The race was officially announced on October 1, 2013. The track's road course was formerly used by Formula One for the United States Grand Prix. The track featured various modifications: the track runs clockwise, with turn 1 entering the oval's turn 4 onto the road course. Turns 2 to 4 remain the same, while turn 5 and 6 became a chicane, and entered the Hulman Blvd. straight. Turn 7 is a 90-degree left turn into turns 8 and 9, leading into the oval's turn 2, which serves as the road course's turns 10 and 11. The oval's turn 1 is not entered, as the track follows the MotoGP format, with turns 12 to 14 leading into the front straight.[1] The cars were also modified to fit the track's specifications, with fueling plugs on the opposite side.[2]
A contest was held for fans to design the trophy for the event. Dan Nichols, a California native, beat out 150 other entries.[3]
Qualifying
Qualifying took place on May 9. Rain had affected the track during the four sessions held. Prior to the Fast Six session, rain escalated, causing a red flag, which delayed qualifying for 20 minutes, before the six cars were sent onto the track. Ryan Hunter-Reay was the fastest during his qualifying attempt, with a lap time of 1:23.8480,[4] but drove into a puddle of water, spinning out, bring out another red flag.[5] As a result, Hunter-Reay was relegated to third, while Sebastián Saavedra was awarded the pole position.[4]
Race
The race's honorary race starter was Indianapolis mayor Greg Ballard; the event began with a standing start, but as the lights went out, pole-sitter Saavedra stalled, and was later hit by Carlos Muñoz and Mikhail Aleshin.[6]
1 Due to the crash on the starting grid, all cars went through pit lane behind the safety car for the first six laps. These passages were counted as pit stops.
2 Points include 1 point for leading at least 1 lap during a race, an additional 2 points for leading the most race laps, and 1 point for Pole Position.
3 Mike Conway's team ordered him to park the car once he overtook James Hinchcliffe for position on the track by completing 1 more lap than him for an additional point.
4 James Hinchcliffe was injured when a piece of debris hit him on the helmet knocking him unconscious. He would make a full recovery & compete in the next round.