McLaren Engines Returns to Indy

LIVONIA, Mich., May 10 /The 86th running of the Indianapolis 500, the Greatest Spectacle in Racing®, marks the return of McLaren Engines to the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway as a Chevrolet engine builder for Rayovac Blair Racing. Alex Barron, of San Diego, California, drives the number 44 Rayovac-sponsored entry.

"As the original engine development company for Bruce McLaren Motor Racing, McLaren Engines has enjoyed a long heritage of racing success with General Motors' powertrains -- beginning with our multiple Chevrolet-based, Canadian American Challenge (Can-Am) championships, through the front row (pole position) performance of the stock-block Buick V6 at the Indianapolis 500. Most recently, our continued involvement with GM Racing led us to LeMans, where we continue to accelerate as the engine development partner for the Cadillac Northstar Prototype (LMP) racer," said Steven Rossi, president and chief executive officer, McLaren Performance Technologies.

According to Hayden Harris, chairman, McLaren Performance Technologies and co-owner of Rayovac Blair Racing, "Considering what Tony George and the Indy Racing League have already contributed to the well-being of the sport, it's only natural that McLaren Engines now accelerate its return to Indy as an engine source -- particularly, with a team that has demonstrated such continuous improvement in short order. We very much look to McLaren Engines and Rayovac Blair Racing as a winning combination."

Wiley McCoy, executive vice president and chief operating officer, McLaren Performance Technologies serves as IRL project leader for the Michigan-based engineering services provider.

McLaren-built engines have appeared at Indianapolis since the late 1960s, and powered Johnny Rutherford's 500 wins in both 1974 and 1976. In addition, a McLaren-made engine sat on the Indy 500 pole in 1985 with Pancho Carter, when McLaren Engines partnered with the Buick Motor Division to create the stock-block V6 race motor.

McLaren Performance Technologies, McLaren Engines' parent company, provides full-service design, development fabrication, manufacturing, testing, validation and certification of automotive powertrains and related components. In addition, it develops and licenses patented traction control technology and has full vehicle development and prototyping capability. The company was established in Livonia, Michigan in 1969, as the engine development company for Bruce McLaren Motor Racing.