Indianapolis 500 live updates | Rosenqvist, O’Ward trying to make alternate strategies work

INDIANAPOLIS — At long last, the wait is over.

It’s finally race day at Indianapolis. The 110th Indianapolis 500 is set for a green flag at 12:45 p.m. While rain is in the forecast, it likely won’t dampen what should be another historic race.

Alex Palou won the pole last week and enters as the reigning champion. He will be joined on the front row by 2016 winner Alexander Rossi and last year’s runner-up finisher David Malukas, who is in his first Indy 500 start for Team Penske. 

Rossi is driving hurt after a crash during practice on Monday, but the Californian is not letting it damper his spirit.

The racing world is looking to this race to help heal their hearts in the aftermath of the sudden death of two-time Brickyard 400 winner Kyle Busch on Thursday. Romain Grosjean is sporting Busch’s iconic No. 18 font while Kyffin Simpson will have Busch’s No. 8 on his pit sign. There will also be a special tribute on Lap 18.

Keep it here all race long for live updates as they happen in the 110th Indianapolis 500.

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Lap 167 — Felix Rosenqvist now hits the pit lane for what should be his final stop of the day. And bad luck for Dennis Hauger, he’s been given a drive thru penalty for speeding on pit road.

Lap 165 — Pato O’Ward now hits pit road. He went 34 laps on that last stint as he pits with 36 to go. Can he make it to the end?

Lap 164 — Rookie Dennis Hauger is hounding Pato O’Ward as he is also on the same strategy as Rosenqvist and O’Ward.

Lap 162 — Now Kyffin Simpson hits pit road. Both Rosenqvist and O’Ward are trying to make it on one more pit stop as the lead with under 40 to go.

Lap 158 — Felix Rosenqvist takes the lead away from Kyffin Simpson as O’Ward now looks to pass Simpson for second. These three drivers are nearly a full lap ahead of Palou, Malukas, McLaughlin and Daly.

Lap 154 — The drivers on the alternate strategy, Felix Rosenqvist and Pato O’Ward, sit P3 and P4.

Lap 151 — David Malukas has the net race lead ahead of Alex Palou, Scott McLaughlin, Conor Daly, Marcus Ericsson and Scott Dixon.

Lap 150 — Scott Dixon now comes to pit lane as the race is on between Malukas, Palou and McLaughlin.

Lap 149 — Now Alex Palou, Conor Daly and Marcus Ericsson hit pit road. Palou beats Daly off pit road.

Lap 148 — Both Malukas and McLaughlin hit the pit lane for what should be their penultimate stops of the day. McLaughlin beats Malukas off pit road.

Lap 147 — David Malukas now passes Alex Palou into Turn 1 to re-take the lead.

Lap 146 — David Malukas gets by Scott McLaughin into Turn 1 to take over the second spot.

Lap 145 — Alex Palou leads Scott McLaughlin, David Malukas, Conor Daly, Marcus Ericsson, Scott Dixon, Kyle Kirkwood, Kyffin Simpson, Helio Castroneves and Felix Rosenqvist.

Lap 140 — There’s just 60 laps to go in the «Greatest Spectacle in Racing» as Alex Palou and Scott McLaughlin continue to swap the lead.

Lap 139 — Alex Palou makes it three-wide into Turn 1 to pass both Daly and McLaughlin for the lead! Now Malukas passes Daly into Turn 3.

Lap 138 — Conor Daly passes Scott McLaughlin into Turn 1 for the 54th lead change of the race.

Lap 136 — Now Alex Palou gets by Scott McLaughlin to re-take the lead into Turn 1.

Lap 135 — McLaughlin and Palou draft down the front stretch to pass Conor Daly into Turn 1. McLaughlin is back in front.

Lap 134 — Conor Daly has taken the lead from Scott McLaughlin! It’s the 50th official lead change of the race!

Lap 133 — The green flag is back out and Conor Daly takes it 3-wide into Turn 1! But it’s Scott McLaughlin who takes the lead!

Lap 131 — The pits are open and a few leaders are making stops. This could create for some very interesting strategies. Pato O’Ward beats Felix Rosenqvist off pit road. O’Ward will cycle through to the 13th position. He will likely only need one more stop to make it to the end while the rest of the field will need at least two more stops.

Lap 125 — The race is about to go back to green, but there’s a crash! Josef Newgarden has lost it in Turn 4 coming to the green and slammed the outside wall! The two-time winner is out of his car and appears unhurt.

On the replay, it looks like Newgarden just touched the rumble strips, which upset the car and set it spinning.

Lap 122 — As the cars pace under caution, FOX Sports reports that with about 18 more laps of caution, Jack Harvey can make it on one more stop. Meanwhile, Romain Grosjean has been sent to the rear of the field of passing cars while coming into the pit lane.

Lap 116 — The yellow flag is out again as rain drops are reported in Turn 4. David Malukas leads Alex Palou and Conor Daly.

