2024 Indy 500: TV channels, streaming, starting grid, news, weather more

The “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” is scheduled to take place Sunday with the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500.

Storylines abound as former NASCAR champion — and current points leader — Kyle Larson will make his IndyCar debut, Roger Penske aims to add to his rather illustrious trophy case and Helio Castroneves looks for a record fifth Indy 500 victory.

Here’s what to know ahead of the weekend in Speedway, Indiana:

How to watch the 2024 Indy 500?

The Indianapolis 500 will be broadcast live Sunday, May 26 on NBC, Peacock, the NBC Sports app and NBCSports.com.

Pre-race show: 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. ET
Race coverage: 12:30 – 4 p.m. ET (Green flag at 12:45 p.m. ET)

News and storylines entering the Indy 500

The dominant narrative during “The Month of May” at the Speedway is Kyle Larson’s attempt at ‘The Double’ — running the combined 600 laps and 1,100 miles of the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 in the same day. Weather may wreak havoc on that endeavor (more on that later), but if he starts both races he’ll only be the fifth driver ever to do so.

Yahoo Sports’ Nick Bromberg wrote earlier in the week on the primary storylines for the Indy 500, including:

• Team Penske seeking 20th win: The owner of series and speedway has quite the trophy collection and, after sweeping all three spots on the front row this year, has an excellent chance to make it to 20 victories in the race.

• Honda’s challenge of Chevrolet: Chevys took the top eight spots in qualifying and had a clear advantage when the engines were turned all the way up; can a Honda in race trim unseat them.

• Former winners in the field: This year’s grid features eight past winners, including four-time victor Helio Castroneves. The Brazilian legend could break the record for most wins ever at the event, which would lift him above the likes of A.J. Foyt, Rick Mears and Al Unser.

Top drivers and odds for the 2024 Indy 500

Defending champion Josef Newgarden will start third on the grid and sports the best odds entering the weekend at 5-to-1 according to BetMGM.

Best odds to win
Josef Newgarden +500
Scott McLaughlin +550
Kyle Larson +675
Will Power +700
Alexander Rossi +800
Pato O’Ward +850

The top six betting favorites are either from the Penske or Arrow McLaren stables with Indy 500 rookie and current NASCAR Cup Series points leader Kyle Larson sporting a +675 moneyline ahead of his first IndyCar start.

What are the traditions of the Indy 500?

Being the longest continually running auto race in the United States (beginning in 1911), there are plenty of traditions that have built up over the years. Most notably they are:

• Singing of “Back Home Again in Indiana” just prior to the command to fire engines.

• Indianapolis Gordon Pipers bagpipe group plays the Borg-Warner Trophy into the speedway before the race and plays the winner to victory lane afterward.

• Three-car wide starting grid (opposed to the usual two-wide for all other races).

• Winner kisses the three feet of bricks marking the speedway’s finish line.

• Winner drinks (or douses themself with) a quart of milk of their choice: Whole, 2% or skim.

• Winner is presented with a wreath featuring 33 orchids, representing the 33 cars entered.

2024 Indy 500 starting grid

1. Scott McLaughlin (3), Team Penske Chevrolet, 234.220 mph

2. Will Power (12), Team Penske Chevrolet, 233.917 mph

3. Josef Newgarden (2), Team Penske Chevrolet, 233.808 mph

4. Alexander Rossi (7), Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, 233.090 mph

5. Kyle Larson (17), Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, 232.846 mph

6. Santino Ferrucci (14), A.J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet, 232.692 mph

7. Rinus Veekay (21), Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, 232.610 mph

8. Pato O’Ward (5), Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, 232.584 mph

9. Felix Rosenqvist (60), Meyer Shank Racing Chevrolet, 232.305 mph

10. Takuma Sato (75), Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda, 232.171 mph

11. Kyle Kirkwood (27), Andretti Global Honda, 23.993 mph

12. Ryan Hunter-Reay (23), Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports Chevrolet, 230.567 mph

13. Colton Herta (26), Andretti Global/Curb-Abajanian Honda, 232.316 mph

14. Alex Palou (10), Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, 232.306 mph

15. Callum Ilott (6), Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, 232.230 mph

16. Marcus Armstrong (11), Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, 232.017 mph

17. Ed Carpenter (20), Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, 232.017 mph

18. Kyffin Simpson (4), Chip Ganasi Racing Honda, 231.948 mph

19. Marco Andretti (98), Andretti Herta/Marco & Curb-Abajanian Honda, 231.890 mph

20. Helio Castroneves (06), Meyer Shank/urb-Abajanian Honda, 231.871 mph

21. Scott Dixon (9), Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, 231.851 mph

22. Agustin Canapino (75), Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet, 231.847 mph

23. Sting Ray Robb (41), A.J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet, 231.826 mph

24. Christian Rasmussen (33), Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, 231.682 mph

25. Tom Blomquist (66), Meyer Shank Racing Honda, 231.578 mph

26. Romain Grosjean (77), Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet, 231.514 mph

27. Linus Lundqvist (8), Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, 231.506 mph

28. Christian Lundgaard (45), Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda, 231.465 mph

29. Conor Daly (24), Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports Chevrolet, 231.243 mph

30. Pietro Fittipaldi (30), Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda, 231.100 mph

31. Katherine Legge (51), Dale Coyne Racing Honda, 230.092 mph

32. Marcus Ericsson (28), Andretti Global Honda, 230.027 mph

33. Graham Rahal (15), Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda, 229.974

Weather forecast for the 2024 Indy 500

It’s not pretty. Sunday calls for thunderstorms with a 62% chance of rain, which is a major threat to Kyle Larson’s attempt to run all 1,100 miles in one day. Any significant delay of the green flag for the Indy 500 would likely result in Larson flying out for his “day job” driving the No. 5 Hendrick Racing Chevrolet in the series he won outright in 2021.

“Yeah, it doesn’t look too promising for Indy on Sunday … if it’s going to rain, I hope it rains all day,” Larson told reporters earlier in the week. “That way it can just get pushed to Monday or something, and then Charlotte is not going to rain, I just hope it doesn’t rain, and we can get it in on Sunday night and then come here Monday.”