An IndyCar weekend is built around three parts — practice, qualifying and the race. What changes most from event to event is how the grid is set, because the series runs three very different kinds of track.
On road and street courses, qualifying is a multi-round knockout. Drivers are split into groups and the quickest advance through successive segments to a final shootout — the Firestone Fast Six — which decides pole position among the six fastest cars.
On ovals there is no knockout. Cars qualify on raw speed, with flat-out timed runs against the clock deciding the order.
The Indianapolis 500 stands apart. The 200-lap, 500-mile race has its own multi-day qualifying, where drivers first lock into the field and then fight over the top starting positions. For how each session pays out, see how IndyCar scoring works.