INDY 500: Three Indy 500 champions, 93 cars entered for 84th Indianapolis 500
18 April 2000
Posted By Terry CallahanMotorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
INDIANAPOLIS- Indianapolis 500 champions Al Unser Jr., Buddy Lazier and Eddie Cheever Jr. are among the notable drivers entered for the Greatest Spectacle in Racing, the 84th Indianapolis 500.
Indy Racing Northern Light Series teams filed 48 entries for the 2000 Indy 500, which will take place May 28 at the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Teams entered 93 cars this year, nine more than in 1999.
Unser, driver of the #3 Tickets.com-Starz Encore Superpak G Force/Oldsmobile/Firestone for Galles ECR Racing, will attempt to make his first start at Indy since 1994. Despite that, he has the most "500" starts of any driver entered for the event, with 12.
Unser won the 1992 Indy 500 with team owner Rick Galles by .043 of a second over fellow Northern Light Series competitor Scott Goodyear, the closest margin in race history. Unser joined Penske Racing in 1994 and won Indy again that year. He failed to qualify in 1995, however, becoming the first defending champion ever to do so.
Lazier, of Vail, Colo., currently leads the Northern Light Series point standings. He won the Indy 500 in 1996, placed second in 1998 with Hemelgarn Racing, and will drive the #91 Delta Faucet-Coors Light-Tae-Bo Riley & Scott/Oldsmobile/Firestone this year for Hemelgarn.
Cheever, the 1998 Indy champion, will drive the #51 Excite@Home Dallara/Infiniti/Firestone. Cheever is currently the only Northern Light Series driver utilizing the Nissan Infiniti engine and will seek to bring the engine manufacturer its first pole position and victory at Indy.
Eleven rookies are entered for 2000: Airton Dar (TeamXtreme); Doug Didero (Mid America Motorsports); Dan Drinan (Hemelgarn Racing); Sarah Fisher (Walker Racing); Memo Gidley (Team Pelfrey); Andy Hillenburg (Fast Track Racing Enterprises); Sam Hornish Jr. (PDM Racing); Ronnie Johncox (Jonathan Byrd/McCormack Motorsports); Jaques Lazier (Truscelli Team Racing); Juan Montoya (Target/Chip Ganassi Racing); and Guy Smith (Sinden Racing Service).
Montoya, the defending CART series champion, is entered alongside Jimmy Vasser, the 1996 CART champion and Montoya's teammate at Target/Chip Ganassi Racing. Montoya and Vasser compete fulltime in the CART series and are the only drivers from that series entered for the 84th Indy 500.
Other notable Northern Light Series drivers entered include defending Northern Light Series champion Greg Ray, former Indy 500 Bank One Rookie of the Year honorees Robby McGehee (1999) and Jeff Ward (1997).
Opening Day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is scheduled for May 13, with Pole Day set for May 20 and MBNA Bump Day on May 21.
500 Festival Community Day takes place May 24, and Coors Carb Day, in which drivers and teams qualified for the Indy 500 will have a final practice session, is scheduled for May 25.
The 84th Indianapolis 500 gets underway at Noon (EDT) on May 28. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway will also salute six legends of Indy Racing on the following scheduled days: Joe Leonard (May 14); Duke Nalon (May 15); Emerson Fittipaldi (May 16); Rick Mears (May 17); Mario Andretti (May 18); and Andy Granatelli (May 19).
Text provided by Eric Powell
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