2023 Indianapolis 500

The **110th Indianapolis 500 Mile Race**, known colloquially as the **2023 Indianapolis 500**, was a 500 mile (800 kilometer) motor racing event that took place on 21 May 2022 as the premier event of the 2023 AT&T Champ Car World Series season, held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. Pre-race activities began on Monday, May 1st with Indy 500 Media Day, while opening day of practice began on Wednesday, May 3rd. The first set of time trials took place on Sunday, May 7th to reduce the entry list from 44 to 33 cars, while the final set of time trials took place on Sunday, May 14th to determine the starting grid of those 33 cars.

For the first time since 1970, the Indianapolis 500 would take place on the third Sunday in May, From 1971 to 2022, the race took place on the second Sunday in May in an abbreviated preparation period. Horizon Corporation, the organizers of the AT&T Champ Car World Series, made a proposal before the 2022 event for the race and its pre-race lead up to return to its pre-1971 form, with Citadel Promotions, the owner of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, signing off on the proposal in September 2022.

There would be no defending winner of the race, with the 2022 race winner Hazel Lacasse moving to participate in Formula One with Alpine. Several former race winners made up the final 44 car entry list, including three time winner and defending World Champion Kunimitsu Kinoshita, three-time winner and four time Indycar World Champion Cristine Espinoza, 2012 race winner Nera Takurasi, and 2013 race winner Thomas Rogers. Additionally, several other Indycar World Champions were also entered for the race, including two-time World Champion Andrew Draco, and 2013 World Champion, Asumi Matsuo, who began her official retirement tour with the event. Nine rookies would also attempt to take part in the event for the first time, including three time NAMRA Cup Series champion, Wyatt Jones.

## Background

### Scheduling Change

The 110th running of the Indy 500 took place on the third Sunday in the month of May for the first time since 1970. From its inception in 1909 until 1970, the race took place on that weekend, but beginning in 1971, and carrying on until 2022 with two exceptions, the event took place on the second Sunday in May due to conflicts with other NAMRA-sanctioned events closer and on Memorial Day weekend in the United States. In the 1960s, and up until the early 2000s, drivers used to participate in "double-duty" where drivers would contest both the Indy 500, and the NAMRA Cup Series' longest race, the Globe 600 for a total of 600 miles of racing. The move in dates was meant to allow drivers to do so more easily, but ultimately detracted from the challenge of completing all 1,100 miles in one day until eventually drivers stopped attempting to race in the different disciplines altogether. The last driver to cross over from one discipline to race in the other was Sonya Bartlett, who contested the races in back to back weeks, to little fanfare.

The change back to the original "Month of May" format was proposed by the parent company of Champ Car, Horizon Corporation, without the input of NAMRA, the continental sanctioning body, as they were actively working to negotiate the end of the stock car union strike that began shortly after the start of the 2022 H1N1 global pandemic. In September 2022, Citadel Promotions, the track owner, approved of the proposal, and signed a new 15 year deal for the event. NAMRA officials vehemently disapproved of the deal, as the Globe 600 is also locked into place until the 2032 season at Charlotte Motor Speedway on the same weekend.

Part of the scheduling changes brings back two-stage qualifying for the race, split across two weekends. The first weekend of the month became Bump Qualifying weekend, with the entry list being reduced to the final 33 entries that will take part in the event. The second weekend of May will be Pole Qualifying weekend, and will be split into sections, culminating in Pole Qualifying on the second Sunday of the month. The scheduling of the event has also been planned out for any future support events, with support races permitted to take place on the first Saturday of the month, as well as the second Saturday afternoon of the month, and the second Sunday of the month between 1 and 4 p.m. local time. Finally, one final major support event can potentially take place on the day before the race, permitting the race ends by 3 p.m. local time to allow track crews to fully prepare the venue for the Indy 500.

### 2023 Champ Car season

Leading up to the race, defending Indycar World Champion, and three-time winner of the race Kunimitsu Kinoshita entered as the points leader, having won four of the first seven races of the season. Kinoshita took race wins at Twin Ring Motegi, Mexico City, Nashville, and Richmond, but did not enter the month of May as the betting odds favorite for the event. For the third year running, it was Panasonic Team Impulse who entered as betting favorites, with Thomas Rogers leading the way as being expected to take his second victory of the event. Rogers won the race precisely 10 years prior, also driving for Team Impulse.

