Indy 500 drivers: Meet the starting grid for 2024 race, from pole winner Scott McLaughlin to Kyle Larson

The green flag will soon wave at "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing," and the Indy 500 will crown a new champion.

The winner will have to navigate their way out of a stacked field that has combined for 12 victories at the Indianapolis 500. That includes two of the three front-row drivers, Will Power and Josef Newgarden, and one of the only four-time winners of the race, Helio Castroneves.

There are plenty of quality drivers in the field this year, and the unpredictability of the 33-car race will give many a chance to emerge victorious. Maybe even someone like Marcus Ericsson can move up from the back half of the pack to the front half if all goes well.

Who exactly is in the Indy 500 field for 2024? Here's a look at the starting grid and some fast facts about each driver.

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Indy 500 starting grid 2024

Scott McLaughlin won the pole for the Indy 500 with an average speed of 234.2 mph. Will Power, Josef Newgarden, Alexander Rossi, Kyle Larson and Santino Ferruci will join him in the first two rows of drivers at the race.

Below is a look at the full starting grid for the Indy 500 in 2024.

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Indy 500 drivers 2024

Here's what to know about each of the drivers competing in the 2024 Indy 500.

Scott McLaughlin

• Position: 1
• Car No.: 3
• Car make: Chevrolet 
• Qualifying speed: 234.2 mph

McLaughlin won the pole for the 2024 Indy 500, his second of the season and sixth of his career. The 30-year-old New Zealander has five IndyCar wins on his resume since joining the tour in late 2020. He races for Team Penske and should be poised to improve upon his career-best finish of 14th place, which he recorded at the Indy 500 last year.

Will Power

• Position: 2
• Car No.: 12
• Car make: Chevrolet 
• Qualifying speed: 233.9 mph

Power is a decorated IndyCar driver who has a whopping 39 wins on his resume and 95 podium finishes. The Australian star broke onto the tour in 2008 and has seven seasons with at least three wins. He is among the former Indy 500 champions competing in the field, having won his first effort at The Brickyard in 2018. The 43-year-old should compete for the prestigious title again while running from the front of the pack.

Josef Newgarden

• Position: 3
• Car No.: 2
• Car make: Chevrolet 
• Qualifying speed: 233.8 mph

Newgarden edged Marcus Ericsson in last year's Indy 500 to deny the Swede the chance to become the first back-to-back winner at the race since Helio Castroneves in 2001 and 2002. Newgarden will now take aim at that mark himself and has a good chance to emerge victorious. The 33-year-old has 29 IndyCar wins under his belt, nine of which have come since the start of the 2022 IndyCar Series start date.

Alexander Rossi

• Position: 4
• Car No.: 7
• Car make: Chevrolet 
• Qualifying speed: 233.1 mph

Rossi has a quality history at Indianapolis. He won his first-ever race at the track in 2016 to capture the Indy 500 title and has since logged top-10 finishes in all but two of his eight races at the event. He has top-10 finishes in four of five races in 2024 to go along with his eight career wins, so he is in great form heading into "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing."

Kyle Larson

• Position: 5
• Car No.: 17
• Car make: Chevrolet 
• Qualifying speed: 232.8 mph

Larson is making his IndyCar Series debut as he tries to pull off "Double Duty" at the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600. The NASCAR star has 25 career wins on that circuit and was the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion. He qualified in fifth for the Indy 500, setting him up as a potential contender in the race. 

MORE: How Kyle Larson qualified for the Indy 500, explained

Santino Ferrucci

• Position: 6
• Car No.: 14
• Car make: Chevrolet 
• Qualifying speed: 232.7 mph

Ferruci has logged 64 races in the IndyCar Series during his career to date. The 25-year-old has just one career podium appearance, but it came at last year's Indy 500. Ferruci has five top-five finishes to his name and two of them came at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He is just hitting his prime and has a good course history, so that should make him a potential contender.

