Getty Qualifying for the 2021 Indy 500 takes place on Saturday and Sunday.
There will be 35 cars competing for 33 spots in the Indianapolis 500, with the qualifying taking place on Saturday and Sunday, May 22-23.
Day 1 (Saturday) of qualifying will be televised on NBC (2 – 3 p.m. ET) and NBC Sports Network (3 – 6 p.m. ET). Then on Day 2 (Sunday), Last Chance Qualifying (1 – 2:30 p.m. ET) will be on NBC Sports Network, and Fast Nine Qualifying (2:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. ET) will be on NBC.
If you don’t have cable, you can also watch qualifying on Peacock TV if you have that, or here are some other ways you can watch a live stream of qualifying AND the race itself (May 30, NBC) next weekend:
Note: Heavy may earn an affiliate commission if you sign up via a link on this page
FuboTV
You can watch a live stream of NBC (live in most markets), NBC Sports Network and 100-plus other TV channels on FuboTV, which comes with a free seven-day trial:
Once signed up for FuboTV, you can watch Indy 500 qualifying live on the FuboTV app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV, Android TV, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the FuboTV website.
If you can’t watch live, FuboTV also comes with 250 hours of cloud DVR space.
AT&T TV
AT&T TV has four different channel packages: “Entertainment”, “Choice”, “Ultimate” and “Premier.” NBC (live in most markets) and NBC Sports Network are included in every package, but you can pick any package and any add-on you want with your free 14-day trial.
Note that the free trial isn’t advertised as such, but your “due today” amount will be $0 when signing up. If you watch on your computer, phone or tablet, you won’t be charged for 14 days. If you watch on a streaming device on your TV (Roku, Fire Stick, Apple TV, etc.), you will be charged for the first month, but you can get still get a full refund if you cancel before 14 days:
Once signed up for AT&T TV, you can watch Indy 500 qualifying live on the AT&T TV app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Samsung Smart TV, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the AT&T TV website.
If you can’t watch live, AT&T TV also comes with 20 hours of Cloud DVR storage (with the ability to upgrade to unlimited hours).
Sling TV
You can watch a live stream of NBC (live in select markets), NBC Sports Network and 40-plus other TV channels via Sling TV’s “Sling Blue” channel bundle. This option doesn’t include a free trial, but you can get your first month for just $10:
Once signed up for Sling TV, you can watch Indy 500 qualifying live on the Sling TV app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV, LG Smart TV, Android TV, airTV Mini, Oculus, Portal, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the Sling TV website.
If you can’t watch live, Sling TV comes included with 50 hours of cloud DVR.
Hulu With Live TV
You can watch a live stream of NBC (live in most markets), NBC Sports Network and 65+ other TV channels via Hulu With Live TV, which you can try out for free with a seven-day trial:
Once signed up for Hulu With Live TV, you can watch Indy 500 qualifying live on the Hulu app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Samsung Smart TV, LG Smart TV, Android TV, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the Hulu website.
If you can’t watch live, Hulu with Live TV also comes with 50 hours of Cloud DVR storage (with the ability to upgrade to “Enhanced Cloud DVR,” which gives you 200 hours of DVR space and the ability to fast forward through commercials).
Indy 500 Qualifying 2021 Preview
After a full week of practice, cars qualified for this race square off Saturday, with the ultimate goal of finishing in the top 33. “We’re just really focused on traffic running right now,” driver Pato O’Ward said. “Trying to find the best that we can for the race. We all know that we need a good qualifying car, but we need an ever better race car to be able to win this race.”
“The car was really good to start with,” Felix Rosenqvist, O’Ward’s teammate at AMSP, added. “That’s the main thing here: When you come here, you just want to roll out with a good balance, and I think all three of us (on the team) had a good starting package. That’s what we’ve been working on. I was pretty happy yesterday. We made a few changes, and I think we found the right direction to where I wanted to go.”
Drivers in the race have gotten four days of practice in (Tuesday through Friday) before Saturday’s qualifier, which will be four laps around the 2.5-mile oval track. Drivers finishing 31st or worse will vie for the final three race positions, with the cars finishing in 34th and 35th place missing out on the Indianapolis 500 next weekend.
Here’s a look at the competing drivers slated to appear in the qualifying round:
- JR Hildebrand, AJ Foyt Enterprises, Chevrolet
- Josef Newgarden, Team Penske, Chevrolet
- Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske, Chevrolet
- Dalton Kellett, A.J. Foyt Enterprises, Chevrolet
- Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP, Chevrolet
- Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing, Honda
- Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren SP, Chevrolet
- Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda
- Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda
- Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda
- Charlie Kimball, A.J. Foyt Enterprises, Chevrolet
- Will Power, Team Penske, Chevrolet
- Sebastien Bourdais, A.J. Foyt Enterprises, Chevrolet
- Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Honda
- Simona De Silvestro, Paretta Autosport, Chevrolet
- Ed Jones, Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser Sullivan, Honda
- Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet
- Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet
- Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske, Chevrolet
- Sage Karam, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, Chevrolet
- Stefan Wilson, Andretti Autosport, Honda
- Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport w/ Curb-Agajanian, Honda
- Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport, Honda
- Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport, Honda
- James Hinchcliffe, Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport, Honda
- Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Honda
- Santino Ferrucci, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Honda
- Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet
- Tony Kanaan, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda
- Pietro Fittipaldi, Dale Coyne Racing/RWR, Honda
- Max Chilton, Carlin, Chevrolet
- Jack Harvey, Meyer Shank Racing, Honda
- RC Enerson, Top Gun Racing, Chevrolet
- Juan Pablo Montoya, Arrow McLaren SP, Chevrolet
- Marco Andretti, Andretti Herta-Haupert with Marco & Curb-Agajanian, Honda