The 2017 Indianapolis 500 (branded as the 101st Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil for sponsorship reasons) was a Verizon IndyCar Series race held on Sunday May 28, 2017, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States. The race was the premier event and the sixth race of the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season.
Despite a threatening weather forecast in the days leading up to the event, the race ran its scheduled distance of 200 laps (500 miles) and was won by Japanese driver Takuma Sato of Andretti Autosport. Sato, who also finished on the podium at the 2004 U.S. Grand Prix on the road course at Indianapolis, became the first Asian driver to win the Indianapolis 500. Sato assumed the lead with six laps to go and held off Hélio Castroneves over the final fifteen miles.
Two violent crashes occurred during the month, involving Sébastien Bourdais (during time trials) and Scott Dixon (during the race), respectively. Bourdais suffered a broken pelvis and other injuries, forcing him to sit out the event, while Dixon suffered a minor ankle injury.
Alexander Rossi entered the race as the defending champion. The event also featured Fernando Alonso, the first active Formula One World Championship driver to contest the race since Teo Fabi in 1984. Alonso was voted Rookie of the Year, having led 27 laps before retiring in the closing stages of the race.
The month of May activities formally began on May 13 with the fourth running of the IndyCar Grand Prix on the combined road course. Practice for the Indianapolis 500 began on May 15, and time trials were held on May 20–21. Scott Dixon, the 2008 winner, won the pole position, his third career Indy pole. Dixon's qualifying speed of was the fastest pole speed since 1996. Carb Day—the traditional final day of practice, as well as the annual Pit Stop Challenge and Indy Lights Freedom 100, were held on May 26. Support races featuring the Road to Indy were also held during the month.
Race background The 2017 race was the third and final year contested with the Chevrolet and Honda aero kits outfitted to the Dallara DW12 chassis. Beginning in 2018, all DW12 chassis were outfitted with a universal bodywork kit. Furthermore, a development freeze was implemented for 2017, and all aero kits had to adhere to the established specifications carried over from 2016.
Among the major offseason moves, Chip Ganassi Racing switched engine manufactures from Chevrolet to Honda. Conversely, A. J. Foyt Enterprises switched from Honda to Chevrolet. KV Racing Technology, who won the 2013 race with driver Tony Kanaan, was sold to Juncos Racing, an established team in the ladder system, scheduled to make its debut at the Indianapolis 500. After losing his seat at KV Racing, Sébastien Bourdais subsequently signed with Dale Coyne Racing. Among the other high-profile moves, Josef Newgarden departed Ed Carpenter Racing and joined Team Penske.
Regulations and rule changes A series of procedural rule changes were implemented by the series for the 2017 season, however, none of the rule changes significantly affected the Indianapolis 500. The IndyCar Grand Prix, which opens the on-track activities for the month, a three-day event, had only two days for the Verizon IndyCar Series. That mirrors similar changes made to other races event weekends on the schedule.
Each entry was allowed 36 sets of tires (Firestone) total, for practice, time trials, and for the race. This remained the same from 2015 to 2016. The special compound "red" tires are not used for oval events. Entries taking part in the Rookie Orientation Program received an additional three sets for that session, and entries taking part in a refresher test received two additional sets. All entries are subject to engine change-out rules. The standard minimum change-out mileage milestone per engine is set at 2,500 miles. Full-time entries are allotted up to two fresh engines for the month of May on-track activities, plus a third engine that is left over from the previous IndyCar Series races. Teams must first mileage-out their engine from the previous races during practice before they can install a fresh engine for Fast Friday practice and/or qualifying. The second fresh engine is intended to be installed for Carb Day and race day, however each team has a certain amount of latitude as to their installation decisions. Both the engine used for Fast Friday/qualifying and the engine used for Carb Day/race day must be re-utilized and properly mileaged out later in the IndyCar season. Unapproved engine changes are subject to penalty. Teams participating in the Pit Stop Challenge are permitted to utilize a back-up car for that event, with one of the older engines installed. Engines are permitted 130 kPa of turbocharger "boost" during practice from May 15–18. Cars are allowed 140 kPa of "boost" on Fast Friday practice, and during time trials. The "boost" level reverts to 130 kPa for Carb day and race day.
2017 IndyCar season
The 101st Indianapolis 500 was the sixth round of the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season, and the 22nd sanctioned as part of the Indy Racing League/IndyCar Series. There were five different winners in the first five races leading up to the Indianapolis 500. The season began March 12 at St. Petersburg, with Sébastien Bourdais a surprise winner. Bourdais won from last place on the starting grid. James Hinchcliffe won at Long Beach, his first victory since suffering a near-fatal accident during practice for 2015 Indianapolis 500. Josef Newgarden won at Barber, and defending series champion Simon Pagenaud won at Phoenix. The IndyCar Grand Prix was won by Will Power, his second victory in the event.
Entering the month of May at Indy, Honda-powered teams were the prohibitive favorites over the Chevys. As the week began, Honda teams were even being accused of "sandbagging." However, each day saw a different driver lead the speed charts, split almost evenly between both manufacturers. Honda began experiencing multiple engine failures, raising significant concerns around the garage area of their reliability.
Entry list
See 2017 IndyCar Series § Teams and drivers for further information.
Former Indianapolis 500 winners that were entered include Hélio Castroneves, Juan Pablo Montoya, Buddy Lazier, Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan, Ryan Hunter-Reay, and Alexander Rossi. Former IndyCar Series champions that entered include Lazier, Dixon, Kanaan, Hunter-Reay, Will Power and Simon Pagenaud. In addition, Juan Pablo Montoya is a former CART series champion, and Sébastien Bourdais is a four-time champion of the Champ Car World Series. Montoya, after three years in a full-time role at Team Penske, went down to a part-time role for 2017, driving in the IndyCar Grand Prix and Indianapolis 500 only.
