The 94th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 30, 2010. It was the 15th Indy 500 sanctioned by the Indy Racing League, and was the premier event of the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series season. The race was won by Dario Franchitti, ahead of Dan Wheldon and Marco Andretti. Tony Kanaan, who had started in the final position, ran as high as second during the race before finishing eleventh. The race was the second of the three-year-long Centennial era, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the opening of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the 100th anniversary of the first Indianapolis 500. It was the 53rd time the race had been held on a May 30. This year marked the first race with four female drivers (repeated in 2011), and Simona de Silvestro was awarded Rookie of the Year. Event news Qualifying for the event reverted to a schedule used between 1998 and 2000, in which the grid was set across a single weekend rather than two. The pole position was decided under a new "shootout" format, loosely based on the qualifying format used during IndyCar Series road course events. Initial qualifying for the positions 1–24 took place from to During the final 90 minutes, the top nine cars (rows 1–3) advanced to a special session. The "Fast Nine" cars erased their earlier times, and make up to two attempts apiece during the special session to determine who will win the pole position. Cash prizes for the front row have been increased from previous years: pole position ($175,000), second place ($75,000), and third place ($50,000). Participants were also awarded IndyCar Series points towards the championship based on their qualifying position. Points were awarded based on a special descending scale for all starting positions, with the pole winner receiving 15 points, second place 13, and third place 12. Prior to the start of the race, Michael Andretti drove Mark Wahlberg in a custom-built, two-seat Indy car billed as the "Izod Fastest Seat in Sports". The 1969 Indianapolis 500 winner Mario Andretti coached the two by radio from the IZOD Performance Pit. Andretti and Wahlberg followed four parade cars and led the official pace car and the 33-car starting field on three parade laps. Once the parade cars exited the circuit, the two-seat race car sped around the track at nearly 200 mph to catch the