80th Indy 500 Entry Invitations Sent Out

03/20/96

The Indy Racing League has announced that it sent out entry invitations to 38 teams that are being invited to compete for 33 of the starting positions in the 80th running of the Indy 500, which is scheduled for May 26th.

Last year's purse for the Indy 500 was $8,063,550 and Jacques Villeneuve, who won the 1995 event but now races formula one cars on the FIA circuit, took home $1,312,019. The sizeable purse has made the Indy 500 the richest racing payday.

Among the race car drivers expected to enter the event will be Roberto Guerrero and Arie Luyendyk. In 1992 Guerrero set the official Speedway records for both one lap (232.618 mph) and four lap (232.482 mph) qualifying runs. Luyendyk won the Indy 500 in 1990 and set the Indianapolis 500-mile race record of 185.981 mph.

All reserved seats for the race are already sold out. The event will be broadcast live by ABC Sports. The next IRL event will be the Dura-Lube 200 race at Phoenix International Raceway Sunday, March 24. The Dura-Lube 200 will also be televised live by ABC Sports.

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Paul Dever -- The Auto Channel