24 year-old rookie Alexander Rossi of Andretti Herta Autosport w/ Curb-Agajanian won the race on fuel mileage over Carlos Muñoz and Josef Newgarden.

He finished second in the first two events (St. Petersburg and Phoenix), and won the next three races (Long Beach, Alabama, and the Grand Prix of Indianapolis) to take a sizable lead in the championship points standings.

The most discussed issues in the weeks leading up the race involved the ongoing development of aero kit regulations, and the competitive balance between the two engine manufacturers (Chevrolet and Honda).

W  Winner R  Rookie For the first time in race history, the Indianapolis 500 had a presenting sponsor: the PennGrade brand of the Lebanon, Indiana-based D-A Lubricant company.

The test was primarily to evaluate dome skids, a titanium safety device affixed to the underside of the chassis intended to reduce the chance of cars becoming airborne in a crash.

Chevrolet participants included Sébastien Bourdais, Ed Carpenter, Hélio Castroneves, Scott Dixon and Juan Pablo Montoya.

The "fast track" line allowed drivers to move directly to the front of the queue, but at the expense of withdrawing their earlier speed.

Later in the session, a minor incident occurred where a trash bag blew onto the course in the middle of Juan Pablo Montoya's run.

Marco Andretti, who was one of the fastest cars during the week, was hampered in his run due a broken fifth gear, relegating him to a 14th place start.

However, his time was beat at the last moment by the final qualifier of the day, James Hinchcliffe, who went just fast enough to best Newgarden with a speed of 230.760 mph (371.372 km/h).

Chevrolet cars took the first four spots in the speed charts for the day, with Josef Newgarden running the fastest lap at 227.414 mph (365.987 km/h).

During the first parade lap, smoke began to come from underneath the car of Buddy Lazier, stemming from what was later reported to be a stuck throttle.

The first round of pit stops occurred during this time, which served to spread out the field and separate the leaders from the rest of the pack.

The battle was interrupted on lap 64 when defending champion Juan Pablo Montoya lost control of his car in turn two and hit the outside wall.

Also during this yellow, Simon Pagenaud began to report that the engine in his car had started to misfire, effectively ending his chances of winning the race.

Hélio Castroneves led for the opening few laps after the restart, but soon fell behind Ryan Hunter-Reay, Townsend Bell, and Tony Kanaan.

On lap 115, the 4th caution period of the race occurred when the rear suspension on the car of Mikhail Aleshin broke, sending him spinning into the turn one wall.

Several cars would be sent to the rear of the field during this caution for entering a closed pit lane in order to have emergency fuel service.

Castroneves caught a small break, though, when the sixth and final caution of the race flew just two laps later after Takuma Sato hit the outside wall at the exit of turn four.

Despite running a final lap at less than 180 mph (290 km/h) and coasting from turn 4 to the finish line, Rossi was able to hang on to win by roughly 4.5 seconds over his teammate Carlos Muñoz.

The Indianapolis 500 was broadcast live in the United States on ABC and streaming on WatchESPN and the ESPN app,[22] called by Allen Bestwick, Scott Goodyear and Eddie Cheever.

Pre-race coverage began race morning with SportsCenter on the Road live at the Speedway with hosts Matt Barrie, Sara Walsh, Marty Smith and Ryan McGee.

As a result, the local television blackout of the ABC network telecast was lifted for the first time since the race went to live "flag-to-flag" coverage in 1986.

The race was also aired in Spanish through ABC's SAP channel in the United States and Puerto Rico and on ESPN in all of Latin America (except for Brazil), called by Andrés Agulla and Alex Pombo.

The race was also aired in Portuguese through the Band and BandSports channels in Brazil, called by Téo José and former IndyCar driver Felipe Giaffone.

Host: Lindsay Czarniak Announcer: Allen Bestwick Color: Scott Goodyear Color: Eddie Cheever Jerry PunchJon BeekhuisRick DeBruhl The race was carried live by the IMS Radio Network, part of the Advanced Auto Parts IndyCar Radio Network.

Jenkins recorded commentary for the pre-race, then spent the day at his normal role on the public address announcing team.

With Jaynes moving from his long-time position in turn three (2000-2015) to the Pagoda booth, the announcing crew shuffled slightly from previous years.

Sponsor guests included Mark Reuss (GM), Dale Herrigle (Firestone), James Verrier (BorgWarner), and Speedway president Doug Boles.

1070 The Fan broadcast nightly beginning May 2 with Trackside with Curt Cavin and Kevin Lee, followed by Donald Davidson's The Talk of Gasoline Alley.