Rinus VeeKay

• Position: 7
• Car No.: 21
• Car make: Chevrolet 
• Qualifying speed: 232.6 mph

VeeKay is a 23-year-old racing wunderkind who, like Ferruci, is still in the infancy of his career. The Dutchman has enjoyed more success than his American counterpart, earning four podiums and a win at the 2021 GMR Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway's road course. VeeKay has two top-10 finishes at the Indy 500, so he seems poised to contend eventually. If he earns a win in 2024, he would be just the fifth driver to win the race at age 23 or younger.

Pato O'Ward

• Position: 8
• Car No.: 5
• Car make: Chevrolet 
• Qualifying speed: 232.6 mph

O'Ward has five career wins since 2021 and ran a top-five qualifying time at the Indy 500 last season. The 24-year-old from Mexico hasn't yet won the race, but he has finished sixth or better three times during his career. O'Ward is also McLaren's reserve driver on the Formula 1 circuit for 2024. And for those wondering, his surname comes from his Irish great-grandfather. 

Felix Rosenqvist

• Position: 9
• Car No.: 60
• Car make: Honda
• Qualifying speed: 232.3 mph

Only two Swedish drivers have won the Indy 500: Kenny Brack and Marcus Ericsson. Rosenqvist hopes to become the third. The 32-year-old earned his lone win in 2020 but has 10 top-five finishes over the last three seasons. That includes a fourth-place finish at the Indy 500 in 2022.

Takuma Sato

• Position: 10
• Car No.: 75
• Car make: Honda 
• Qualifying speed: 232.2 mph

Sato has made history during his time with the IndyCar Series. He became the first Japanese-born driver to win an IndyCar race in 2013 and was the first Asian driver to win the Indy 500 in 2017. He is also one of just 20 drivers to win the race multiple times, having earned his second victory in 2020. Sato has run just five races since the start of the 2023 IndyCar season, but the 47-year-old still looks like a solid bet considering his history at the track and experience overall.

Kyle Kirkwood

• Position: 11
• Car No.: 27
• Car make: Honda
• Qualifying speed: 230.9

Kirkwood is another up-and-coming driver who could eventually make noise at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The 25-year-old had two wins last season on the IndyCar circuit and recorded the fastest lap at each of the events he won. The Floridian's speed gives him plenty of upside so he's another sleeper at the Indy 500.

Ryan Hunter-Reay

• Position: 12
• Car No.: 23
• Car make: Chevrolet
• Qualifying speed: 230.6 mph

The 2024 Indy 500 will be the 201st race of Hunter-Reay's career. He won it once in 2014 and has six top-10 finishes to his name at the event. Hunter-Reay has 16 wins overall, but the 43-year-old remains most famous for breaking an eight-year drought of American winners at the Indy 500 with his lone victory.

Colton Herta

• Position: 13
• Car No.: 26
• Car make: Honda 
• Qualifying speed: 232.3 mph

Herta is the son of Bryan Herta, a two-time winner on the IndyCar Series over 121 races from 1994 to 2003. The younger Herta already has seven wins during his career after starting his IndyCar career in 2018, when he was only 18. Since then, Herta has routinely been in contention at races and has logged the fastest lap at a race four times. He has never finished better than eighth at the Indy 500, but he could best that mark in 2024 if he improves upon his 13th-ranked starting position.

Alex Palou

• Position: 14
• Car No.: 10
• Car make: Honda 
• Qualifying speed: 232.3 mph

Palou is a 10-time IndyCar winner who was the top qualifier for the 2023 Indy 500. He finished fourth at that race, his lone loss over a five-race period where he finished first and logged the fastest lap at four races. Palou will start from the middle of the pack in 2024 but the 27-year-old Spaniard already has two wins this season. He will certainly be a threat to take down the checkered flag at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

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Callum Ilott

• Position: 15
• Car No.: 6
• Car make: Chevrolet 
• Qualifying speed: 232.2 mph

Ilott is a 25-year-old Englishman who is looking to break through for the first time in his IndyCar career. He has never won a race or logged a podium in 37 races, and he has just four top 10s to his name. He has often been the middle-of-the-pack driver so he may not improve too much on his 15th-ranked starting position.

