Photo: Romain Grosjean will the field to the green today. Walt Kuhn, Indycar

Today’s schedule:

All Times Eastern

Saturday

7:30am 5:00pm Gates Open

7:50am 8:40am Indy Pro 2000 Race 2

8:55am 9:25am Indy Lights Qualifying 2

9:40am 10:20am USF2000 Race 3

10:45am 11:15am NTT INDYCAR SERIES Warm-Up Peacock

11:40am 12:30pm Indy Pro 2000 Race 3

12:45pm 1:45pmINDY LIGHTS Race 2 Peacock

2:39pm ‘Drivers Start Your Engines’ NBC

2:45pm GMR Grand Prix – Green Flag NBC

Welcome to the first May race day at IMS in two years where fans will be in the stands. This will be an interesting race with many of the favorites starting in the middle or back of the back. After yesterday’s wild qualifying and the way the season has begun, maybe it’s time to consider other drivers besides the usual favorites. Alex Palou and Jack Harvey deserve special attention today. Palou has already won on a similar course, and Harvey always does well at the IMS road course. Pit strategy and track position will be key as always at this track.

In the 2020 version of this race which was held in July, cautions played a huge role in the outcome. Graham Rahal was on an alternate pit strategy that appeared to be working out. The yellow flag dashed his hopes of winning.

Team Penske dominates the GMR Grand Prix and it looks like all four drivers could be contending today.

I think we will have the fifth winner in five races this season. The series has already seen five different drivers on pole, although two were by point standings,

Notes

Andretti Autosport regular drivers had a best qualifying of eighth with Colton Herta yesterday. Alexander Rossi led the first practice session, but faded in qualifying and will start 14th. It is puzzling what’s going on with the team.

Josef Newgarden’s Snap-On car is this weekend’s best looking livery.

It was a decent sized crowd yesterday, and I will be interested to see how many attend today’s race.

Mask compliance was very high yesterday. The Speedway has hired Mask Ambassadors to give people gentle reminders to wear their face coverings. The ambassadors carry a fan like placard with the phrase “Face Coverings Required” I saw them remind some people of the requirement. certain other tracks I have been to this year could have use a system like this.

The race is on NBC with coverage beginning at 2:30 pm Eastern. Green flag is at 2:45.

I watched the replay of qualifying on NBCSN. The broadcast carried no graphics of any sort, and it was hard to follow the action during the rounds of qualifying. I heard graphics appeared on Peacock. Is NBCSN having a fire sale since they are 2winding down the network? This was a huge disservice to fans who don’t or can’t have Peacock for whatever reason. You still have a contract NBC. Honor it.

The Starting Lineup:

1. (51) Romain Grosjean, Honda, 1:09.4396 (126.447 mph)
2. (2) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 1:09.5665 (126.216)
3. (60) Jack Harvey, Honda, 1:09.6528 (126.060)
4. (10) Alex Palou, Honda, 1:09.7118 (125.953)
5. (3) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 1:09.7140 (125.949)
6. (20) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 1:09.8662 (125.675)
7. (21) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 1:09.8185 (125.760)
8. (26) Colton Herta, Honda, 1:09.8222 (125.754)
9. (18) Ed Jones, Honda, 1:09.8548 (125.695)
10. (22) Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet, 1:09.8722 (125.664)
11. (15) Graham Rahal, Honda, 1:09.9060 (125.603)
12. (12) Will Power, Chevrolet, No Time (No Speed)
13. (7) Felix Rosenqvist, Chevrolet, 1:09.8243 (125.750)
14. (27) Alexander Rossi, Honda, 1:09.9012 (125.612)
15. (8) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 1:09.8382 (125.725)
16. (9) Scott Dixon, Honda, 1:09.9512 (125.522)
17. (30) Takuma Sato, Honda, 1:09.8665 (125.674)
18. (5) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 1:10.0726 (125.304)
19. (28) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Honda, 1:09.8759 (125.657)
20. (14) Sebastien Bourdais, Chevrolet, 1:10.1830 (125.107)
21. (11) Charlie Kimball, Chevrolet, 1:10.6810 (124.226)
22. (29) James Hinchcliffe, Honda, 1:10.6174 (124.338)
23. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Honda, 1:11.0455 (123.588)
24. (4) Dalton Kellett, Chevrolet, 1:10.9312 (123.788)
25. (86) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 1:11.1370 (123.429)