The Indianapolis Motor Speedway has announced a new compressed schedule of events for the month of May. In 2010, there will be two qualifying days scheduled on the Saturday and Sunday leading up to race 94 of the Indianapolis 500. At the time of this posting, not much is known about the rules that will apply to qualifying weekend, but as for the rest of the month, the track will officially open for rookie orientation on May 15-16, 2019. 2010 before reopening for open practice May 17-21. The first day of qualifying will be pole day and the second day will be slam.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway hopes to reduce costs for smaller teams and the speedway itself, while increasing attendance and enthusiasm for the qualifying segment of the Indy 500. The compressed schedule will leave no room for error and will intensify the experience for teams. , its pilots and the fans in the stands.

The compressed schedule is also expected to increase fan attendance as the entire event now starts and ends in 15 days. With this new schedule, it is now possible for a race fan to come to Indy and watch qualifying, practice and the race all in 10 days.

Over the years, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has altered the qualifying format several times with mixed results. The jury is still out on the new 2010 format, but some of the teams, including Penske, have already praised the change. However, the new format may substantially reduce the opportunities for drivers without a team to buy their place in the backup cars (“T cars”) of the bigger teams. Still, the compressed schedule should work to conserve valuable resources for IMS, the teams, the drivers and the race fans.