Marcus Armstrong

• Position: 16
• Car No.: 11
• Car make: Honda 
• Qualifying speed: 232.2 mph

Armstrong is set to compete in the Indy 500 or the first time in 2024. It will be just his 17th race with the IndyCar series, but the 23-year-old New Zealander has three top-10 finishes in five starts this season. He's still a developing driver, but don't be surprised to eventually see him in the same spot as his countryman Scott McLaughlin a few years from now.

Ed Carpenter

• Position: 17
• Car No.: 20
• Car make: Chevrolet 
• Qualifying speed: 232 mph

Carpenter has been an IndyCar drive for more than two decades. The 43-year-old founded Ed Carpenter Racing in 2012 and has earned three wins in 201 career races. Carpenter himself has never won the Indy 500 as a driver — he finished a career-best second in 2018 — but he qualified as the pole-sitter three times from 2013 to 2018. He has six top-10 finishes at the Indy 500 overall but he'll face a tough task trying to move up to the top-10 from 17.

Kyffin Simpson

• Position: 18
• Car No.: 4
• Car make: Honda 
• Qualifying speed: 231.9 mph

Simpson is the freshest face at the 2024 Indy 500, as the 19-year-old — who represents the Cayman Islands — is competing in just his fifth career IndyCar race. He has finished between 12th and 19th in the quartet of races and figures to have a similar finish at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. 

Marco Andretti

• Position: 19
• Car No.: 98
• Car make: Honda 
• Qualifying speed: 231.9 mph

Andretti is the grandson of Mario Andretti, a racing legend who earned 52 IndyCar wins, 12 Formula One wins and a NASCAR win during his historic career. The younger Andretti (37 years old) has two wins to his name but hasn't yet won the Indy 500. He finished second his first time running the race in 2006 but hasn't logged a top-10 mark since 2017. Andretti hasn't run a race besides the Indy 500 on the IndyCar circuit since 2020.

Helio Castroneves

• Position: 20
• Car No.: 6
• Car make: Honda 
• Qualifying speed: 231.9 mph

Castroneves is one of four drivers to win the Indy 500 four times during his career. He most recently did so in 2021 and will aim for a record-breaking fifth in 2024. The 49-year-old Brazilian star has 45 career IndyCar wins and ran on the pole at 48 career races. He hasn't finished better than seventh since his last Indy 500 win, but it's worth noting that seventh-place mark came at the 2022 Indy 500.

Scott Dixon

• Position: 21
• Car No.: 9
• Car make: Honda 
• Qualifying speed: 231.9 mph

Dixon is another IndyCar legend who has 56 wins and 136 podiums in 350 career races. He has been on the circuit for 22 years and continues to seek his first Indy 500 win since 2008. Dixon has been in pole position four times since that victory but has only finished better than 21st once. He was the fastest qualifier in 2021 and 2022 before dropping to sixth last year. This year, he ranked 21st in qualifying and will run closer to the back of the pack than the front.

Agustin Canapino

• Position: 22
• Car No.: 78
• Car make: Chevrolet 
• Qualifying speed: 231.8 mph

Canapino is in just his second year as an IndyCar racer and hasn't finished better than 10th in a race. The 34-year-old Argentinian was a decorated driver on the Turismo Carretera before coming to IndyCar. It would take a lot for him to emerge as a contender at this year's race.

Sting Ray Robb

• Position: 23
• Car No.: 41
• Car make: Chevrolet 
• Qualifying speed: 231.8 mph

Yes, Robb's actual name is Sting Ray. The 22-year-old was born in Boise, Idaho and his parents named him after the Chevrolet Corvette Stingray. Robb finished 31st at the Indy 500 in 2023, his rookie year, and hasn't finished better than 12th in a race yet.

