Indy 500 2019: Complete Starting Grid, Lineup, Race Schedule and Predictions

A starting grid of 33 drivers will compete for the 2019 Indy 500 on Sunday, with Simon Pagenaud on pole position for the sixth leg of this year's IndyCar Series.

It's been 10 years since a driver won this race from first on the grid, but Pagenaud is looking to end the drought after recording his first victory of 2019 at the IndyCar Grand Prix in his last outing.

Josef Newgarden leads the driver standings ahead of the race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, but he faces a difficult task if he's to win from eighth place. That said, he is still among the leading favourites, per Oddschecker.com.

He sits one grid place ahead of Alexander Rossi—third in the IndyCar Series standings—who is also in that top bracket of odds leaders around 8-1, Pagenaud included.

It's less common for a champion to emerge from outside the top 10, though five of the seven winners since 2012 have started 11th or further back.

Race Schedule

Date: Sunday, May 26

Time: 12:45 p.m. ET/5:45 p.m. BST

Indy 500 Starting Grid, Lineup (all times in mph)

Row 1

1. No. 22 Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet, 229.992

2. No. 20 Ed Carpenter, Chevrolet, 229.889

3. No. 21 Spencer Pigot, Chevrolet, 229.826

Row 2

4. No. 63 Ed Jones, Chevrolet, 229.646

5. No. 88 Colton Herta, Honda, 229.086

6. No. 12 Will Power, Chevrolet, 228.645

Row 3

7. No. 18 Sebastien Bourdais, Honda, 228.621

8. No. 2 Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 228.396

9. No. 27 Alexander Rossi, Honda, 228.247

Row 4

10. No. 98 Marco Andretti, Honda, 228.756

11. No. 25 Conor Daly, Honda, 228.617

12. No. 3 Helio Castroneves, Chevrolet, 228.523

Row 5

13. No. 7 Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 228.511

14. No. 30 Takuma Sato, Honda, 228.300

15. No. 33 James Davison, Honda, 228.273

Row 6

16. No. 14 Tony Kanaan, Chevrolet, 228.120

17. No. 15 Graham Rahal, Honda, 228.104

18. No. 9 Scott Dixon, Honda, 228.100

Row 7

19. No. 77 Oriol Servia, Honda, 227.991

20. No. 23 Charlie Kimball, Chevrolet, 227.915

21. No. 48 JR Hildebrand, Chevrolet, 227.908

Row 8

22. No. 28 Ryan Hunter-Reay, Honda, 227.877

23. No. 19 Santino Ferrucci, Honda, 227.731

24. No. 4 Matheus Leist, Chevrolet, 227.717

Row 9

25. No. 60 Jack Harvey, Honda, 227.695

26. No. 42 Jordan King, Honda, 227.502

27. No. 81 Ben Hanley, Chevrolet, 227.482

Row 10

28. No. 26 Zach Veach, Honda, 227.341

29. No. 10 Felix Rosenqvist, Honda, 227.297

30. No. 39 Pippa Mann, Chevrolet, 227.244

Row 11

31. No. 24 Sage Karam, Chevrolet, 227.740

32. No. 5 James Hinchcliffe, Honda, 227.543

33. No. 32 Kyle Kaiser, Chevrolet, 227.372

Preview

It's an intimidating task to lead the Indy 500 from the first flag, but Pagenaud will attempt to do what no driver has managed in a decade by turning that position into victory.

The Team Penske driver has finished top 10 three times at the Indy 500. NBC commentators sung Pagenaud's praises after he clocked the fastest time in qualifying by 0.003 miles per hour:

No European has won the race since Britons Dario Franchitti and Dan Wheldon won three between 2010 and 2012. Since then, the United States has produced two winners, while Brazil, Japan, Colombia and Australia have each produced one apiece.

Scott Dixon knows what it feels like to win the Indy 500 following his triumph in 2008, when he started on pole. 

The New Zealander and other former winners of the Indy 500 race spoke to Mobil 1 The Grid to preview the 103rd edition of the race:

Dixon has a much greater challenge on his hands this time around as he lines up 18th, a position from which no driver has ever won.

That said, Ryan Hunter-Reay—22nd on Sunday's grid—won from 19th five years ago, and Wheldon recorded back-to-back runner-up finishes from 18th in 2009-10.

Will Power won last year's Indy 500, but no driver has managed to win the Indy in successive years since Brazilian legend Helio Castroneves did so in 2001 and 2002.

The Australian sits sixth in the IndyCar Series standings and is yet to win a race this year, his best finish being third place in the first event of the season. 

The Indy 500 has a habit of disregarding form, however, and Power told NBC's Kim Coon of his affection for this annual fixture:

Dixon traditionally hasn't performed well at the Indy 500 when starting outside the top 10, and only three of his 11 top-10 finishes have come from those circumstances. What's more, 18th is the lowest he's ever started at Indianapolis.

Nevertheless, the IndyCar Series' second-place driver has shown tremendously consistent form with four top-three finishes in five races this season, and Dixon packs the potential to spring a shock.

Prediction: Scott Dixon to win the 2019 Indy 500.