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[firehawkfan]

[firehawkfan]

no more indycar news. offseason has moved past the need for indycar news.

[firehawkfan]

HAPPY 23RD BIRTHDAY, DAVID MALUKAS! [9.27.2001]

[firehawkfan]

HAPPY ROSSI DAY

[firehawkfan]

Hey! new indycar fan here and i am STRUGGLING to wrap my head around the qualifying system. Its also different on different tracks?? Praying you can explain it better than the three minute youtube videos ive been able to find that gloss over things 😭

okay first hi! welcome!

i’m going to do my best to explain it but if there’s something you don’t understand or need me to clarify/expand on, that is absolutely allowed and encouraged! (some people worry about being a bother so i always add this disclaimer)

so there is essentially 3 types of qualifying — street/road course, ovals (there are two subtypes of this) and then indy 500 qualifying.

Street/Road Course:

The drivers are divided into two groups to start. This is based on final practice ranking. Odds are in one group, event are in the second group. They get a set number of minutes (12 I think?) to set lap times. The fastest 6 in each group advance to the fastest 12. The drivers that don’t advance are then placed odds or evens (group dependent) and set 13-27. If you cause a yellow, you lose your fastest two laps and if you cause a red, you start at the back of the group and cannot advance. (This applies for all rounds). The fastest 12 go out during a set time and set lap times. The fastest 6 advance and those who don’t set 7-12 on the grid. The fastest six again have a set time to go out and set their fastest lap times. This sets the top 6 positions.

It’s fairly similar to F1 qualifying, indycar essentially just does two Q1s before moving on to Q2 and then Q3, if that helps?

Ovals:

For non-Indy 500 oval races, there are two types and it is dependent on if the oval race is a double header or not.

Single Oval Races:

One car goes at a time. The order is the points standings reversed (so last place in points goes first, points leader goes last). They do two timed laps and the average speed of those two laps is what sets the order. So the faster the average is, the closer to pole you’ll start.

Double Header Races

When IndyCar is at an oval that has a doubleheader (next year will be just Iowa), everything above applies EXCEPT the first lap average speed determines the starting spot for race 1 while the second lap average speed determines the starting spot for race 2!

Indy 500 Qualifying

i do not want to overload you with information firstly but also they tend to tweak indy 500 qualifying every year (or every other year) so i don’t want to confuse you on a qualifying system that might be different next year 💀 but i will absolutely be around in May (I’m an Indy 500 historian so people get realllll sick of me in May) so I can absolutely put out an explainer for qualifying when they release that information.

Does all of this make sense? I think it’s more confusing in writing than it is in practice if that makes you feel any better! Again, if you (or anybody else reading this) would like expansions or clarification, lemme know! Or if you have questions about other things — no such thing as a dumb question to me!

[firehawkfan]

hearing people say dr3 to indy and i have to laugh. do you mean the guy who was scoffing at the series and saying he would never do an oval? the guy who said he’s got safety concerns about indy? we have more than enough drivers who actually want to race here we don’t need his slow ass lol

[firehawkfan]

X

[firehawkfan]

I love graham rahal

[firehawkfan]

raidhal

[firehawkfan]

Absolutely ludicrous bonkers graphic

[firehawkfan]

[firehawkfan]

[firehawkfan]

prema_team some of you might know him, some might not 😌

[firehawkfan]

via Andretti’s insta story | 09.15.2025

[firehawkfan]

via Andretti’s insta story | 09.15.2025

[firehawkfan]

Leigh Diffey narrates NBC’s farewell to INDYCAR coverage at the end of the last race of the 2024 series.