On April 12, it was announced that two-time Formula 1 World Champion Fernando Alonso planned to drive a Honda with the support of McLaren for Andretti Autosport. Alonso skipped the 2017 Monaco Grand Prix in order to compete at Indianapolis.
Rookies that entered included Alonso, Jack Harvey, Ed Jones, and Zach Veach. The official entry list was released on May 14.
Driver Team Engine1 Simon PagenaudTeam PenskeChevrolet2 Josef NewgardenTeam PenskeChevrolet3 Hélio Castroneves Team PenskeChevrolet4 Conor DalyA. J. Foyt EnterprisesChevrolet5 James HinchcliffeSchmidt Peterson MotorsportsHonda7 Mikhail AleshinSchmidt Peterson MotorsportsHonda8 Max ChiltonChip Ganassi RacingHonda9 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi RacingHonda10 Tony Kanaan Chip Ganassi RacingHonda11 Spencer PigotJuncos RacingChevrolet12 Will PowerTeam PenskeChevrolet14 Carlos MuñozA. J. Foyt EnterprisesChevrolet15 Graham RahalRahal Letterman Lanigan RacingHonda16 Oriol ServiàRahal Letterman Lanigan RacingHonda17 Sebastián SaavedraJuncos RacingChevrolet18 Sébastien Bourdais(replaced by James Davison)Dale Coyne RacingHonda19 Ed Jones Dale Coyne RacingHonda20 Ed CarpenterEd Carpenter RacingChevrolet21 J. R. HildebrandEd Carpenter RacingChevrolet22 Juan Pablo Montoya Team PenskeChevrolet24 Sage KaramDreyer & Reinbold RacingChevrolet26 Takuma Sato Andretti AutosportHonda27 Marco AndrettiAndretti Autosport with YorrowHonda28 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti AutosportHonda29 Fernando Alonso McLaren-Honda-AndrettiHonda40 Zach Veach A. J. Foyt EnterprisesChevrolet44 Buddy Lazier Lazier Racing PartnersChevrolet50 Jack Harvey Michael Shank Racing with Andretti AutosportHonda63 Pippa MannDale Coyne RacingHonda77 Jay HowardSchmidt Peterson MotorsportsHonda83 Charlie KimballChip Ganassi RacingHonda88 Gabby ChavesHarding RacingChevrolet98 Alexander Rossi Andretti Herta Autosport with Curb AgajanianHondaOFFICIAL REPORT Former winner Indy 500 Rookie
Schedule + Race schedules — May 2017SunMonTueWedThuFriSat 1 2 3Testing4 5 6Mini-Marathon 7 8 9 10 11Road to IndyPractice 12Grand PrixQualifying 13IndyCarGrand Prix14 15Practice 16Practice 17Practice 18Practice 19Practice <br/ > Fast Friday 20Time Trials 21Time Trials 22PracticeIndy Lights Test 23 24 25Indy Lights Qualifying26Carb Day Freedom 10027Legends DayParade28Indianapolis50029MemorialDay30 31 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
Sources: 101st Running of the Indy 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil Event Schedule & Road to Indy.
Testing and rookie orientation Private testing – Friday, March 24
A private manufacturers test for Honda teams was scheduled for Friday March 24. The test was moved up one day due to inclement weather predicted for Saturday. Three Honda teams, Chip Ganassi Racing, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, tested along with one Chevy team (Team Penske). A total of eleven drivers took to the track on a warm, but windy day. No incidents were reported. Speeds were not reported. Attention during the test focused on Ganassi taking their first laps at the Speedway with Honda power since 2013, after a highly publicized switch from Chevrolet to Honda during the offseason.
+ Private testing — Participants Driver Team Engine1 Simon Pagenaud Team Penske Chevrolet2 Josef Newgarden Team Penske Chevrolet3 Hélio Castroneves Team Penske Chevrolet5 James Hinchcliffe Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda7 Mikhail Aleshin Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda8 Max Chilton Chip Ganassi Racing Honda9 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda10 Tony Kanaan Chip Ganassi Racing Honda12 Will Power Team Penske Chevrolet15 Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda83 Charlie Kimball Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
Private testing – Sunday, April 2
A private test conducted by Chevrolet teams was scheduled for Saturday April 1. Cold temperatures postponed the test until Sunday April 2. Three Chevrolet teams were scheduled to participate. No incidents were reported.
+ Private testing — Participants Driver Team Engine1 Simon Pagenaud Team Penske Chevrolet2 Josef Newgarden Team Penske Chevrolet3 Hélio Castroneves Team Penske Chevrolet4 Conor Daly A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet12 Will Power Team Penske Chevrolet14 Carlos Muñoz A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet20 Ed Carpenter Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet21 J. R. Hildebrand Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet
Private testing – Wednesday May 3 A private test was scheduled for May 3 involving Fernando Alonso. Marco Andretti started the day off, shaking the car down shortly after 9:00 a.m. Alonso took to the track and passed all three phases of his rookie test. Alonso completed 110 laps with a best lap of 222.548 mph. Due to rain approaching the area, the test schedule for the day was slightly compressed, in order to complete all three phases before the weather arrived. The test was broadcast as a live stream through IndyCar's social media channels, with combined live viewership of the test was estimated to be in excess of 2 million.