The 2016 Indianapolis 500 (branded as the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil for sponsorship reasons) took place on Sunday, May 29, 2016, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. It was the premier event of the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series season. 24 year-old rookie Alexander Rossi of Andretti Herta Autosport w/ Curb-Agajanian won the race on fuel mileage over Carlos Muñoz and Josef Newgarden. Two-time winner Juan Pablo Montoya entered the race as the defending champion.
Over the final ten laps, most of the leaders were cycling through pit stops, as no one was expected to make it to the finish without pitting for fuel. Most drivers had not pitted since the previous caution that ended on lap 166. Alexander Rossi's team took a gamble and coached the driver into saving fuel. As the other leaders made their stops, Rossi stayed out and inherited the lead on lap 197. He slowed down to save fuel, but on the final lap Carlos Muñoz began charging to catch up. Coming out of turn four on the final lap, Rossi pulled to the inside and coasted across the finish line to take the checkered flag. Muñoz finished 4.4975 seconds behind, his second runner-up finish at Indy (2013, 2016). Rossi, out of fuel, came to a stop during his cool down lap. A tow truck brought him in, believed to be the first time in Indy history that the race winner was towed back to victory lane.
The 2016 race marked a milestone as the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500. The race came five years after the event's Centennial Era, a three-year long commemoration which celebrated the 100th anniversary of the opening of the circuit (1909), and the 100th anniversary of the first Indy 500 (1911). The 2016 running was the ninety-ninth scheduled 500-mile race of the canon, as the 1916 race was scheduled as a 300-mile race. It also commemorated the bicentennial of Indiana statehood.
The month of May activities at the Speedway opened May 14 with the third annual Grand Prix of Indianapolis. Indianapolis 500 practice began on Monday, May 16. Time trials were held on May 21–22, with James Hinchcliffe winning the pole position. Hinchcliffe's pole came just over one year to the day after suffering near-fatal injuries in a practice crash in 2015. Carb Day, the traditional final practice session, and the annual Pit Stop Challenge, was held May 27. Considerable pre-race hype surrounded the milestone event, and for the first time the race was announced as a complete sellout; as a result, the local television blackout of the ABC broadcast was lifted for the first time.
Race background
Going into the race, Simon Pagenaud of Team Penske had mostly dominated the first five races of the 2016 IndyCar season. He finished second in the first two events (St. Petersburg and Phoenix), and won the next three races (Long Beach, Alabama, and the Grand Prix of Indianapolis) to take a sizable lead in the championship points standings.
The most discussed issues in the weeks leading up the race involved the ongoing development of aero kit regulations, and the competitive balance between the two engine manufacturers (Chevrolet and Honda). After three major crashes in 2015, in which cars flipped over and became airborne, series officials attempted to address the situation by adding "dome skids" - aerodynamic devices affixed to the undertrays of the cars, designed to keep the cars on the ground during a crash. This rule change was met with some resistance, particularly from the Honda teams, after testing revealed them to be unsettling to the cars' handling. After practice opened, however, the issues appeared to have been mostly resolved. None of the crashes that occurred during practice or qualifying saw the respective cars flip over. With respect to the engine competition, Chevrolet entered the month having swept all five race wins and all five race pole positions. In addition, Chevrolet had noticeably outperformed Honda in the 2015 race, sweeping the top five spots in qualifying, as well as the top four positions on race day. After practice opened, however, Honda teams led the speed chart on three of the four days (one day was rained out), and also secured the pole position - Honda's first Indy 500 pole since 2011.
Early in the month of May, Speedway officials announced that the grandstand seating for the race had sold out. It marked the first sell-out since before 2003. On May 25, Speedway officials announced that the race had reached a total sellout with all general admission tickets sold. In addition, it was announced that for the first time since 1950, the race would not be blacked out for the local television audience.
This race would turn out to be the final race of Alex Tagliani's career. For 2017 and onwards, Tagliani would shift his focus to mainly NASCAR. This would also be the final race for Townsend Bell after 13 seasons in IndyCar. After this race, Bell would shift his focus to sports cars racing in the IMSA SportsCar Championship from 2017 onwards.
Regulations and rule changes Minimum car weight was increased from 1580 pounds to 1610 pounds to accommodate enhancements made to the Suspension Wheel/Wing Energy Management System (SWEMS). Rookie Orientation was revised for 2016. Each rookie driver was required to complete the following three phases: 10 laps at 210-; 15 laps at 215-; 15 laps at over . The changes represented an increase of as compared to the previous year. All cars utilized a uniform E85 fuel mixture. Previously, Chevrolet entries were allowed an additive. Domed skid plates and rear wing beam flaps were made mandatory. Domed skids were affixed to the underside of the chassis, designed to reduce the chance of cars becoming airborne during a crash. Rear wing beam flaps deploy during a spin or when the car is travelling backward and disrupt the airflow to create downforce and reduce the chance of a car becoming airborne. Each entry was allowed 36 sets of tires (Firestone) total, for practice, time trials, and for the race. This remained the same from 2015. The special compound "red" tires are not used for oval events. Engines were permitted 130 kPa of turbocharger "boost" during practice from May 16–20. Cars were allowed 140 kPa of "boost" on Fast Friday practice, and during time trials. The "boost" level reverted to 130 kPa for Carb day and race day.
