| Race details | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12th and 13th round of the2020 IndyCar Series season | |||||
 | |||||
| Date | October 2 and 3, 2020 | ||||
| Official name | Indycar Harvest Grand Prix | ||||
| Location | Indianapolis Motor Speedway Speedway,Indiana,United States | ||||
| Course | Permanent racing facility 2.439 mi / 3.925 km | ||||
| Distance | 85 laps 207.315 mi / {{{Distance_km}}} km | ||||
| Weather | 60 °F (16 °C), mostly cloudy[1] | ||||
| Pole position | |||||
| Driver |  Rinus Veekay (Ed Carpenter Racing) | ||||
| Time | 01:09.6903 | ||||
| Fastest lap | |||||
| Driver | Rinus VeeKay (Ed Carpenter Racing) | ||||
| Time | 1:10.5582 (on lap 21 of 85) | ||||
| Podium | |||||
| First |  Josef Newgarden (Team Penske) | ||||
| Second | Alexander Rossi (Andretti Autosport) | ||||
| Third | Rinus VeeKay (Ed Carpenter Racing) | ||||
| Weather | 64 °F (18 °C), mostly cloudy[2] | ||||
| Pole position | |||||
| Driver |  Will Power (Team Penske) | ||||
| Time | 1:08.9767 | ||||
| Fastest lap | |||||
| Driver |  Simon Pagenaud (Team Penske) | ||||
| Time | 1:11.3775 (on lap 53 of 75) | ||||
| Podium | |||||
| First | Will Power (Team Penske) | ||||
| Second | Colton Herta (AndrettiHarding Steinbrenner Autosport) | ||||
| Third | Alexander Rossi (Andretti Autosport) | ||||
| Chronology | |||||
| |||||
The2020 Harvest Grand Prix wasIndyCar Series event held on October 2–3, 2020. It made up the twelfth and thirteenth and penultimate rounds of the series'2020 season.Rinus VeeKay won pole for the first race withJosef Newgarden taking victory.Will Power led every lap from pole position to take victory in the second race.
As a result of races cancelled by theCOVID-19 pandemic, theIndyCar Series announced on April 6, 2020, that a third trip to theIndianapolis Motor Speedway would be added to the2020 season as a support race for theIntercontinental GT Challenge'sIndianapolis 8 Hours.[3] The Harvest name paid tribute to theHarvest Auto Racing Classic, the only event held outside theMonth of May at the Speedway between 1911 and 1993. Following further race cancellations, on July 27, 2020, the IndyCar Series changed the weekend from a single race to a doubleheader weekend.[4]
The Speedway opened the gates to spectators for the first time in 2020 after being behind closed doors for much of the season, with a limit of 10,000 spectators for practice day, and the three race days (including theIntercontinental GT Challenge event that was the feature).
A. J. Foyt Enterprises announce the signing ofSébastien Bourdais for the remainder of the 2020 season starting with the Harvest Grand Prix.[5] Locally basedDreyer & Reinbold Racing made their third race weekend appearance withSage Karam, making 2020 the most appearances by the team since the2013 season.[6] A week before the race, Indycar's medical team declared rookieOliver Askew as not fit to drive.Arrow McLaren SP replaced Askew with veternHélio Castroneves.[7] It would be Castroneves' firstopen-wheel start away fromTeam Penske since the1999 Marlboro 500. A day later, James Hinchcliffe was announced as taking overAndretti Autosport's #26 entry forZach Veach.[8]
| Key | Meaning |
|---|---|
| R | Rookie |
| W | Past winner |
A single practice session was held over the weekend. The session was held October 1 at 2:15 PMET[9]
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Engine | Lap Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 55 |  Álex Palou R | Dale Coyne Racing withTeam Goh | Honda | 01:10.1777 |
| 2 | 60 |  Jack Harvey | Meyer Shank Racing | Honda | 01:10.2773 |
| 3 | 88 | Colton Herta | AndrettiHarding Steinbrenner Autosport | Honda | 01:10.3857 |
| Source:[10] | |||||
Qualifying was held the day before the race at 6:20 PMET.[9] As the event was doubleheader, series rules meant qualifying was a single round (instead of two rounds as normal), split into two groups. Drivers from the group with the fastest driver having the better time started in the odd number positions, while the group whose fastest time was worse than the other group took even number positions.
The first race was held October 2 at 3:30 PM ET.[9]
Qualifying at 10:20 AM ET.[13]
The second race of the weekend was held October 3 at 2:30 PM ET.[13]
| Previous race: 2020 Honda Indy 200 | NTT IndyCar Series 2020 season | Next race: 2020 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg |
| Previous race: NEW | Second Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course Race | Next race: 2021 Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix |
