California Motor Speedway Article

The Indianapolis 500 - Understanding the Qualifications

The Indianapolis 500 is a popular race that occurs every year. Many people around the world come to see the racers that compete in the Indianapolis 500. There are many facts about the Indianapolis 500 competition that you may want to know. One of the most common things that people have questions about at the Indianapolis 500 is "what are the qualifications". In this article, you will find the qualifications of the Indianapolis 500 explained.

Drivers from all over the country come to the Indianapolis 500 hoping to win the race. Before the start of the race, the drivers have to join in a number of activities. The first activity is to qualify - qualifications. Each driver participates in multiple activities that are timed. The time that the driver receives in these activities are extremely important. Each driver's time is carefully monitored and, based on the time that they achieved during a certain trial, each driver is placed at a specific location for the start of the race. So, the driver that made the best time on the qualifying activity will start close to the front. This definitely increases that driver’s potential to win the Indianapolis 500.

There is a random drawing held to determine which driver will start the qualifications and the order that the drivers will be allowed to qualify in following that first driver. This drawing sequence continues until there are no more drivers left to qualify. It can be a long procedure. One reason that this takes so long is that many drivers try to qualify more than one vehicle.Usually, a race driver tries to qualify up to two different vehicles. However, occasionally a driver has tried to qualify more than two vehicles.

The drivers of the vehicles can participate in the qualifying event up to three times with each of the vehicles they are trying to qualify. When a driver has reached the maximum number of attempts to qualify his vehicle, the total time and speed that the driver qualified at is recorded. That record becomes official and the driver has to take his place at the starting line of the race according to that value.

The qualifications take place over many days. The start of qualifying is exactly two weeks from the start date of the Indianapolis 500. People can watch these qualifying races if they so choose. The results are usually made public so that everyone knowx who qualified and the position they will take at the starting line. This has alwasy been a very important procedure for both the drivers and the fans at the Indianapolis 500.

You must understand the qualifications, because, for the Indianapolis 500 fan, this is one of the most important parts of the entire race!