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Indianapolis 500 Starting Grid - 1988
| Position | Car Num. | Driver | Car Name/Entrant* | Make/Model | Qual Speed |
| 1 | 5 | Rick Mears (W) | Pennzoil Z-7 | Penske/Chevrolet Indy | 219.190 |
| 2 | 9 | Danny Sullivan (W) | Miller High Life | Penske/Chevrolet Indy | 216.210 |
| 3 | 1 | Al Unser (W) | Hertz | Penske/Chevrolet Indy | 215.270 |
| 4 | 6 | Mario Andretti (W) | Amoco/Kmart | Lola/Chevrolet Indy | 214.690 |
| 5 | 3 | Al Unser Jr. | Team Valvoline/Strohs | March/Chevrolet Indy | 214.186 |
| 6 | 7 | Arie Luyendyk | Provimi Veal | Lola/Cosworth | 213.611 |
| 7 | 91 | Scott Brayton | Amway Spirit/Lifecycle | Lola/Buick | 212.620 |
| 8 | 20 | Emerson Fittipaldi | Marlboro | March/Chevrolet Indy | 212.510 |
| 9 | 10 | Derek Daly | Raynor Garage Doors | Lola/Cosworth | 212.290 |
| 10 | 18 | Michael Andretti | Kraco | March/Cosworth | 210.183 |
| 11 | 24 | Randy Lewis | Toshiba/Oracle/Altos | Lola/Cosworth | 209.770 |
| 12 | 2 | Roberto Guerrero | STP/Dianetics | Lola/Cosworth | 209.630 |
| 13 | 11 | Kevin Cogan | Schaefer/Playboy Fashions | March/Cosworth | 209.550 |
| 14 | 81 | Tom Sneva (W) | Pizza Hut/WRTV | Lola/Judd | 208.650 |
| 15 | 97 | Phil Krueger | CNC Systems/Taylor Dist. | March/Cosworth | 208.210 |
| 16 | 22 | Dick Simon | Uniden/Soundesign | Lola/Cosworth | 207.550 |
| 17 | 8 | Teo Fabi | Quaker State/Porsche | March/Porsche Indy | 207.240 |
| 18 | 15 | Jim Crawford | Mac Tools/King/Protofab | Lola/Buick | 210.560 |
| 19 | 4 | Bobby Rahal (W) | Budweiser | Lola/Judd | 208.520 |
| 20 | 30 | Raul Boesel | Domino's Pizza | Lola/Cosworth | 211.058 |
| 21 | 92 | Dominic Dobson (R) | Moore Industries/Columbia Helecopters | Lola/Cosworth | 210.090 |
| 22 | 14 | A.J. Foyt (W) | Copenhagen-Gilmore | Lola/Cosworth | 209.690 |
| 23 | 56 | Bill Vukovich III (R) | Genesee Beer/EZ Wider | March/Cosworth | 208.540 |
| 24 | 16 | Tony Bettenhausen Jr. | Hardee's/Sony | Lola/Cosworth | 208.340 |
| 25 | 23 | Tero Palmroth (R) | Bronson/Neste/Editor | Lola/Cosworth | 208.000 |
| 26 | 35 | Steve Chassey | Kasale Recycling | March/Cosworth | 207.950 |
| 27 | 98 | John Andretti (R) | Skoal Bandit | Lola/Cosworth | 207.890 |
| 28 | 48 | Rocky Moran (R) | Skoal/Trench Shoring | March/Cosworth | 207.180 |
| 29 | 84 | Stan Fox | Copenhagen/Calumet Farms | March/Chevrolet | 208.570 |
| 30 | 17 | Johnny Rutherford (W) | Mac Tools/King/Protofab | Lola/Buick | 208.440 |
| 31 | 71 | Ludwig Heimrath, Jr. | MacKenzie Funds | Lola/Cosworth | 207.210 |
| 32 | 29 | Rich Vogler | Byrd's/Pepsi/Bryant | March/Cosworth | 207.120 |
| 33 | 21 | Howdy Holmes | Jiffy Mixes | March/Cosworth | 206.970 |
