The Month of May is truly now.

Later this week, Indianapolis Motor Speedway will begin hearing the roar of NTT INDYCAR SERIES engines, with on-track action on 11 days in a 17-day stretch culminating with the 109th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge on Sunday, May 25.

SEE: Sonsio GP Event Details

First things first: the Sonsio Grand Prix, which will be staged at 4:30 p.m. ET Saturday (FOX, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network). The event’s first practice is 9:30 a.m. ET Friday (FS2, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network).

The road course race has been a hallmark of May competition at IMS since 2014. The event produced excitement from its inception, as three cars were collected at the start of the inaugural race won by Simon Pagenaud. Current points leader Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing has won the past two Sonsio Grands Prix.

Four drivers in this 27-car field have won May races on this 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course. Alexander Rossi won a race on the circuit in July, Scott Dixon in August, and Josef Newgarden won a race on it in October. Seven of these drivers have stood on the podium in the past three years.

While Palou has been the dominant driver this season – he has won three of the four races and finished second in the other – many of those chasing him have reason to be optimistic about their chances this weekend. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing has had some of its strongest performances in recent years on this track, helping Christian Lundgaard finished third in last year’s race and second in a July race in 2022, and Graham Rahal won the pole and finished second in August 2023.

Lundgaard now drives for Arrow McLaren, and he is second in the series point standings after finishing second in last weekend’s Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix powered by AmFirst at Barber Motorsports Park. Lundgaard now has six career top-three series finishes – he has three this season – and two of them have come on this circuit. He also won the pole here in May 2023.

IMS has long been a Team Penske playground, and that includes races on the road course. Led by Will Power’s five race wins, Roger Penske’s drivers have won eight times on this circuit, including two wins from Pagenaud (2016, 2019) and another from Newgarden (2020).

Palou won last year’s race from the pole, leading 39 of the 85 laps. But drivers who have started first on the IMS road course in recent years have largely not finished first. Before last year, pole winners were on a six-race winless streak. NTT P1 Award winners for those races were Romain Grosjean and Pato O’Ward in 2021, Power and Felix Rosenqvist in 2022, and Lundgaard and Rahal in 2023.

Last year’s race realized three event records: Eight drivers exchanged the lead 13 times, and 26 cars were running at the finish. Palou and Lundgaard started on the front row together, and they amassed the highest number of laps led, 39 and 36, respectively. Power finished second without leading a lap.

These next two races at IMS are as different from one other as two races get, and it probably shouldn’t be a coincidence that only one driver has swept the month (Pagenaud in 2019). But the opportunity is there again, and a competitive field awaits a chance.

It’s May in Indy. Engines are set to roar.

Sonsio Grand Prix Weekend Schedule (All Times Eastern)

Friday, May 9

9:30 a.m.: Practice 1 (FS2, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network)

1 p.m.: Practice 2 (FS2, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network)

4:30 p.m: NTT P1 Award Qualifying (FS1, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network)

Saturday, May 10:

11:30 a.m.: Warmup (FS1, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network)

4:30 p.m.: 85-lap Sonsio Grand Prix (FOX, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network)