It’s race day for the 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500, and approximately 345,000 fans are expected to fill the grandstands and infield at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Scott McLaughlin will lead the field to green (scheduled for 12:45 p.m. local time), followed by Team Penske teammates Will Power and Josef Newgarden.

Storms are expected to hit the Indianapolis area around 1:00, which could delay the start of the race and some pre-race festivities. IMS president Doug Boles said that his team will continue to monitor the storms in the hours leading up to the start of the race. The showers, according to some estimates could leave the area by 2-3 p.m., with more rain potentially returning around 8:00. During practice for this year’s race, IMS crews dried the track in 77 minutes after a bout of rain. Crews have Air Titan jet dryers at their disposal, renting them from NASCAR for today’s events.

Stay tuned here for updates throughout the day, including exclusive live trackside updates for everything before, during, and after the race.

LAP 80/200 – McLaughlin leads Herta, Newgarden

Robb and Daly have cycled out of the top 10, and now the top three goes McLaughlin-Herta-Newgarden.

Something else to note – Ed Carpenter Racing rookie Christian Rasmussen has moved up 17 spots and currently sits in seventh place.

LAP 65/200 – GREEN

McLaughlin went four-wide on the restart and made the pass for the lead. However, Sting Ray Robb made the pass on the Kiwi, and currently leads the race on an alternate strategy.

LAP 56/200 – CAUTION for Rosenqvist

It looks like Honda is having some serious engine issues. This time, Felix Rosenqvist pulled off to the side in Turn 2 with smoke coming out of his engine. He joins Armstrong and Legge as Honda drivers to have race-ending engine problems.

That is four caution periods before we hit the 60-lap mark of the race.

Another round of pit stops ensues, and this time it is Alexander Rossi who leads the main pack out. However, he blocked Colton Herta, who called for an unsafe release penalty on his former teammate. Daly didn’t make a stop, and will lead the field to green momentarily.

LAP 32/200 – GREEN, McLaughlin leads

Conor Daly had the lead at the start, but McLaughlin grabbed the lead back and was followed by Santino Ferrucci.

These drivers are going absolutely insane on the track.

LAP 28/200 – CAUTION for Lundqvist

The chaos continues, and just after the race went green, another Ganassi rookie is out of the race. Linus Lundqvist sent it in way too deep to the side of his teammate Kyffin Simpson into Turn 1 and slammed into the outside wall.

This is probably the most chaotic first 30 or so laps to an Indy 500 that I can remember. Half of the laps so far have been run under caution.

LAP 25/200 – CAUTION for Legge

Katherine Legge has suffered the same fate as Armstrong, and the caution comes out. That brings out the first round of pit stops and McLaughlin is still ahead. Sting Ray Robb didn’t pit and will lead the field to green.

Lap 10/200 – GREEN FLAG, Problems for Larson

The race is green again, and Kyle Larson had major problems on the restart, getting off very slow and making contact with Ryan Hunter-Reay. Larson has fallen to 14th.

The restart is under review.

LAP 7/200 – Problems for Armstrong

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Marcus Armstrong’s car was smoking and has completely lost power. The rookie is done for the day.

For those counting, already four cars out of the race, all without one full lap of racing.

LAP 1/200 – CRASH involving Blomqvist, Ericsson, Fittipaldi

The green flag flew, but it was just one corner before chaos broke out. Meyer Shank Racing’s Tom Blomqvist went too low in Turn 1 and spun, collecting Marcus Ericsson and Pietro Fittipaldi. All three drivers are okay, but their days are all done. Scott McLaughlin still leads over Will Power and Josef Newgarden.

4:00 p.m. – Pre-race ceremonies underway

Driver introductions just finished up, and it looks like we are right on schedule for the green flag to be waved at 4:44.

As mentioned earlier, Arrow McLaren and Hendrick Motorsports have both confirmed that Kyle Larson will stay in Indianapolis and finish the race. He will miss the beginning of NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte, with Justin Allgaier starting in his place.

3:17 p.m. – New race schedule

Pre-race ceremonies will now begin at 3:30 local time. IMS plans a full ceremony, picking up where it left off when fans were ordered to evacuate this morning.

Green flag is scheduled to drop at 4:44, ahead of the schedule Doug Boles provided.

2:30 p.m. – Doug Boles provides an update

The jet dryers are out on track right now, and IMS President Doug Boles believes crews can get it done in two hours. As far as pre-race ceremonies go, the majority of the elements of a traditional Indy 500 process will remain, including the flyover. Boles believes that they will get the entire 200 laps of the race in.

Additionally, because some fans had to leave the track, IMS has agreed to air today’s race live on local NBC stations and Peacock, lifting the controversial blackout of the race broadcast in Central Indiana.

2:07 p.m. – Rain has mostly stopped

The rain that had been coming down for over an hour has stopped. The severe weather advisory has been lifted, and fans are slowly filling up the stands once more. Track drying has not started yet, as there is a small sliver of rain incoming that should only last about 10 minutes. After that, there appears to be a window that provides ample time to dry the track, conduct the pre-race ceremonies, and start the race. At this time, my estimate is that they get the full race in, with the green flag dropping sometime in the 4:30-5:00 range.

Doug Boles or another official will likely provide comment shortly.

12:54 p.m. – Rain coming down harder

While the back end of that band of rain seems to be dissipating, it is currently raining pretty hard at IMS. The track is soaked, and its raining hard enough that the TVs in the media center keep losing signal. The waiting game continues as fans find cover.

As of now, all inbound pedestrian and vehicle entrances to IMS are closed.

12:30 p.m. – Storms have hit the track, fans asked to take shelter

Storms have begun to move into the Speedway area. Rain is light as of now, but the skies are darkening quickly. Thunder can be heard in the distance, and a few flashes of lightning have been seen. A text message alert has been sent by the local weather to urgently clear the stands and take cover.

Essentially, everyone is playing a waiting game, As of now, the storm is currently over the Speedway, but looks pretty thin on the radar. Expect a dry window to open at about 2:00 p.m. local time.

11:16 a.m. – Grandstands and Snake Pit evacuated

It appears that the grandstands are being evacuated, as many are heading up the stairs and to the exits. At the Snake Pit, which holds a large-scale EDM concert before and during the race in the Turn 3 infield, it appears like some kind of message is being displayed, presumably asking fans to evacuate.

A quick look at the radar shows storms closing in, less than an hour outside of the Indianapolis area. IMS President Doug Boles says the eventual goal is for the race to go green between 4:30 and 5 later this afternoon.

10:45 a.m. – IMS President Doug Boles gives weather update

Boles gave an update to media regarding the incoming storm. He said that should the storm continue its path of hitting the track between noon and 12:30, grandstands may be evacuated. Fans will be able to leave the track and reenter once given the all clear.

Once the storms clear, Boles estimates that track drying can start between 2:30 and 3:00. Once the track is dry, pre-race festivities will resume as scheduled up until the green flag.

8:20 a.m. – Kyle Larson will “prioritize the 500” should weather delay the race

According to local news affiliate WTHR, Arrow McLaren driver Kyle Larson, who is attempting to run both the Indy 500 and NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 later tonight, will stay and run the Indy 500 should the start of the race be delayed. Larson, who drives with Hendrick Motorsports full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, currently leads the points standings and has already locked himself into the Cup Series playoffs.

NASCAR rules require drivers to start all races on the calendar to remain playoff eligibility. However, it is expected that should he miss tonight’s race in Charlotte, NASCAR would grant the 2021 Cup Series champion a waiver to that rule.