Sponsorship For the first time in race history, the Indianapolis 500 had a presenting sponsor: the PennGrade brand of the Lebanon, Indiana-based D-A Lubricant company. D-A Lubricant has had a long history of involvement in the Indianapolis 500, having historically sponsored teams at the race in the late-1950s, and being a current associate sponsor of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Although terms of the deal were not officially announced, the Indianapolis Star reported via sources that it is a three-year deal valued around $5 million.
Entry list
Matthew Brabham, son of Geoff Brabham, and grandson of Sir Jack Brabham entered with KV Racing Technology. Brabham became the third third-generation driver to qualify in Indy 500 history. The previous two were Billy Vukovich III and Marco Andretti. Buddy Lazier drove for Lazier Partners Racing. The 2016 running marked the 20th anniversary of Lazier's Indy 500 victory. Alex Tagliani carried No. 35 for A. J. Foyt Enterprises in honor of Foyt's record of 35 consecutive starts in the race as a driver. Stefan Wilson the younger brother of Justin Wilson, who was killed in a racing incident at the Pocono in August 2015. drove for KVSH Racing. The car carried No. 25, a tribute to the number Justin drove in the 2015 season.
Winner Rookie Driver Team Engine/aero kit 2 Juan Pablo Montoya Team Penske Chevrolet 3 Hélio Castroneves Team Penske Chevrolet 4 Buddy Lazier Lazier Burns Racing Chevrolet 5 James Hinchcliffe Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda 6 J. R. Hildebrand Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 7 Mikhail Aleshin Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda 8 Max Chilton Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 9 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 10 Tony Kanaan Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 11 Sébastien Bourdais KVSH Racing Chevrolet 12 Will Power Team Penske Chevrolet 14 Takuma Sato A. J. Foyt Enterprises Honda 15 Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 16 Spencer Pigot Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 18 Conor Daly Dale Coyne Racing Honda 19 Gabby Chaves Dale Coyne Racing Honda 20 Ed Carpenter Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 21 Josef Newgarden Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 22 Simon Pagenaud Team Penske Chevrolet 24 Sage Karam Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Chevrolet 25 Stefan Wilson KVSH Racing Chevrolet 26 Carlos Muñoz Andretti Autosport Honda 27 Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport Honda 28 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Honda 29 Townsend Bell Andretti Autosport Honda 35 Alex Tagliani A. J. Foyt Enterprises Honda 41 Jack Hawksworth A. J. Foyt Enterprises Honda 42 Charlie Kimball Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 61 Matthew Brabham PIRTEK Team Murray Chevrolet 63 Pippa Mann Dale Coyne Racing Honda 77 Oriol Servià Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda 88 Bryan Clauson Jonathan Byrd's Racing Honda 98 Alexander Rossi Andretti Herta Autosport w/ Curb-Agajanian Honda
Schedule + Race schedules — May 2016SunMonTueWedThuFriSat1 2 3 4 5 6 7Mini-Marathon 8 9 10 11Road to IndyOpen test 12Grand PrixPractice 13Grand PrixQualifying 14Angie's List GP of Indianapolis 15Car conversion day16Practice 17Practice 18Practice 19Practice 20Practice <br/ > Fast Friday 21Time Trials 22Pole Day 23Practice 24 25 26Indy Lights Qualifying27Carb Day Freedom 10028Legends DayParade29Indianapolis50030MemorialDay31 Color Notes Green Practice Dark blue Time trials Silver Race day Red Rained out* Blank No track activity * Includes days where trackactivity was significantly limited due to rain
Source: Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Testing and rookie orientation
Manufacturer's test – Tuesday, April 5 Four Chevrolet teams and one Honda team conducted a private test at the Speedway on Tuesday, April 5. The test was primarily to evaluate dome skids, a titanium safety device affixed to the underside of the chassis intended to reduce the chance of cars becoming airborne in a crash. Honda teams had already tested the dome skids once at Fontana. A new rear wing flap was also added being tested.
Marco Andretti was the lone Honda participant on Tuesday. Chevrolet participants included Sébastien Bourdais, Ed Carpenter, Hélio Castroneves, Scott Dixon and Juan Pablo Montoya. Temperatures were cool, and no incidents were reported.
Safety test – Wednesday, April 6 Weather: , mostly cloudy and windy Summary: An open test was held on Wednesday, April 6 to allow teams to test new and old aero kit configurations for use during the month of May. Marco Andretti () set the fastest lap of the day in a Honda machine. Simon Pagenaud () was the fastest of the Chevrolet participants. A total of fifteen cars attended the test. Weather conditions were not favorable. Winds gusted to , with temperatures in the low 60s (°F). After a morning test session, a rain shower closed the track for two hours during the middle of the afternoon. After the track was dried, a late afternoon session was held. No incidents were reported.
One week after the test sessions, IndyCar officials announced revised regulations for the aero kits. The domed skid plates were made mandatory, and optional underwing sidewalls were extended.
+ Top practice speeds — overall Driver Team Engine/aero kit 127 Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport Honda223.427 228 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Honda 222.047 322 Simon Pagenaud Team Penske Chevrolet 221.293 Official report
Rookie Orientation and Refresher Tests – Monday, May 16