2024 Indianapolis 500: Start time, weather, how to watch and stream

Update: Officials announced the Indy 500 will be delayed due to weather.

All eyes will be on the track Sunday for the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500, but at least one driver might be distracted by the clouds.

NASCAR star Kyle Larson is the first driver in more than 20 years to attempt “The Double” by racing in both the Indy 500 this afternoon and the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte, N.C. at 6 p.m. this evening. The last racer to pull off the 1,100-mile feat was Tony Stewart in 2001.

Larson’s plans could be squashed by a weather forecast that includes thunderstorms, which threaten to delay or interrupt Sunday’s race. Larson has said he would leave Indianapolis early to make sure he could compete in the Coca-Cola 600, with Tony Kanaan as a substitute who could finish the race for McLaren Racing.

Scott McLaughlin, who enters the race in a sixth-place tie in the IndyCar Series standings, will lead the field Sunday after winning the Indy 500 pole position. But two-time reigning IndyCar Series champ Alex Palou is looking to sweep the month of May after winning the Grand Prix of Indianapolis earlier this month. There’s also two-time Indy 500 champ Takuma Sato, who is looking to win his third Borg-Warner trophy.

This year’s Indy 500 comes in the wake of a cheating scandal involving Team Penske, which misused its push-to-pass system, which provided extra horsepower to drivers in brief spurts (Penske claimed it was a mistake and had no “malicious intent” to cheat). Reigning Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden was retroactively stripped of his IndyCar Series-opening win in the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in March, and Team Penske suspended four people, including team president Tim Cindric.

Roger Penske, the owner of Team Penske, the IndyCar Series, and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, told the Associated Press last month he was “embarrassed.”

NBC will air the Indy 500 for the sixth straight year, called again by Leigh Diffey, the affable Australian native who has been the voice of NBC’s IndyCar coverage since 2013 (and who got his start at the network calling the Penn Relays on NBCSN). It could end up being NBC’s final Indy 500, with media rights up at the end of this year and Fox Sports bidding on the IndyCar Series, according to the Indianapolis Star.

Fox landed a package of 14 NASCAR races as part of a new deal that begins in 2025 and runs through the 2031 season. NBC will also air 14 NASCAR races beginning next year, with races also airing on TNT and streaming on Amazon’s Prime Video.

Here’s everything you need to know to watch or stream this year’s Indianapolis 500:

Coverage of the Indy 500 will begin on NBC at 11 a.m. Hosting the network’s coverage for the sixth straight year will be Mike Tirico, joined by racing analyst and former Indycar driver Danica Patrick.

NASCAR star Jimmie Johnson will also be part of NBC’s race coverage. After the race, he’ll try to one-up Larson by attempting the first-ever “broadcast-driver double” by also flying to Charlotte, N.C. to drive in NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600.

Ahead of the green flag, Jordin Sparks will sing “The Star Spangled Banner,” while American Idol winner Phillip Phillips will perform “God Bless America.” Baseball Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. will serve as honorary Pace Car driver, while The Bikeriders stars Austin Butler and Jodie Comer will be the race’s honorary starters.

Showers and thunderstorms moving through Indianapolis may interfere with Sunday’s race, according to the National Weather Service.

Two rounds of severe storms are expected, according to meteorologist Andrew White. The first is forecast to hit in the late morning, while the second is expected to blow through later in the afternoon, possibly offering a “solid dry window” to squeeze in the race. The second portion is also forecast to be more severe, with potentially damaging winds, large hail, and the potential for a tornado.

“We’re looking at some dry time,” White said Saturday afternoon. “We’re going to have at least a three-hour window, we think, where there’s not going to be any thunderstorms during the mid to late afternoon.”

The race typically takes about three hours. Drivers must complete 101 of the race’s 200 laps before it’s considered official. There have been six other rain-shortened races in Indianapolis 500 history, most recently in 2007 after 166 laps.

If the race can’t be completed on Sunday, it will be postponed to Monday, with a start time dependent on weather conditions. An NBC spokesperson said any programming changes forced by the weather would be announced accordingly.

Here are the 33 drivers competing in this year’s Indy 500, along with their four-lap averages. While nearly half (47) of the previous 107 Indy 500s have been won by drivers in the front row, it’s only happened three times in the past 12 races.

The winner of the Indianapolis 500 is awarded the Borg-Warner Trophy, among the most unique in all of sports. The trophy, first unveiled in 1936, bears a sculpted likeness of every driver that has won the race since Ray Harrou won the first Indy 500 in 1911.

The original trophy ran out of room in 1986 after Bobby Rahal’s victory, leading to the addition of a new base that won’t run out of space until 2034.

The Indy 500 is the sixth race in the 2024 IndyCar Series, the top-level open-wheel car racing formula in the U.S.

Points are awarded based on a racer’s results. A first place finish is worth 50 points, second is 40 points, and third is 35 points. The lowest score a racer can receiver is 5 points for finishing 25th place or worse. A full breakdown of IndyCar’s point system can be found on their website.

Here’s the upcoming IndyCar Series schedule: