Indy 500 Schedule 2018: TV Start Time, Live Stream Coverage and Race Info

The 2018 Indianapolis 500 features a loaded field with 33 drivers competing to win the most prestigious IndyCar Series race of the year. 

Ed Carpenter is starting Sunday's race from the pole position. The 37-year-old has failed to win the Indianapolis 500 the previous two times he led the field (2013, 2014). 

2018 Indianapolis 500 Viewing Schedule

Start Time: 12 p.m. ET 

TV: ABC 

Live Stream: ESPN App or Watch ESPN

Starting Grid

Row 1: Ed Carpenter, Simon Pagenaud, Will Power

Row 2: Josef Newgarden, Sebastien Bourdais, Spencer Pigot

Row 3: Danica Patrick, Helio Castroneves, Scott Dixon

Row 4: Tony Kanaan, Matheus Leist, Marco Andretti 

Row 5: Zachary Claman DeMelo, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Charlie Kimball

Row 6: Takuma Sato, Kyle Kaiser, Robert Wickens

Row 7: James Davison, Max Chilton, Carlos Munoz

Row 8: Gabby Chaves, Stefan Wilson, Sage Karam

Row 9: Zach Veach, Oriol Servia, JR Hildebrand

Row 10: Jay Howard, Ed Jones, Graham Rahal 

Row 11: Jack Harvey, Alexander Rossi, Conor Daly 

Despite his ability to win poles for the Indianapolis 500, Carpenter hasn't had much success in the actual race. His best finish was fifth in 2008, and he finished 10th (2013) and 27th (2014) the previous two times he started in the first position. 

After Carpenter won the pole this year, he sounded confident about putting together a successful run on the track. 

"I figured we could go 229 [mph] based on last night," Carpenter told reporters on May 20. "I wasn't expecting a 230 [on his first lap]. Of all my pole runs, this came the easiest."

The last pole-sitter to win the Indianapolis 500 was Helio Castroneves in 2009. That came during a stretch when the driver who started from the pole won the race four times in six years from 2004 to 2009. 

Sunday's event is also notable because it will be the final race of Danica Patrick's career. She announced last November her plan to walk away from the sport after one more run in Indianapolis.

"Nothing that was being presented excited me, then about three weeks ago, I just blurted out, 'What about Indy? Let's end it with the Indy 500,'" she told the Associated Press (h/t Sports Illustrated). "This ignites something in me. But I am done after May. Everyone needs to put their mind there. My plan is to be at Indy, and then I'm done."

This is Patrick's first appearance in the Indianapolis 500 since 2011. The 36-year-old has finished in the top 10 at this race seven different times, including a career-best third-place showing in 2009. 

Patrick is starting from the seventh position. She became the first woman to lead a lap at the Indianapolis 500 and has led a total of 29 laps in this race during her career.

For all the hype around Carpenter and Patrick leading up to the race, it's a driver starting in the final row who is the favorite to win. 

Per OddsShark, Alexander Rossi is the top choice to take the checkered flag at 8-1 odds. He had a disastrous qualifying run that will force him to start 32nd in the 33-driver field, via IndyCar.com's Jeff Olson: 

"It was probably the most terrifying four laps I've ever done. It was everything. I just got out of the car, so it's impossible to diagnose exactly what happened. From about halfway through Lap 1, it was about just bringing the car back. Thank God we weren't under threat to not be in the race, so it didn't really matter."

Rossi has had a terrific IndyCar season with four top-five finishes in five races. He is currently second in the overall points standings, trailing Josef Newgarden by two points (178 to 176), and previously won the Indy 500 in 2016.

History isn't on Rossi's side to get a second win. No one has ever started worse than 28th and won the Indianapolis 500. The best finish by any driver from the 32nd position is second, most recently accomplished in 1981 by Mario Andretti. 

Newgarden is in a prime position to keep his hot streak going. The reigning IndyCar Series champion has won two of the first five events this season and is starting the Indy 500 from the second row. 

This race hasn't been kind to Newgarden historically. He has finished outside the top 20 three times in six trips to the Indianapolis 500 and came in 19th last year. 

If there is going to be a year for Newgarden to change that narrative, it would seem to be 2018. 

There is no shortage of contenders in this year's field, and the storyline of Patrick's final race makes this one of the biggest Indianapolis 500 races in the 102-year history of this event.