Ranking Indy 500 drivers from 33 to 1: Can anyone unseat Josef Newgarden?

The traditional 33-driver field for the Indianapolis 500 will have a rookie and a two-time winner on the front row for 200 laps on Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. That mix of youth and experience spreads throughout the entire field for the 109th running of the event.

The cars are different this year. There's a hybrid engine that adds approximately 100 pounds of weight to the rear of the car. That will disturb the balance and will also put plenty of weight on the psyche of the drivers, as they reach speeds of more than 230 miles an hour.

So you might want to consider the past history of the race with a grain of salt. And, yet, it seems this is a race that can be unpredictable no matter the familiarity with the car. Each time the green flag drops, fans will be guessing about what will happen.

Speaking of guesses, here are some educated guesses on ranking the drivers, 33-to-1, in the 2025 Indianapolis 500 field:

33. Rinus Veekay (Starting 31st)

VeeKay is making his sixth start at Indy, and he hasn’t started worse than Row 3 in any of his other starts. It’s a different world starting in the back row, and that might not be fun for the Dale Coyne Racing driver. He has struggled to find speed this year and he has no teammates in the field, as Jacob Abel was the lone one and he will miss the race.

32. Jack Harvey (26th)

The FOX Sports analyst is doing a one-off for Dreyer Reinbold Racing and is back for the Indy 500 after not racing it in 2024 after seven consecutive years making the race. He didn’t finish on the lead lap in his last two starts. He finished ninth in 2020.

31. Sting Ray Robb (17th)

Robb had an impressive qualifying result for Juncos Hollinger Racing. This is his third team in three years