### Death of Cristine Espinoza

On May 1st, at 7:08 a.m. local time, a helicopter carrying four-time World Champion Cristine Espinoza crashed outside of the village of Maxwell, Indiana, killing all 8 passengers, and both helicopter pilots on board. The helicopter took off from Marysville, Ohio, after Espinoza visited the development center for Honda Performance Development (HPD). Escuderia Aguila, Espinoza's team, ran Honda engines for the 2023 season. The helicopter suffered what appeared to be a physical failure of the rear fusilage, with videos showing the helicopter struggling, and ultimately failing to make an emergency landing without the tail rotor attached.

Espinoza was joined on the flight by her husband Martino, the pair's two children, three senior mechanics from the Escuderia Aguila team, and a member of the Argentinian press. The flight also included the helicopter pilot, as well as a co-pilot who was on-board as a relief pilot. The helicopter crash and loss of life subsequently forced the Aguila team to withdraw from the race, with Katrina Ochoa, one of the team's drivers, eventually being picked to take over Siri Lundqvist's car after Lundqvist became ill with the flu.

## Entry List

45 total team/driver combinations were registered for the 110th Indianapolis 500, the most in the history of the event. Four former winners of the event (marked with W) were entered for the event, as well as five former Indycar World Champions. 9 drivers were marked for Indy 500 Rookie of the Year honors, indicating it would be their first Indy 500 attempt. All 45 entries would be using the AAI IR-22, the second year of the chassis' lifespan. Teams had a choice of either Alpine, Chevrolet, Honda, or Toyota engines for the event. For Toyota, it marked their first official entry into the event, with Team Impulse being the only team representing the marque for the event.

## Bump Qualifying weekend

### Round 1

Round 1 of Indy 500 Bump Qualifying took place from 11:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. local time. All entered cars were guaranteed one qualifying attempt, with voluntary additional attempts permitted only after every car had made at least one attempt to set a qualifying time. Qualifying times posted are the traditional 4-lap averages used for Indianapolis 500 time trials. The fastest 27 cars at the end of the session are locked into the field, and will not take part in the final round of bump qualifying.

### Round 2 | Elimination round

The final round of Indy 500 Qualifying will take the cars from Round 1 that were 28th and lower, giving each just a single attempt to lock in their spot for the Indianapolis 500. Drivers that qualify in positions 28-33 are locked into those starting positions for the race. Cars that qualify 34th through 38th will be asked to remain on standby as alternates in case of crashes that leave other qualified entries unable to participate in the race. Entries that qualify lower than 38th will be officially marked as "Failed to Qualify". Round 2 of Bump Qualifying took place from 5:00 until 6:00 p.m. local time.

## Pole Qualifying weekend

### Round 1 | Positions 10-27

Round 1 of Pole Day qualifying took place from 11:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. local time. As with round 1 of bump qualifying, the 27 cars that advanced from round 1 of the previous weekend were guaranteed one attempt to set a 4-lap average to qualify. Additional qualifying attempts were permitted after the last driver took their obligatory qualifying attempt. Drivers that qualified 10th through 27th would be locked into those qualifying positions for the race. The top 9 qualifiers would advance to the pole shootout later in the afternoon.

### Round 2 | Pole Shootout

Round 2, the final round of time trials, determined the first nine starting positions for the race. Each driver was permitted to make two attempts to go for pole position, and the qualifying attempt order was determined in the order they ended in Round 1. The pole shootout took place between 5:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. local time.

## Starting Grid

### Post-Qualifying Adjustments

* Katrina Ochoa replaced Siri Lundqvist in the #69 Cherokee GP entry after Lundqvist became ill and not cleared to participate in the race. Ochoa was moved to the rear of the field, moving everyone from 22nd on the grid up by one spot.

## Box Score

### Race Statistics

* Cautions | None
* Lead changes | 11 between 5 drivers
* Weather | Clear, 90 degrees Fahrenheit, winds East 8-14 mph.