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Indy 500 start time, TV blackout lifted, pre-race activities

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6 months ago

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Indy 500 start time, TV blackout lifted, pre-race activities

The 2024 Indianapolis 500 is set to get underway Sunday afternoon, after a rain delay of several hours.

The race was originally scheduled for 12:45 p.m. ET, but Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials announced a delay in anticipation of inclement weather, which arrived at about 12:45 and lasted about an hour.

IMS is sending trucks and track dryers onto the 2.5-mile oval, and IMS president Doug Boles said he hopes drying would take about 2 hours. That would mean the race should start at about 4:45.

When will the 2024 Indy 500 start?

Track drying efforts began at 2:42 p.m., and IMS expects the drying efforts to take roughly two hours. The series says it’s targeting a 4:44 p.n. green flag, with the following schedule for its pre-race ceremonies:

  • 3:30 p.m.: Cars begin pushing out to the grid in reverse order
  • 3:38 p.m.: Drivers begin reporting to unilateral room for driver intros
  • 3:48 p.m.: Driver intros from Victory Podium
  • 4:10 p.m.: ‘America the Beautiful’
  • 4:19 p.m.: ‘Taps’
  • 4:20 p.m.: ‘God Bless America’
  • 4:23 p.m.: ‘National Anthem’
  • 4:35 p.m.: ‘Back Home Again’
  • 4:37 p.m.: Command to start engines
  • 4:44 p.m.: Estimated green flag time

During his most recent update, at 2:30 p.m., Boles said that the next band of storms could hit the central Indiana area sometime around 8 p.m., which could complicated IMS and IndyCar getting all 200 laps in. A full race distance typically takes roughly three hours, but Boles indicated that IMS would want to give fans a heads-up to be able to avoid lightning in this next batch of storms if the wave appears to be more than just rain showers.

As long as the race reaches the 101-lap mark, whatever action IndyCar completes Sunday afternoon and evening will constitute a complete race. Sunset for Indianapolis Sunday is scheduled to hit at 9:03 p.m. IMS has no lights.

Indy 500 pre-race activities

Boles said race officials do everything they can to have military recognition, traditional songs and the command to start engines.

Indy 500 TV blackout lifted

Boles said the local TV blackout is lifted with the delayed start, for area NBC affiliates and on Peacock.

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