The race for
the Borg-Warner Trophy is on, as an interesting mix of three
former winners, five IRL IndyCar® Series champions and eight event
rookies are included on the entry list for the 89th Indianapolis
500 on Sunday, May 29.
Buddy Lazier, Helio Castroneves and defending champion Buddy Rice
are the three past Indy winners on the entry list for the
"Greatest Spectacle in Racing." There are 36 entries for the
33-car field, with 33 drivers named to those entries. A total of
69 cars, including backup cars, are listed on the entries.
The 89th Indianapolis 500 is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. (EDT,
noon local) Sunday, May 29 and will be broadcast live on ABC
Sports and the IMS Radio Network. On-track activity starts Sunday,
May 8 on indystar.com Opening Day.
This year's Indianapolis 500 features a variety of exciting
changes designed to benefit fans and teams. Changes include:
.A new start time of one hour later than in past years. The new
start time moves the event into a better time slot for national
television viewers and also provides more time for hundreds of
thousands of race fans to arrive at the track on Race Day morning.
.A new qualifying format that produces bumping on each day of
qualifying. There also will be a return to the traditional four
days of qualifying, expanding from the three days of recent years.
MBNA Pole Day is scheduled for Saturday, May 14, with Rubber Queen
Second Day Qualifying on Sunday, May 15, Third Day Qualifying on
Saturday, May 21 and Bump Day on Sunday, May 22.
.A new date for Miller Lite Carb Day, which shifts to Friday, May
27 from its past Thursday date. The Futaba Freedom 100 also moves
to Miller Lite Carb Day, a new date for that Menards Infiniti Pro
Series race.
.A new schedule for practice days, with on-track activity taking
place from noon-6 p.m. each day except for May 8-9, one hour less
of track time per day than in past years.
.A new schedule for the Rookie Orientation Program, which returns
to its traditional Month of May slot, as ROP will take place
during the first two days of practice, May 8-9.
Rice will attempt to become just the sixth driver to win the
Borg-Warner Trophy as race winner for two consecutive years. He
will drive the No. 15 Rahal Letterman Racing Argent Pioneer
Panoz/Honda/Firestone.
One of those winners of two consecutive races, Castroneves,
returns in the No. 3 Marlboro Team Penske
Dallara/Toyota/Firestone. 2001-02 Indy winner Castroneves also
will attempt to join an elite club, becoming only the ninth driver
to win the race three times.
1996 race winner and 2000 IndyCar Series champion Lazier will
drive for two-time series champion Panther Racing this year in the
No. 95 Panther/Jonathan Byrd's/ESPN 950 AM
Dallara/Chevrolet/Firestone.
Other past series champions named to entries include Tony Kanaan
(2004) in the No. 11 Team 7-Eleven Dallara/Honda/Firestone, Scott
Dixon (2003) in the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing
Panoz/Toyota/Firestone, Sam Hornish Jr. (2001-02) in the No. 6
Marlboro Team Penske Dallara/Toyota/Firestone and Scott Sharp
(1996) in the No. 8 Delphi Panoz/Honda/Firestone.
Among the rookies is Danica Patrick in the No. 16 Rahal Letterman
Racing Argent Pioneer Panoz/Honda/Firestone. She will attempt to
become just the fourth woman to race in the Indianapolis 500,
following Janet Guthrie, Lyn St. James and Sarah Fisher.
Another rookie named to an entry is defending Champ Car World
Series champion Sebastien Bourdais, who is part of the first
two-car entry from Newman Haas Racing at Indy since 1995.
Bourdais will drive the No. 37 Newman Haas Racing Team Centrix
Panoz/Honda/Firestone alongside his teammate, 2002 MBNA Pole
winner Bruno Junqueira, who will drive the No. 36 Newman Haas
Racing Team Centrix Panoz/Honda/Firestone.
Five past Indianapolis 500 JPMorgan Chase Bank Rookies of the Year
will attempt to qualify: Kosuke Matsuura (2004) in the No. 55
Panasonic ARTA Panoz/Honda/Firestone, Alex Barron (co-2002) in the
No. 51 Red Bull Cheever Racing Dallara/Toyota/Firestone, Tomas
Scheckter (co-2002) in the No. 4 Pennzoil Panther
Dallara/Chevrolet/Firestone, Castroneves (2001) and Jeff Ward
(1997) in the No. 22 Vision Racing Dallara/Toyota/Firestone.
Defending IndyCar Series champion Andretti Green Racing entered
eight cars, more than any other team. Entering six cars apiece
were A.J. Foyt Enterprises, Marlboro Team Penske, Panther Racing,
Rahal Letterman Racing and Target Chip Ganassi Racing. Fernandez
Racing is connected to six entries, two apiece for Delphi
Fernandez Racing, Mo Nunn Fernandez Racing and Super Aguri
Fernandez Racing.
The most prevalent chassis manufacturer among the entries is
Dallara with 39. Toyota is the most prominent engine, with 28. All
cars will use Firestone tires.
Former MBNA Pole winners (4): Helio Castroneves (2003), Bruno
Junqueira (2002), Buddy Rice (2004), Scott Sharp (2001).
Former JPMorgan Chase Bank Rookies of the Year (5): Alex Barron
(2002), Helio Castroneves (2001), Kosuke Matsuura (2004), Tomas
Scheckter (2002), Jeff Ward (1997).
Rookies (8): Sebastien Bourdais, Ryan Briscoe, Jeff Bucknum,
Patrick Carpentier, Paul Dana, Tomas Enge, Scott Mayer, Danica
Patrick.
U.S. born (16): Alex Barron, Jeff Bucknum, Ed Carpenter, Paul
Dana, A.J. Foyt IV, Larry Foyt, Richie Hearn, Bryan Herta, Sam
Hornish Jr., Buddy Lazier, Jaques Lazier, Scott Mayer, Danica
Patrick, Buddy Rice, Scott Sharp, Roger Yasukawa.
Foreign born (17): Sebastien Bourdais, France; Ryan Briscoe,
Australia; Patrick Carpentier, Canada; Helio Castroneves, Brazil;
Scott Dixon, New Zealand; Tomas Enge, Czech Republic; Adrian
Fernandez, Mexico; Dario Franchitti, Scotland; Bruno Junqueira,
Brazil; Tony Kanaan, Brazil; Darren Manning, England; Kosuke
Matsuura, Japan; Vitor Meira, Brazil; Marty Roth, Canada; Tomas
Scheckter, South Africa; Jeff Ward, Scotland; Dan Wheldon,
England.
Youngest: A.J. Foyt IV, 20.
Oldest: Marty Roth, 46.
Most previous starts: Buddy Lazier, 12.
CARS (69)
Chassis: Dallara 39, Panoz 27, TBA 3.
Engines: Toyota 28, Honda 26, Chevrolet 11, TBA 4.
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