Indianapolis 500
Starting Grid for the 1996 Indianapolis 500
| Position | Car Num. | Driver | Car Name/Entrant* | Make/Model | Qual Speed |
| 1+ | 20 | Tony Stewart (R) | Menards/Glidden/Quaker State | Lola/Menard V6 | 233.100 |
| 2 | 70 | Davy Jones | Delco Electronics High Tech Team Galles | Lola/Mercedes Ilmor | 232.880 |
| 3 | 7 | Eliseo Salazar | Cristal/Copec Mobil | Lola/Ford Cosworth XB | 232.684 |
| 4 | 3 | Eddie Cheever Jr. | Quaker State Menards | Lola/Menard V6 | 231.781 |
| 5 | 91 | Buddy Lazier | Hemelgarn Racing-Delta Faucet-Montana | Reynard/Ford Cosworth XB | 231.460 |
| 6 | 21 | Roberto Guerrero | WavePhore/Pennzoil | Reynard/Ford Cosworth XB | 231.370 |
| 7 | 8 | Alessandro Zampedri | Mi-Jack/AGIP/Xcel | Lola/Ford Cosworth XB | 0.000 |
| 8 | 22 | Michel Jourdain Jr. (R) | Herdez Quaker State/Viva Mexico! | Lola/Ford Cosworth XB | 229.380 |
| 9 | 12 | Buzz Calkins (R) | Bradley Food Marts/Hoosier Lottery | Reynard/Ford Cosworth XB | 229.010 |
| 10 | 14 | Davey Hamilton (R) | AJ Foyt Copenhagen Racing | Lola/Ford Cosworth XB | 228.880 |
| 11 | 60 | Mike Groff | Valvoline Cummins Craftsman | Reynard/Ford Cosworth XB | 228.700 |
| 12 | 33 | Michele Alboreto (R) | Rio Hotel & Casino/Perry Ellis/Royal Purple | Reynard/Ford Cosworth XB | 228.220 |
| 13 | 9 | Stephan Gregoire | Hemelgarn Racing/Delta Faucet | Reynard/Ford Cosworth XB | 227.556 |
| 14 | 30 | Mark Dismore (R) | Quaker State Menards | Lola/Menard V6 | 227.260 |
| 15 | 4 | Richie Hearn (R) | Della Penna Mtspts. Ralph's Food 4 Less Fuji | Reynard/Ford Cosworth XB | 226.521 |
| 16 | 64 | Johnny Unser (R) | Ruger-Titanium/Project Indy | Reynard/Ford Cosworth XB | 226.110 |
| 17 | 18 | John Paul Jr. | V-Line/Earl's Perf. Prod./Crowne Plaza/Keco | Lola/Menard V6 | 224.750 |
| 18 | 45 | Lyn St. James | Spirit of San Antonio | Lola/Ford Cosworth XB | 224.590 |
| 19 | 27 | Jim Guthrie (R) | Team Blueprint Racing | Lola/Menard V6 | 222.390 |
| 20 | 5 | Arie Luyendyk (W) | Jonathan Byrd's Cafeteria/Bryant H. & C. | Reynard/Ford Cosworth XB | 236.986 |
| 21 | 11 | Scott Sharp | Conseco AJ Foyt Racing | Lola/Ford Cosworth XB | 231.201 |
| 22 | 41 | Marco Greco | AJ Foyt Enterprises | Lola/Ford Cosworth XB | 228.840 |
| 23 | 54 | Robbie Buhl (R) | Original Coors/Beck Motorsports | Lola/Ford Cosworth XB | 226.217 |
| 24 | 96 | Paul Durant (R) | ABF Motorsports/Sunrise Rentals | Lola/Buick | 225.400 |
| 25 | 90 | Racin Gardner (R) | Team Scandia/Slick Gardner Enterprises | Lola/Ford Cosworth XB | 224.450 |
| 26 | 10 | Brad Murphey (R) | Hemelgarn Racing-Delta Faucet | Reynard/Ford Cosworth XB | 226.050 |
| 27 | 16 | Johnny Parsons | Team Blueprint Racing | Lola/Menard V6 | 223.840 |
| 28 | 34 | Fermin Velez (R) | Scandia/Xcel/Royal Purple | Lola/Ford Cosworth XB | 222.480 |
| 29 | 75 | Johnny O'Connell (R) | Mechanics Laundry/Cunningham | Reynard/Ford Cosworth XB | 222.360 |
| 30 | 52 | Hideshi Matsuda | Team Taisan/Beck Motorsports | Lola/Ford Cosworth XB | 226.850 |
| 31 | 43 | Joe Gosek (R) | Scandia/Fanatics Only/Xcel | Lola/Ford Cosworth XB | 222.790 |
| 32 | 44 | Scott Harrington (R) | Gold Eagle/Mechanics Laundry/Harrington/LP | Reynard/Ford Cosworth XB | 222.185 |
| 33 | 32 | Danny Ongais | Glidden Menards | Lola/Menard V6 | 233.710 |
- * complete car name/entrant data not available for all entries
- (R) - Indicates Rookie
- (W) - Indicates Past Winner
- + - Tony Stewart started the 1996 Indianapolis 500 from the Pole Position after Scott Brayton was fatally injured in a practice crash prior to the race.