Rookie Robert Shwartzman was only minutes removed from winning the pole for Sunday’s Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge when he was thrown a challenging question.

How will he start this race with a motivated field in tow and a couple of aggressive veteran drivers – two-time winner Takuma Sato and two-time runner-up Pato O’Ward – lined up to his right on Row 1?

SEE: Indianapolis 500 Event Details | Starting Lineup

Shwartzman, who will start his first oval race, took a deep breath.

“I just probably take it easy,” he said. “I guess I need to just analyze and see what the others are doing because, you know, it’s very easy to make a big mistake here. It can cost a lot.

“I just want to make it a smooth ride … then we’re just going to race.”

FOX’s race broadcast begins at 10 a.m. ET Sunday (also FOX Deportes, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network).

Shwartzman and the rest of the drivers have several days to plot their strategy at the green flag. Clearly, there is much on the line. And as the sport’s old adage goes, a race can’t be won on the first lap, but it can be lost.

The field of 33 is set. Awaiting are 800 corners over 200 laps. From start to finish, the winner will need about three hours to fend off all challengers.

Eight former “500” winners in this race, each with a chance to reach a new classification in event history. Helio Castroneves of Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian can win his record-setting fifth race. Josef Newgarden of Team Penske can win his third in succession. Sato can earn his second win with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing and third overall. Castroneves, 50, and Sato, 48, could become the oldest winners.

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon is already that all-time leader in laps led with 677 – that’s 33 laps more than second-place Al Unser – and Dixon can score his second race victory, the other coming in 2008. Dreyer & Reinbold Racing’s Ryan Hunter-Reay (2014 winner), Ed Carpenter Racing’s Alexander Rossi (2016), Team Penske’s Will Power (2018) and Andretti Global’s Marcus Ericsson (2022) also seek their second wins. As of now, 21 drivers in history have won Indy two or more times. Someone could become No. 22.

Shwartzman is one of three rookies in this field, with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Louis Foster, who won last year’s INDY NXT by Firestone championship, and Arrow McLaren’s Nolan Siegel the others. Siegel failed to qualify for last year’s race.

The pole winner has won 19.4 percent of the races – 21 of 108 – easily the most among all starting positions. The last such winner was Simon Pagenaud in 2019. But only 10 rookies have gone to Victory Lane, one of those being Castroneves, who in 2001 was already a veteran of 64 INDYCAR SERIES races. Rossi was the last rookie to win, nine years ago in the 100th edition.

Series points leader Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing is considered one of the favorites to win the race based on the fact he has won four of this season’s first five races, and he posted the fastest lap in Monday’s practice. Although Palou has yet to win the “500,” he is already 57th in career laps led with 119. Only Dixon, Castroneves (326), Hunter-Reay (171), Ed Carpenter of Ed Carpenter Racing (149), Power (145), Marco Andretti of Andretti Herta w/Marco & Curb-Agajanian (144) have led more among this year’s contestants.

There is significant intrigue through the field. No one could have imagined Newgarden and Power starting on the last row. Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin, who won last year’s NTT P1 Award and has topped the speed chart after two practices this year, starts 10th.

The second row is comprised of drivers using the technical alliance of Chip Ganassi Racing and Meyer Shank Racing – that’s Dixon, Felix Rosenqvist and Palou. Sato is the highest-starting driver for an entry that isn’t full time in at least two decades.

Then there’s Shwartzman. First oval race. First Indy. First time on the pole in an open-wheel car. On such a big stage.

Gentlemen will soon be starting their engines.