos Muñoz, and Juan Pablo Montoya rounded out the top five. Kurt Busch, in sixth position, claimed Rookie of the Year honors.
The month of May activities opened with the inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis, which was won by Simon Pagenaud on May 10. Practice opened for the Indy 500 on Sunday, May 11. Time trials were held over two days, May 17–18, and a post-qualifying practice was held on May 19. The traditional final day of practice, dubbed Carb Day, was held on Friday, May 23.
All four divisions of the Road to Indy ladder participated in the month of May activities. The Cooper Tires Indy Lights held the Liberty Challenge and Freedom 100. The Pro Mazda Series and U.S. F2000 held races on the Speedway's road course, then held oval races at nearby Lucas Oil Raceway. The Stadium Super Trucks series also held an event on Carb Day.
Event background In September 2013 an IndyCar feasibility test was conducted on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway combined road course, in preparations for a possible road course race. In October 2013, the inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis was scheduled for Saturday, May 10, 2014.
Jim Nabors performed "Back Home Again in Indiana" before the 2014 race, marking his 35th and final time doing so. On March 25 the 83-year-old Nabors announced that he would retire from performing at the 500 because his health limits his travel from his Hawaii home.
Rule changes A new qualifying format was introduced for 2014. Qualifying was held over two days (Saturday-Sunday), with the pole position winner not determined until the second day. The qualifying procedure were as follows: On the first day of time trials (Saturday May 17), all cars entered made an attempt to qualify. Qualifying was scheduled from 11:00 am to 5:50 pm. The fastest 33 cars were locked into the starting field. Actual grid positioning, however, was not yet assigned. The top nine cars from Saturday were eligible for the Fast Nine Shootout. On the second day of time trials (Sunday May 18), the cars that posted times from 10th–33rd would each make a qualifying attempt, beginning at 10:15 am. Saturday times would be erased, and the Sunday times would determine the starting lineup, thus eliminating "Bump Day". At 2 pm on Sunday, the top nine cars from Saturday will participate in the Fast Nine Shootout to determine the pole position as well as starting positions 2–9.
All engines for 2014 and beyond were required to have Twin-turbos. Single-turbo powerplants were no longer permitted. Previously, only Chevrolet (and for a brief time, Lotus) utilized a twin-turbo. Grid penalties based on unapproved engine changes were eliminated. Previously, unapproved engine changes penalties incurred during the month of May at Indianapolis would be served at the next race of the season (Detroit). Starting in 2014, the penalty will be points deductions to the manufacturers championship. If teams act in deliberate negligence to cause engine failures, the penalty will be starting from the rear of the field.
Starting in 2014, IndyCar championship points for the Indianapolis 500, as well as the Pocono 500 and MAVTV 500 (Fontana) will be doubled compared to the other races on the schedule.
Schedule Track activity commenced on Tuesday April 29 with a refresher test for Jacques Villeneuve and Kurt Busch on the oval. On Wednesday April 30, a full-field Open Test was held on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. The annual Rookie Orientation Program was held on Monday May 5. The events for the inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis were held over three days, May 8 to 10. On Sunday May 11, the circuit was reset to the oval configuration, and practice for the Indy 500 began.
For the first time in modern history, a post-qualifying practice session (other than Carb Day) will be held on the Monday following time trials. The track will be open on Monday May 19 from 12:00–5:00 p.m.
Race schedules — April/May 2014SunMonTueWedThuFriSat27 28 29Refreshertests30Road courseOpen test 1 2 3Mini-Marathon 4 5ROP 6 7 8Grand PrixPractice 9Grand PrixQualifying10Grand Prix ofIndianapolis11Practice 12Practice 13Practice 14Practice 15Practice 16Practice <br/ > Fast Friday 17Time Trials 18Time Trials 19Practice 20 21CommunityDay22Indy LightsQualifying23Carb Day Freedom 10024Legends DayParade25Indianapolis50026MemorialDay27 28 29 30 31
Color Notes Green Practice Dark Blue Time trials Silver Race day Red Rained out* Blank No track activity * Includes days where track activitywas significantly limited due to rain
ROP — denotes Rookie Orientation Program
Entry list
The race had six former Indianapolis 500 winners entered, including two drivers returning for the first time in over a decade. Defending champion Tony Kanaan and Scott Dixon drove for Ganassi. Three-time winner Hélio Castroneves returned with Penske. He was joined by 2000 winner Juan Pablo Montoya, who returned to the Indy 500 for the first time since his victory, after spending time in Formula One and NASCAR.
Jacques Villeneuve announced he would return to the 500 with Sam Schmidt Motorsports. It was his first appearance since his victory in 1995 (this would mean Montoya, Villeneuve and Tony Kanaan would all be attempting to win the race twice consecutively). 1996 winner Buddy Lazier also returned to the 500 with Lazier Partners Racing. Lazier drove for this team in 2013, as well.
Three-time Indy 500 winner, and four-time IndyCar champion Dario Franchitti announced his retirement from racing in the fall of 2013, following a crash at Houston. In late March, Franchitti was named as the driver of the pace car.
