The Pit Stop Challenge is a single elimination, pit stop competition held before the Indianapolis 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. It takes place after the final practice session on Carb Day, which is held two days before the race. First held in 1977, the contest has pit crews compete head-to-head in single-round eliminations for three rounds. In each round they conduct a standard pit stop—switching all four tires on a racing vehicle and simulating refueling via a fuel hose connection to the fuel tank—in the shortest possible time in a drag race–style event that happens in a specially constructed dual pit lane. Each round commences with the green lights being illuminated to signal to both drivers who are lined up side-by-side to begin from a standing start. They enter the pit box and stop there before crossing the finish line, which is away, as fast as possible. While no fuel is actually flowing, the fuel hose must be connected to the fuel tank for a minimum of three seconds. The time a team's car spends in its pit box determines the winner, and the fastest team in each pairing advances to the next round. Squads may be assessed time penalties if they exit their pit box with an incorrectly fitted tire, if pit crews or equipment leave their designated area, or if a driver runs over pit equipment such as an air hose.

Since 2017, the top two teams have competed in a three-round final. The team with the fastest time in the semi-finals gets to select their preferred lane for the final, and the team with the fastest time in the final gets to choose their favored lane for the third and deciding round. The tournament bracket is decided by a blind draw, and the top four teams receive a bye from the first round to the quarter-finals, with the remaining squads beginning in the first round. Contest participants are selected from IndyCar Series–registered teams and Indianapolis 500 entrants. Qualification for the contest is based on pit stop performance after the last Indianapolis 500, current season IndyCar entrant standings positions, and one-off Indianapolis 500 entries. The winning team and driver share the winners' prize of $50,000 from $150,000 total prize money. Each crew member receives pit lane equipment from prize donors at a Gasoline Alley giveaway as well as Jostens custom-designed rings.

The competition allows pit crews for the Indianapolis 500 to adjust their routines, practice to reduce errors, and become acquainted with their pit lane box. Past sponsors of the competition include Miller, Coors, Checkers/Rally's, McDonald's, Izod, TAG Heuer, and Ruoff Mortgage. It was canceled in 2008 and 2026 due to rain, and all advertised prize monies were donated to charity; it was also canceled in both 2020 and 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic in Indiana. , the record for the most victories is held by Team Penske with 20 wins since their first win in the 1981 final. Galles Racing are in second place with six wins, and Chip Ganassi Racing are third with four victories. Hélio Castroneves has the most victories among drivers, with eight, followed by Scott Dixon and Danny Sullivan with four wins each. Rick Rinaman has four wins, more than any other chief mechanic. Matt Jonsson, Travis Law, and Owen Snyder follow in second place with three victories each. The inaugural winner was Jim McElreath of Carrillo Racing in the 1977 final, while the most recent winner was Josef Newgarden of Team Penske in the 2025 final.

Winners and runner-ups + Key Indicates driver won the contest and the Indianapolis 500 in the same year 2–1 Denotes an entrant's winning score from 2017–presentsTime in seconds

+Winners and runners-up of the Pit Stop Challenge Year Winner Score Runner-up Team Driver Chief Mechanic (s) Team Driver Chief Mechanic (s) 1977 Carrillo 15.09 N/A Patrick Racing 15.82 1978 Team McLaren 13.80 N/A Polak Racing 17.27 1979 Team McLaren 13.51 N/A Jerry O’Connell 13.94 1980 AMI Racing Division 14.04 N/A AMI Racing Division 14.50 1981 Team Penske 13.00 N/A Kraco Racing 23.20 1982 Team Penske 13.930 N/A A. J. Foyt Enterprises 18.050 1983 Team Penske 13.860 N/A Alex Morales 15.528 1984 Kraco Racing 18.520 N/A Mayer Motor Racing 18.948 1985 Team Penske 11.742 N/A Forsythe Racing 11.734 1986 Team Penske 20.288 N/A Truesports 22.734 1987 Newman/Haas Racing 18.050 N/A Truesports 23.270 1988 Team Penske 14.782 N/A Newman/Haas Racing 15.006 1989 Galles Racing 14.716 N/A Newman/Haas Racing 26.582 1990 Galles-Kraco Racing 14.094 N/A Galles-Kraco Racing No Time 1991 Patrick Racing 13.114 N/A Galles-Kraco Racing 13.382 1992 Rahal-Hogan Racing 13.324 N/A Chip Ganassi Racing No Time 1993 Galles-Kraco Racing 13.118 N/A Newman/Haas Racing 16.104 1994 Forsythe Green Racing 12.867 N/A Team LOSI 13.590 1995 Team Green 14.556 N/A Newman/Haas Racing 14.660 1996 Galles Racing 14.176 N/A Pagan Racing 16.368 1997 Galles Racing 14.284 N/A Team Cheever 15.133 1998 Panther Racing 17.307 N/A Team Menard No Time 1999 Galles Racing 12.680 N/A A. J. Foyt Enterprises 14.560 2000 Panther Racing 11.190 N/A Treadway Racing 12.720 2001 Kelley Racing 9.20 N/A Galles Racing 12.67 2002 Team Penske 8.555 N/A Chip Ganassi Racing 10.3433 2003 Cheever Racing 8.8401 N/A Team Penske 9.1341 2004 Rahal Letterman Racing 12.3365 N/A Team Penske 24.4430 2005 Team Penske 8.9704 N/A Andretti Green Racing 9.9170 2006 Team Penske 8.0852 N/A Andretti Green Racing 8.4428 2007 Team Penske 8.335 N/A Team Penske 8.888 2008Canceled due to rain 2009 Team Penske 7.962 N/A Andretti Green Racing 9.456 2010 Team Penske 8.001 N/A Newman/Haas Racing 9.548 2011 Team Penske 7.882 N/A Chip Ganassi Racing 8.481 2012 Chip Ganassi Racing 13.769 N/A Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 17.194 2013 Team Penske 14.475 N/A Chip Ganassi Racing 14.854 2014 Chip Ganassi Racing 11.658 N/A Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 12.163 2015 Team Penske 12.561 N/A Chip Ganassi Racing 13.017 2016 Team Penske 12.235 N/A Schmidt Peterson Motorsports 19.381 2017 Team Penske 11.614 2–1 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports N/A 13.223 2018 Chip Ganassi Racing 11.614 2–1 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports N/A 12.495 2019 Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports 11.794 2–1 Chip Ganassi Racing 13.132 2020Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Indiana 2021 2022 Team Penske 10.949 2–0 Chip Ganassi Racing 11.911 2023 Chip Ganassi Racing 11.012 2–1 Team Penske 12.552 2024 Team Penske 10.792 2–0 Arrow McLaren 12.647 2025 Team Penske 10.263 2–1 Team Penske 10.503 2026Canceled due to rain

Statistics

+ Multiple wins by team Team Wins First win Last win Team Penske2019812025 Galles Racing619891999 Chip Ganassi Racing420122023 Andretti Green Racing219941995 Panther Racing219982000 Rahal Letterman Racing219922004 Team McLaren219781979

+ Multiple wins by driver Driver Wins First win Last win 820022016 420122023 419851991 320222025 319891993 219982000 219821983 220032004 219781979 219941995

+ Multiple wins by chief mechanic Chief mechanic Wins First win Last win 420022009 320052017 320152022 319891993 319851988 219982000 220242025 220102013 220142018 219941995 219821983 219781979

See also Pit Crew Challenge

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