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The 108th Indianapolis 500 presented by GainBridge Driver Rankings

With the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500 in the distance, let's rank all 34 drivers in looking to qualify in this year's race on the bricks.

By Dylan Spaulding

106th Running Of The Indianapolis 500
106th Running Of The Indianapolis 500 / Justin Casterline/GettyImages
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The Greatest Spectacle in Racing is on the horizon and this year's race is sure to feature heavy storylines.

From 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Champion Kyle Larson running the double to Helio trying for five, there are some interesting notables leading up to one of the greatest racing days of the year.

Even Team Penske, last year's defending Indy 500 champions with Josef Newgarden, are looking to rewrite their narrative following a temetiouls end to their month of April.

At this point in the week, Indy 500 practice is scheduled to be underway but a day and half's worth of rain-shortened on track action has put a damper on the lead up to the 500, figuratevely and literally.

With that, there are 34 drivers in this year's 500 qualiyfying field, some who are looking for their first "kiss of the bricks", while others look to add their name back in immortality.

Unfortunately, one of the 34 will be bumped which creates for a hectic weekend of qualyfying.

Also with a much more condensed version of practice sessions leading up to the weekend, track-time is becoming a nessecity for drivers/teams who may need the laps more than others.

Nevertheless, here is the rankings of the 34 drivers that are going to try to fill 33 spots in this year's 500.

108th Indianapolis 500 Field Rankings

1. Scott Dixon (#9 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet/PNC Bank) #
2. Pato O’Ward (#5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet/Arrow McLaren)
3. Alex Palou (#10 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet/DHL)
4. Scott McLaughlin (#3 Team Penske Chevrolet/Pennzoil)
5. Josef Newgarden (#2 Team Penske Chevrolet/Shell Powering Progress) #
6. Marcus Ericsson (#28 Andretti Global Honda/Delaware Life) #
7. Kyle Kirkwood (#27 Andretti Global Honda/AutoNation)
8. Will Power (#12 Team Penske Chevrolet/Verizon) #
9. Takuma Sato (#75 Rahal Letterman Lannigan Honda/AMADA) #
10. Felix Rosenqvist (#60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda/AutoNation,SiriusXM)
11. Rinus Veekay (#21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet/Ed Carpenter Racing)
12. Kyle Larson (#17 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet/HendrickCars.com Arrow McLaren) %
13. Alexander Rossi (#7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet/Arrow McLaren) #
14. Helio Castroneves (#06 Meyer Shank Racing Honda/Cliffs) #
15.Colton Herta (#26 Andretti Global Honda/Gainbridge)
16. Ryan Hunter-Reay (#23 DRR-Cusick Chevrolet/DRR-Cusick) #
17. Graham Rahal (#15 Rahal Letterman Lannigan Honda/United Rentals)
18. Romain Grosjean (#77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet/Juncos Hollinger Racing)
19.Callum Illott (#6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet/Arrow McLaren)
20. Linus Lundqvist (#8 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet/American Legion) %
21.Conor Daly (#24 DRR-Cusick Chevrolet/DRR-Cusick)
22. Ed Carpenter (#20 Ed Carpenter Racing/Guy Care)
23. Santino Ferruci (#14 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet/Sexton Properties)
24.Marcus Armstrong (#11 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet/Ridgeline Lubricants) %
25. Sting Ray Robb (#41 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet/Pray.com)
26.Christian Lungaard (#45 Rahal Letterman Lannigan Honda/Hy-Vee)
27. Agustin Canapino (#78 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet/Juncos Hollinger Racing)
28. Tom Blomqvist (#66 Meyer Shank Racing Honda/AutoNation, Arctic Wolf) %
29.Marco Andretti (#98 Andretti Global Honda/MAPEI, Curb)
30. Pietro Fittipaldi (#30 Rahal Letterman Lannigan Honda/5-Hour Energy)
31.Christian Rasmussen (#33 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet/Ed Carpenter Racing) %
32. Kyffin Simpson (#4 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet/Journie Rewards) %
33. Katherine Legge (#51 Dale Coyne Racing w/Rick Ware Racing Honda/ e.l.f.)
34. Nolan Siegel (#18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda/Dale Coyne Racing) %
# denotes Indy 500 Winner | % denotes Indy 500 rookie

Review

Looking at the rankings, you will see a heavy edge for Chevrolet in the 500.

Given that three of the fastest teams are under the Chevrolet umbrella (Arrow McLaren, Chip Ganassi Racing, Team Penske), Chevy has a high likelihood to grab their second striaght Indy 500.

Rookies seem to head the bottom of the list based on the rankings given how difficult this track can be.

Rookies such as Rasmussen and Siegel may find a much more difficult aclimation period than some of the others, whether that be the grueling levels the track offers or just the performance of their machines.

Also, the Top 12 features some prominent names including Kyle Larson, who I have making it in just barely.

The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Champion is in for a busy two weeks across the US between Indy and North Carolina as Larson will look to secure both an Indy 500 & Coca-Cola 600 win next Sunday.

While their may be some discrepancies amongst drivers on the same teams, teams such as Ed Carpenter Racing, DRR-Cusick Motorsports and RLL Racing have some intrigue across their camps given occasional inconsitiences between drivers or just lack of track time.

In totallity, this is a very loaded field for the 2024 race and their are many fun "what-ifs" that make a race fan excited for Memorial Day Weekend's premier race.