Wienie 500: What is it, start time, & how to watch on Indy 500 Carb Day

The Friday before the Indianapolis 500 will look a little different this year.

Thanks to six hot dogs on wheels doing their best to rocket around Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Dubbed the Wienie 500, six Oscar Meyer Wienermobiles will make their racing debut at the iconic track on Friday’s “Carb Day,” in the inaugural Wienie 500.

Here is what you need to know.

What is the Wienie 500?

This year marks the first-ever Wienie 500, as all six Oscar Meyer Wienermobiles will race around the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“The Indy 500 marks the unofficial kickoff of summer and the start of hot dog season,” said Kelsey Rice, Brand Communications Director at Oscar Mayer in a press release earlier this week. “As a brand known for sparking smiles in disarmingly delightful ways, it’s only fitting that we bring a race of epic proportions to the Speedway and celebrate a timeless tradition: delicious meats and a little friendly competition to kick off a summer of wieners.”

The Wienermobiles put in some practice laps on Thursday ahead of the big event:

We even have a hype video for the inaugural Wienie 500:

What a time to be alive.

What six Wienermobiles are participating?

As noted there are six Wienermobiles in the Wienie 500, each one representing a different region of the United States. Starting in no particular order you have the Chi Dog (Midwest), the New York Dog (East), the Slaw Dog (Southeast), the Sonoran Dog (Southwest), the Chili Dog (South), and the Seattle Dog (Northwest).

Why is this happening?

Because it is fun. We like fun. Fun is good.

Even the drivers themselves are excited.

We’re having fun out here.

Also, consider this from the announcement: “From custom Hotdogger racing suits, to a trophy presentation in the ‘Wiener’s Circle’, complete with a condiment spray and hot dog for the wiener’s enjoyment, every moment of the race is designed to spark smiles, serving up a delightful racing event only Oscar Mayer can.”

I mean, look at this trophy:

Oscar Meyer

We’re absolutely going to see someone soaked in mustard, right?

Besides, if the Duke’s Mayo Bowl can be a big thing, so can this.

What is “Carb Day?”

Now it is time for some Indianapolis 500 history.

“Carb Day” harkens back to a bygone era of the Indianapolis 500, referring to the final day the teams would tune the carburetors on their gasoline-powered cars. Carburetors have not been used for decades, but for an event filled with mystique and history, the name remains, even in today’s hybrid-powered era of IndyCar.

Last year I spoke with Alexander Rossi, winner of the 2016 Indianapolis 500, about what happens on Carb Day.

For the teams, the race engines go in the cars.

For the drivers, you want to do as little as possible.

“Yeah, Friday is a very difficult session, because this will be the largest gap that there’s been from cars being on track to cars not being on track. And so a lot of the reads and feelings that you get on Carb Day are kind of poor,” started Rossi last May. “So it’s very hard to not overreact to what you have on Carb Day. I’ve had a lot of Carb Days where I’m really unhappy and I just decide ‘[d]on’t touch anything. The car’s been good all month, it’ll be fine on Sunday.’ And sure enough it is.

“So, the big thing for us on Friday is our race engine goes in. The car has been completely torn apart to kind of analyze everything and crack test everything. So it’s really just a shakedown for the car [to] break in the new engine and just make sure all the processes are working as they should.

“And then you try and minimize the laps because every time you’re out there, it’s a risk and you don’t obviously want to hurt the race car.”

Better to hurt some Wienermobiles instead.

How can I watch the Wienie 500?

If you have made it this far, thanks for reading Mom.

But joking aside, if you want to watch the Wienie 500 the race will be streamed live on Friday, May 23 at 2:00 p.m. ET on the FOX Sports app and across @INDYCARonFOX social accounts:

Fans can also catch highlights from the race during Sunday’s Indy 500 pre-race show on FOX.