Lap 114 — Malukas and Palou are swapping the lead as Conor Daly sits behind them in third.

Lap 112 — Alex Palou re-takes the lead from David Malukas into Turn 1, but Malukas has a huge run down the back stretch and passes Palou into Turn 3.

Lap 111 — Conor Daly gets by Josef Newgarden in Turn 3 to take over the third position.

Lap 110 — The race is green once again as Alex Palou takes the lead from Scott Dixon. But David Malukas takes the lead from Palou in Turn 3 as Dixon drops back.

Lap 106 — The pits have re-opened, but there is nobody coming down for a pit stop. Current top 5: Scott Dixon, Alex Palou, David Malukas, Josef Newgarden, Scott McLaughlin.

2:35 p.m. — The engines have re-fired and the red flag has been lifted.

2:32 p.m. — Race control anticipates engines refiring at 2:35 p.m.

Lap 105 — The cars are being brought to pit road as the race has been red flagged for rain.

Lap 104 — The field continues to follow the pace car under caution as sprinkles are beginning to fall.

Lap 101 — We are officially past the halfway point, meaning this is an official race. If it rains and IndyCar is unable to dry the track in time for the race to conclude before sundown, the race will be considered finished.

Lap 98 — The pits are open and nearly the entire field comes in for service. Scott Dixon beats Alex Palou, David Malukas, Josef Newgarden and Pato O’Ward off pit road.

Lap 95 — Rossi receives a standing ovation from the crowd as he walks down the pit lane on crutches after another disappointing end to his Indy 500 hopes.

Lap 93 — Alexander Rossi’s car is on fire in the pit lane! The injured driver is able to safely exit his car and the fire is put out.

Lap 92 — The caution is out! Will Power has lost a gearbox and spun on the warmup lane into Turn 1.

Lap 90 — There have been 41 official lead changes so far as Palou and Dixon continue to swap the lead. The skies are beginning to darken as rain could be moving in soon.

Lap 85 — Not much has changed. Palou and Dixon continue to trade laps at the front while teams begin to watch the radar. If the race reaches lap 101 and the rain falls, it would be a complete race if IndyCar could not get it restarted. However, it is expected that they will try to get all 200 laps in.

Lap 81 — With 20 laps to go until halfway, Palou and Dixon continue to swap the lead.

Lap 75 — Alex Palou and Scott Dixon are now swapping the lead with 15 laps until halfway.

Lap 71  — Alex Palou now re-takes the lead from Dixon into Turn 1.

Lap 69 — Scott Dixon now gets by Felix Rosenqvist into Turn 1 and then takes the lead from teammate Alex Palou into Turn 3.

Lap 68 — Scott Dixon gets by David Malukas into Turn 3 to take over the third spot.

Lap 66 — Alex Palou has cycled back to the lead. Rosenqvist runs second followed by Malukas, Dixon, Newgarden, McLaughlin and Daly. Daly reports his crew bumped one of his mirrors.

Lap 65 — Scott Dixon is able to come out between Rosenqvist and Newgarden! A great stop by the Chip Ganassi Racing crew.

Lap 63 — Race leader Alex Palou makes his second pit stop of the day as he and Felix Rosenqvist exit the warmup lane ahead of the Team Penske trio! Palou now has the net race lead.

Lap 62 — Pit stops have begun! Conor Daly, all three Penske cars and more are on pit lane. McLaughlin beats Daly, Palou, Newgarden and Malukas off pit road.

Lap 55 — Things have started to settle down just a bit as drivers begin to hit their fuel numbers. It’s still Alex Palou ahead of Conor Daly and David Malukas.

Lap 50 — We are now a quarter of the way through the 110th Indy 500 as Caio Collet passes Romain Grosjean at the front of the field. They both are ahead of race leader Alex Palou on the tail end of the lead lap.

Lap 48 — The leaders have now caught Caio Collet as Romain Grosjean passes him for position. Both Collet and Grosjean remain at the tail end of the lead lap.

Lap 42 — The leaders have now caught Romain Grosjean, who is at the tail end of the field after hit pit stop. He will try to keep Alex Palou from putting him a lap down until he can catch a caution flag.

Lap 41 — Caio Collet now relinquishes the lead to Conor Daly as the Brazilian driver makes his first pit stop of the day. Alex Palou then takes over the lead into Turn 3.

Lap 40 — Romain Grosjean gives up a Top-10 spot to make his first pit stop. 

Lap 37 — Caio Collet continues to lead followed by Conor Daly, Alex Palou, Scott McLaughlin, Romain Grosjean, Santino Ferrucci, David Malukas, Josef Newgarden, Felix Rosenqvist and Scott Dixon.

Lap 35 — Caio Collet, on old tires, gets by Daly into Turn 1 to re-take the lead. 

Lap 34 — Conor Daly gets by Caio Collet and goes into the lead as the crowd goes wild!!