MORE: Who is Sting Ray Robb? How Indy 500 driver got his unique real name

Christian Rasmussen

• Position: 24
• Car No.: 33
• Car make: Chevrolet 
• Qualifying speed: 231.7 mph

Rasmussen is debuting at the Indy 500. It will be the 23-year-old Dane's fifth race on Ed Carpenter's team and he will be tasked with beating his career-best finish of 19th at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

Tom Blomqvist

• Position: 25
• Car No.: 66
• Car make: Honda 
• Qualifying speed: 231.6 mph

Blomqvist is also making his Indy 500 debut. The 30-year-old appeared in his first IndyCar race last year at the Grand Prix of Toronto and has appeared in six additional races since. The British driver has a career-best finish of 15th place that he will look to beat at this week's race.

Romain Grosjean

• Position: 26
• Car No.: 77
• Car make: Chevrolet 
• Qualifying speed: 231.5 mph

Grosjean, 38, has run 58 IndyCar races in his career without a win. He has won three poles and logged three podiums during his career, however, so he has shown strong form on the circuit before. He may be among the most likely back-of-the-pack drivers to emerge as a potential top-10 finisher given his solid history and two runner-up finishes last season.

Linus Lundqvist

• Position: 27
• Car No.: 8
• Car make: Honda 
• Qualifying speed: 231.5 mph

Lundqvist earned a third-place finish at the Grand Prix of Alabama earlier this season, his best in seven IndyCar races. The 25-year-old Swede is another potential future contender, but winning from the back may not be in the cards for his first Indy 500 appearance.

Christian Lundgaard

• Position: 28
• Car No.: 45
• Car make: Honda 
• Qualifying speed: 231.5 mph

Lundgaard finished 18th and 19th respectively at his first two Indy 500s, and matching that feat would be a strong accomplishment from the 28th starting position. The good news? He has three, top-10 finishes this year including a podium at last week's race. He also logged the fastest lap during his win at the Grand Prix of Toronto last season, so the 22-year-old from Denmark seems poised to be a future contender at this race.

Conor Daly

• Position: 29
• Car No.: 24
• Car make: Chevrolet 
• Qualifying speed: 231.2 mph

Daly has run 108 career races with just one podium. The 32-year-old has bounced around to various racing teams as a reserve driver in recent years, and he has back-to-back top-10 finishes at the Indy 500. He will look to repeat while driving for his fifth different team since the end of the 2021 season.

Pietro Fittipaldi

• Position: 30
• Car No.: 30
• Car make: Honda 
• Qualifying speed: 231.1 mph

Fittipaldi is making his second appearance at the Indy 500 and first since 2021. The 27-year-old Brazilian is appearing in his 14th IndyCar race and has just one top-10 finish during his career.

Katherine Legge

• Position: 31
• Car No.: 51
• Car make: Honda 
• Qualifying speed: 230.1 mph

Legge is the record-holder for the fastest qualifying lap at the Indy 500 by a woman and has competed in the race three times. She finished 22nd in 2012 and was 33rd last year in her first appearance at the race in a decade. The 43-year-old Brit will look to improve upon her 33rd-place finish in 2024.

MORE: Who is Katherine Legge? What to know about female driver competing in Indy 500

Marcus Ericsson

• Position: 32
• Car No.: 28
• Car make: Honda 
• Qualifying speed: 230 mph

Ericsson finished second at last year's Indy 500 and won it the year prior. This year, he'll need to move up from the back of the pack. The 33-year-old Swede has shown middling form of late, but his four wins and 10 podiums make him an intriguing driver to watch Sunday at the very least.

Graham Rahal

• Position: 33
• Car No.: 15
• Car make: Honda 
• Qualifying speed: 230 mph

Rahal has won six of his 265 career IndyCar starts. He has four top-10s at the Indy 500 but the 35-year-old hasn't fared well since his career-best No. 3 finish in 2020. He has finished 32nd, 14th and 22nd in three appearances since then. He failed to qualify for the 2022 race, and he barely made it into the field this season.