Qualifying Procedures

Oval Qualifying (except Indianapolis 500)

Order – Qualifying order is determined by reverse order of entrant points entering the event. Teams without entrant points will be placed at the front of the order and ordered by blind draw. Each entry is presented with one guaranteed attempt to qualify.

Warmup laps – Each car is permitted two warmup laps before the timed qualification laps.

Green-flag laps – A qualification attempt consists of two consecutively timed laps. The aggregate time is recorded as the official qualifying time for the car, with the fastest aggregate time earning the pole position. For the Iowa Speedway and Milwaukee Mile doubleheaders, Lap 1 will determine the car’s starting position for Race 1 while Lap 2 will determine the car’s starting position for Race 2.

Missed attempts – Each car is permitted to leave the staging pit one time only.

Indianapolis 500 Qualifying

Order – A blind draw is conducted before Day 1 qualifications.

Warmup laps – Each car is permitted two warmup laps before the timed qualification laps. The race director may permit three warmup laps if deemed necessary.

Green-flag laps – A qualification attempt consists of four timed laps. The aggregate time is recorded as the official qualifying time for the car.

Indianapolis 500 qualifying consists of two or three sessions of time trials:

Full Field Qualifying – Positions 1-30 qualify with positions 13-30 (or 13-33 in only 33 entries) set. Will not requalify Sunday. NTT INDYCAR SERIES drivers and teams will attempt to qualify during Day One. Top 12 qualifying (final order of positions 7-12), Firestone Fast Six (final order of positions 1-6) and, if necessary, Last Chance Qualifying (positions 31-33) will be determined during Day Two.

Once every car in the qualifying order for Saturday has been presented at least one chance to qualify, teams may choose from two lanes for second and subsequent attempts. Cars in the priority lane (Lane 1) must withdraw their qualified time – if the car has one – but get priority access to the track ahead of Lane 2. Lane 2 is for cars that have qualified but wish to improve their position.

For an entry list of more than 33, once cars are outside of the top 30, they are considered to not have a qualification speed as only positions 1-30 will be locked in during Day One.

Last Chance Qualifying (Positions 31-33 determined)
Each car is guaranteed one attempt and may make multiple attempts until time expires. Until 10 minutes remain in the session, cars will be allowed an additional cool-down lap following each qualifying run to expedite engine cooling and the opportunity to get in line for additional attempts, if desired. Each car’s most recent qualification speed will remain eligible for the starting lineup until the time is withdrawn or qualifications end.

Top 12 Shootout (Positions 7-12 determined)
Order based on Saturday times, slowest to fastest. Each car is guaranteed one attempt. The fastest six advance to the Firestone Fast Six to determine positions 1-6.

Firestone Fast Six (Positions 1-6 determined)
Order based on times from Top 12 qualifying, slowest to fastest. Each car is guaranteed one attempt. The fastest driver in the Firestone Fast Six will earn the coveted NTT P1 Award for pole.

Road/Street Course Qualifying

Qualifying is broken into three segments, progressively narrowing the field to determine the pole winner. Segment 1 is broken into two groups determined by the top time posted by each car in the final practice session before qualifying.

Segment 1 – Each of the two groups receives 10 minutes of track time, inclusive of full-course caution conditions, with the fastest lap by each car determining its qualifying position. The fastest six cars from each group advance to Segment 2, while the remaining cars are assigned positions 13 and back to the rear of the grid. Group 1 drivers occupy the odd-numbered positions (13, 15, 17, etc.), while Group 2 drivers occupy the even-numbered positions (14, 16, 18, etc.) based on their fastest lap times during the segment.

Segment 2 – The 12 advancing cars receive 10 minutes of track time, inclusive of full-course caution conditions, with the fastest lap by each entry determining its qualifying position. The fastest six advance to the Firestone Fast Six shootout, while the remaining six cars are ranked in positions 7-12 based on their fastest laps during the segment.

Firestone Fast Six – The six advancing cars receive six minutes of guaranteed green-flag track time. At the end of the session, the cars are ranked 1-6 based on their fastest laps during the segment.

Failure to complete all qualifying segments – If conditions prevent completion of all segments of road/ street course qualifying, the starting grid will be set according to the last completed segment. The driver recording the fastest time in the last fully completed segment will be awarded the pole position with the remainder of drivers in that group filling the odd-numbered starting positions by lap time rank and the even numbered starting positions filled by lap time rank from the other group. If no segments are completed, the starting grid will be set by entrant points entering the event or, for the first race of the season, by entrant points at the conclusion of the previous season.

Qualifying Interference – If a car causes a red-flag condition in any segment or otherwise interferes with qualifications as determined by INDYCAR, the car’s best two timed laps of the segment will be disallowed and the car shall not be allowed to advance to the next segment. If a car causes two red-flag conditions in one or more segments or otherwise interferes with qualifications as determined by INDYCAR, all segment times shall be voided and the car shall not be permitted to participate in the remainder of qualifying. If a car causes a yellow-flag condition that interferes with the attempt of another car, the violating car’s best lap during that segment will be disallowed. If the violation occurs during the Firestone Fast Six, all the car’s laps in that segment shall be voided and the car not permitted to continue in the session.

Doubleheader Race Qualifying – For doubleheader races, qualifying sessions for each race will see the field divided into two groups based on practice times, with 12 minutes of track time allotted for each qualifying group (with five minutes of guaranteed green-flag time). Qualifying groups will be based on best lap times from the practice session immediately preceding Race 1 qualifications. If a car causes a red-flag situation during a qualifying session, its best two timed laps will be disallowed and it will not be permitted to continue in the session. One driver and entrant championship point will be awarded to the fastest car in each qualifying group on both days.