Lap 33 — Alex Palou gets by Caio Collet into Turn 1, but not before Collet leads his first lap at IMS. Felix Rosenqvist and Josef Newgarden go side-by-side with Newgarden just barely crowding Rosenqvist.

Lap 32 — The green flag is back out as Caio Collet makes a huge move on Grosjean to take the lead into Turn 1! Alex Palou also gets by Grosjean as Conor Daly moves into P3 by Turn 3.

Lap 31 — While Grosjean and Collet have not yet stopped, Felix Rosenqvist has the net race lead in third place followed by Scott McLaughlin, Alex Palou, Conor Daly and Santino Ferrucci.

Lap 29 — The pits are open as Rinus VeeKay and Jack Harvey duck on for his first stop of the day. Mick Schumacher also makes a stop. Romain Grosjean and Caio Collet do not stop however. 

Meanwhile, race control announces Katherine Legge and Ryan-Hunter Reay have been seen and released from the infield medical center.

Lap 27 — The green flag is back out as Rinus VeeKay leads Romain Grosjean, Caio Collet and Jack Harvey into Turn 1. And there’s a crash back in the pack! Ed Carpenter is in the wall!

The replay shows Ed Carpenter going three-wide into Turn 1 with Takuma Sato on the outside. Sato appears to squeeze Carpenter, causing him to spin. After getting out of the car, Carpenter pointed at Sato, appearing to express displeasure with the move.

Lap 20 — Alex Palou wins the race off pit road followed by Felix Rosenqvist, Scott McLaughlin and Santino Ferrucci. However, four cars stayed out. Rinus VeeKay leads followed by Romain Grosjean, Caio Collet and Jack Harvey.

Lap 19 — The Double attempt for Katherine Legge ends as she climbs out of her car to head to Charlotte for the Coca-Cola 600 later tonight. Meanwhile, the pits are open and nearly every driver comes down for service. 

Lap 18 — The memorial lap for the late Kyle Busch is underway. Fans are silent, as is the TV commentary. That is until a big crash on the backstretch! Katherine Legge and Ryan Hunter-Reay are involved! The first caution of the day is out.

The replay shows Hunter-Reay losing it on his own out of Turn 2. Katherine Legge, who was right in Hunter-Reay’s path, was forced to take evasive action and spun into the inside wall. Both drivers climbed out of their cars under their own power.

Lap 17 — Alexander Rossi is back in front. How many more laps can the leaders keep this up?

Lap 16 — Palou is now back in front after passing Rossi into Turn 1. Race control says there have been nine total lead changes between both Palou and Rossi.

Lap 15 — So much for saving fuel as Rossi makes the move on Palou into Turn 1 to re-take the lead.

Lap 14 — For the first time all race, there is not a pass for the lead going into Turn 1. Palou leads as Rossi appears to begin saving fuel.

Lap 13 — Palou passes Rossi into Turn 1, let’s see if he can keep it for two straight laps.

Lap 12 — Rossi once again takes the lead into Turn 1 as the lead-swapping continues and doesn’t look to end.

Lap 11 — Aaaannnd back to the front is Alex Palou.

Lap 10 — Rossi re-takes the lead from Palou into Turn 1 once again. The cat-and-mouse game between the two former winners continues.

Lap 9 — The back-and-forth continues with Palou once again taking the lead away from Alexander Rossi.

Lap 8 — Rossi gets by Palou once again into Turn 1 and re-takes the lead.

Lap 7 — And Palou returns to the lead. Felix Rosenqvist has moved up to P3 after passing Santino Ferrucci. David Malukas also passes Ferrucci, so has now fallen to fifth.

Lap 6 — Rossi again takes the lead from Palou as Newgarden passes Will Power for 17th.

Lap 5 — Palou gets around Rossi into Turn 1 to re-take the lead once again. After starting 23rd, Josef Newgarden has now moved into 18th.

Lap 4 — Rossi goes back to the lead.

Lap 3 — Alex Palou re-takes the lead from Alexander Rossi as Felix Rosenqvist passes David Malukas for fourth.

Lap 2 — Alexander Rossi takes the lead from Alex Palou.

Lap 1 — Alex Palou leads into Turn 1 followed by Alexander Rossi and Santino Ferrucci. Palou leads lap 1.

12:41 p.m. — The drivers are off! Pace laps have begun!

12:39 p.m. — Roger Penske gives the command for drivers to start their engines!

12:37 p.m. — Jim Cornelison sings «Back Home Again in Indiana.»

12:34 p.m. — Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark gives the command of «Drivers to your cars.»

12:25 p.m. — Jordin Sparks performs the National Anthem.

12:20 p.m. — «America The Beautiful» is sung.

12:19 p.m. — TAPS is played to honor the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for this country.

12:17 p.m. — The pre-race invocation begins.

12:08 p.m. — «God Bless America» is sung.

11:45 a.m. — Driver introductions are underway as pre-race ceremonies are just moments away.