2017 Indy 500 live updates: News, highlights, and more from Indianapolis Motor Speedway

4:01 p.m. — Takuma Sato beats Helio Castroneves to win the Indianapolis 500. Sato passed Castroneves with five laps remaining, then repeatedly held off Castroneves to score his first victory at Indianapolis 500 victory, and the fifth for Andretti Autosport, which won last year with Alexander Rossi.

Rookie Ed Jones finished third, followed by Max Chilton, and Tony Kanaan.

Castroneves was seeking to become just the fourth driver to win four Indianapolis 500s, joining A.J. Foyt, Al Unser Sr., and Rick Mears.

3:30 p.m. — Fernando Alonso’s Indianapolis 500 is over. The Spaniard was the latest Honda-powered driver to suffer an engine failure, with his powerplant expiring 21 laps from the finish. Despite never having run on an oval before, he led 27 laps (second only to Ryan Hunter-Reay’s 28 laps) and was running in the top 10 when his engine began smoking down the frontstretch and stopping in Turn 1.

3:11 p.m. — Scott Dixon went back to the infield care center with an apparent left ankle injury after being involved in a harrowing accident earlier in the Indianapolis 500. Dixon left the care center in a walking boot and will undergo further evaluation later.

2:50 p.m. — Ryan Hunter-Reay’s Honda engine expired with 63 laps remaining, the first failure for the manufacturer on the afternoon following a rash of issues in the buildup to Sunday’s race. Hunter-Reay had led a race-high 28 laps and was running in the top three when his car began smoking down the backstretch.

Honda routinely showed the most speed in practice and qualifying, but its engines have also proven to be unreliable. James Hinchcliffe had a failure on Friday in final practice, and Fernando Alonso, Hunter-Reay’s teammate, had to swap out engines prior to qualifying last Sunday.

2:39 p.m. — Buddy Lazier’s single-car accident has the Indianapolis Motor Speedway under caution again, for the fifth time today. The 1996 race winner crashed off the exit of Turn 2 with 78 laps remaining. After being evaluated at the infield care center, Lazier was transported to a local medical facility with “chest discomfort.”

2:15 p.m. — Helio Castroneves is leading at the halfway point of the Indianapolis 500, but Andretti Autosport have emerged as the dominant cars with teammates Alexander Rossi, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Fernando Alonso repeatedly exchanging the lead largely amongst themselves.

Castroneves, a three-time Indy winner, assumed the lead after the Andretti Hondas all pitted while the Brazilian stayed on the track with Rossi, Hunter-Reay and Alonso content to run behind him so they could save fuel.

1:45 p.m — Connor Daly got loose and slid into the outside Turn 3 wall, causing the second caution of the afternoon. In the aftermath, rookie Jack Harvey spun trying to avoid a piece of debris off Daly’s car and struck the inside wall. Both drivers were evaluated and released from the infield care center.

1:31 p.m. — The first crash of the race came on Lap 53, when polesitter Scott Dixon was hit by the slowing car of Jay Howard, leading to a huge crash that saw the former car flip through the air, damage the safety fence and bounce off the barrier. Both drivers were unharmed and an 18-minute red flag ensued. Things are restarting with the field entering the pits..

12:51 p.m. — Forget any learning curve, Fernando Alonso is leading the Indianapolis 500. The full-time Formula One driver, who skipped the Monaco Grand Prix to race at Indianapolis, executed a textbook pass of defending race-winner Alexander Rossi where he used the draft to slingshot to inside of Rossi and then by as they raced down the frontstretch and into Turn 1.

12:42 p.m. — As anticipated, the Hondas are running well through the opening laps. Honda-powered drivers are hold the top three positions and seven of the top 10. The highest Chevrolet is Ed Carpenter in fourth, with teammate J.R. Hildebrand in fifth.

Of course, the issues with the Hondas hasn’t been speed, but reliability. So let’s see if the manufacturer can continue this pace for 500 miles.

12:35 p.m. — Calm start to the race with pole-sitter Scott Dixon quickly grabbing the lead before Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Tony Kanaan passed him on Lap 6. Both Dixon and Kanaan are seeking their second Indianpolis 500 wins.

After getting shuffled back initially from his fifth starting position, Formula One export Fernando Alonso has settled in and progressing toward the front. He currently runs seventh.

12:20 p.m. — The pre-race scene from grid:

12:08 p.m. — After an iffy forecast earlier in the week, meteorologist and SB Nation contributor Brian Neudorff believes the rain will hold off until later in the afternoon — meaning, this could be a race to halfway (100 laps) as the race would then be official and theoretically increase the intensity, with drivers eschewing patience from the onset in an effort to get to the front as soon as possible.

11:55 a.m. — A little over 20 minutes before the green flag flies on what appears to be a wide-open Indianapolis 500 with no clear-cut favorite. The Hondas of Chip Ganassi Racing and Andretti Autosport have consistently shown the most speed, with pole-sitter Scott Dixon recording the fastest speed in 21 years at the speedway during his four-lap qualifying run last Sunday.

Meanwhile, Chevrolet-powered Team Penske, typically the dominant team at Indianapolis, has uncharacteristically lagged for most of the month with four of its cars qualifying 18th on back. But Helio Castroneves, a three-time race winner, paced final practice on Friday and most in the garage fully expect Penske to have something for the Hondas during the race.

11:45 a.m. ET — The 101st running of the Indianapolis 500 is here, and 33 of the best open-wheel racing drivers will compete in one of the biggest races in all of motorsports. 2008 race-winner Scott Dixon is the pole-sitter for the race and has been the betting favorite in the lead-up.

But there are many in the field who are more than capable of earning a win, and many experts think Will Power, who will start on the outside of the third row, can win it. Still others are picking Fernando Alonso, an IndyCar rookie who is taking a break from the Formula One season to race in the Indy 500.

Alonso is a two-time world champion in Formula One, a more international open-wheel racing series. Driving in IndyCar is a lot different, but Alonso has been widely considered to be one of the best drivers in the world, period.

His F1 team, McLaren-Honda, has struggled with car reliability this season, and if there was ever a Monaco Grand Prix — one of the best races on the F1 calendar — to miss, this would be the one. The Monaco Grand Prix is on the same day as the Indy 500 and Alonso is skipping it to race in IndyCar.

Alonso qualified in fifth on the grid, showing the rest of the field that he has plenty to offer. The front row also includes Alexander Rossi in third, who won the race from 11th position in 2016.

The race is just minutes away, and we’re going to keep you updated with all the happenings right here at SB Nation. Below is the full lineup and starting grid.

Row 1: Scott Dixon, Ed Carpenter, Alexander Rossi
Row 2: Takuma Sato, Fernando Alonso, JR Hildebrand
Row 3: Tony Kanaan, Marco Andretti, Will Power
Row 4: Ryan Hunter-Reay, Ed Jones, Oriol Servia
Row 5: Mikhail Aleshin, Graham Rahal, Max Chilton
Row 6: Charlie Kimball, James Hinchcliffe, Juan Pablo Montoya
Row 7: Helio Castroneves, Jay Howard, Sage Karam
Row 8: Josef Newgarden, Simon Pagenaud, Carlos Munoz
Row 9: Gabby Chaves, Conor Daly, Jack Harvey
Row 10: Pippa Mann, Simon Pigot, Buddy Lazier
Row 11: Sebastian Saavedra, Zach Veach, James Davison