Former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Kurt Busch, who took a rookie test in 2013, announced he would enter the 500 with Andretti Autosport. He would attempt the Indy/Charlotte "Double Duty", the first driver to do so since Robby Gordon in 2004. Busch was the first NASCAR champion to enter the Indy 500, as fellow Cup champions and Indy 500 starters Bobby Allison, Tony Stewart, and Cale Yarborough had not yet won the NASCAR title at the time they raced at Indianapolis.
All told, the Indianapolis 500 featured, for the first time in history, at least one champion from Formula One, IndyCar, and NASCAR.
Driver Team Engine 2 Juan Pablo Montoya W Team Penske Chevrolet 3 Hélio Castroneves W Team Penske Chevrolet 5 Jacques Villeneuve W Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda 6 Townsend Bell KV Racing Technology Chevrolet 7 Mikhail Aleshin R Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports Honda 8 Ryan Briscoe Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 9 Scott Dixon W Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 10 Tony Kanaan W Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 11 Sébastien Bourdais KV Racing Technology Chevrolet 12 Will Power Team Penske Chevrolet 14 Takuma Sato A. J. Foyt Enterprises Honda 15 Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 16 Oriol Servià Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 17 Sebastián Saavedra KV Racing Technology Chevrolet 18 Carlos Huertas R Dale Coyne Racing Honda 19 Justin Wilson Dale Coyne Racing Honda 20 Ed Carpenter Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 21 J. R. Hildebrand Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 22 Sage Karam R Dreyer & Reinbold Kingdom Racing Chevrolet 25 Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport Honda 26 Kurt Busch R Andretti Autosport Honda 27 James Hinchcliffe E. J. Viso (Practice) 1 Andretti Autosport Honda 28 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Honda 33 James Davison R KV Racing Technology Chevrolet 34 Carlos Muñoz Andretti Autosport Honda 41 Martin Plowman R A. J. Foyt Enterprises Honda 63 Pippa Mann Dale Coyne Racing Honda 67 Josef Newgarden Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Honda 68 Alex Tagliani Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Honda 77 Simon Pagenaud Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports Honda 83 Charlie Kimball Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 91 Buddy Lazier W Lazier Partners Racing Chevrolet 98 Jack Hawksworth R Bryan Herta Autosport HondaOFFICIAL ENTRY LIST
Key Meaning R Rookie W Past winner 1 Substitute driver after Hinchcliffe injury.
Testing and Rookie orientation
Refresher tests – Tuesday April 29
The first track activity for 2014 was a refresher test involving two drivers, race rookie Kurt Busch and former winner Jacques Villeneuve. Both drivers passed their refresher test without incident. The 25-lap formal refresher test consists of the second and third phases of the official rookie test. Busch, who initially passed a rookie test in 2013, returned to the Speedway in preparations for attempting Double Duty. Villeneuve, the 1995 winner, made his first competitive laps on the oval in an Indy car since his victory in 1995. The scheduled session ended shortly after 4 p.m. due to moisture.
Weather: Top Practice Speeds Driver Team 126 Kurt Busch R Andretti Autosport220.84425 Jacques Villeneuve Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports217.742OFFICIAL REPORT
Rookie Orientation – Monday May 5
Seven drivers took part in the annual Rookie Orientation Program. The official rookie test consisted of three phases (10 laps at 200–205 mph, 15 laps at 205–210 mph, and 15 laps at over 210 mph). Six of the seven drivers passed all three phases. Sage Karam passed only the first two phases due to mechanical problems. The drivers completed 622 laps without incident. Kurt Busch, who completed a refresher test on April 29, returned to the track for more practice time. He completed 180 laps, and also took part in pit stop practice.
Weather: , mostly sunny Top Practice Speeds Driver Team 126 Kurt Busch R Andretti Autosport222.28927 Mikhail Aleshin R Sam Schmidt Motorsports219.170322 Sage Karam R Dreyer & Reinbold Kingdom Racing 218.419OFFICIAL REPORT
Practice
Sunday May 11 – Opening Day practice
Opening Day practice saw Team Penske sweep the top of the speed chart. Will Power, at , drove the fastest lap, while Hélio Castroneves completed the most laps (82). Early in the afternoon, rookie Sage Karam completed his rookie test. A total of 24 drivers completed 731 laps without incident. A brief yellow for lightning in the area closed the track around 4 p.m., but rain did not fall at the Speedway. E. J. Viso drove in substitution for James Hinchcliffe at Andretti Autosport. A day earlier during the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, Hinchcliffe suffered a concussion after debris struck him in the helmet. He was sidelined until cleared to drive by physicians.
Weather: , mostly cloudy Top Practice Speeds Driver Team 112 Will Power Team Penske223.05722 Juan Pablo Montoya Team Penske222.50233 Hélio Castroneves Team Penske 222.373OFFICIAL REPORT
Monday May 12 – Practice
Ryan Hunter-Reay became the first driver to break the 225 mph barrier during practice. During "Happy Hour", the final hour of practice for the day, he drove a lap of . A total of 30 drivers completed 2,286 laps without major incident. Ed Carpenter suffered mechanical issues during the day. At 4:48 p.m. Carpenter's car slowed on the track with smoke trailing from the car, bringing out a yellow.
Weather: , mostly cloudy Top Practice Speeds Driver Team 128 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport225.025225 Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport224.03733 Hélio Castroneves Team Penske223.635OFFICIAL REPORT
Tuesday May 13 – Practice