Luczo Dragon join the IRL IndyCar regulars

The entry list for the 91st running of the Indianapolis 500 offers a few surprises sprinkled in among the expected participants. More notable than the actual entries themselves though is the number of entrants.

It is no secret that the Indy 500 has struggled the last few years in filling the field of 33 starters. While still managing to do so each year, just making the race was no longer an accomplishment in itself but a foregone conclusion if you could afford to enter.

The allure of the Speedway and the Indy 500 never went away for many team owners but the cost to participate had grown to the point of making it unattractive from a financial perspective. A host of changes brought on by the IndyCar Series and engine manufacturer Honda have made the biggest impact on attracting prospective teams. Most notably, the starting point for engine lease prices has been brought in under $100,000 for an Indy only program.

While the last few years have featured many extra entries from the better funded teams to fill the field, that is not the case this year. Three brand new teams Luczo Dragon Racing, SAMAX Motorsport and Cabbie Motorsports join a host of Indy specialists. Luczo Dragon, while a new team in their first ever race, enjoys a rather exceptional benefit in the support of Penske Racing courtesy of team co-owner Jay Penske being the son of Roger Penske. The team will lease equipment from Penske Racing and also utilize Penske's ALMS driver Ryan Briscoe. Grand Am regulars SAMAX mark their first foray in to IndyCar Racing with driver Milka Duno as part of a program that includes nine additional IndyCar races. Cabbie Motorsports on the other hand is an Indy only program with no driver named at this point.

Several Indy specialists return for the 2007 Indy 500 including the current Indy Pro Series powerhouse team Sam Schmidt Motorsports with 1996 Indy 500 Champion Buddy Lazier. Long time team owner Greg Beck has dabbled in stock car racing recently but has returned to his roots in IndyCar Racing. Beck will have two cars in the field as co-owner of CURB Agajanian Beck Motorsports while also running a third car for Team Leader Racing. Team Leader returns for their second 500 in a row bringing driver PJ Jones, son of Indy 500 winner Parnelli Jones.

Chastain Motorsports and Racing Professionals return to Indianapolis as well after a hiatus. Chastain ran in the early years of the Indy Racing League including several Indy 500 races while Racing Professionals and owner/driver Jon Herb make the move up from the Indy Pro Series. Chastain will reunite with Frenchman Stephan Gregoire, one of their original drivers in IndyCar Racing.

Three seasoned IndyCar teams not currently racing full time in the IndyCar Series, Hemelgarn Racing, Playa Del Racing (2) and PDM Racing have filed entries with no driver.

IndyCar regulars filing additional entries without a driver are limited this season to Penske, Panther Racing Vision Racing and AJ Foyt Enterprises. Panther has filed one additional entry which is expected to be the most coveted among the open seats while Foyt has filed two additional entries including the #50 in honor of his fiftieth year in motorsports. The Penske entry is a bit of a surprise and could possibly be transferred to a yet to be announced team. A fourth entry for Vision on the other hand had been expected. While it to could be transferred it is more likely that the team will run this car in addition to their three regular IndyCar teams, potentially with Townsend Bell returning for a second year after an impressive rookie performance.

The remainder of the entries consist of the 18 full time Indy Car combinations plus two part time entries - Penske (2), Vision (3), Foyt (1), Panther (2), Dreyer & Reinbold Racing (2), Rahal Letterman Racing (2), Target Chip Ganassi Racing (2), Andretti Green (5) and Roth Racing (1). Andretti Green will field a car for team co-owner Michael Andretti once again while owner/driver Marty Roth returns behind the wheel of his own machine. The actual entries stand at 38 with 26 drivers being named already. Two Indy Pro Series teams, Michael Crawford Motorsports and SpeedWorks could still make the list potentially with sports car ace Shane Lewis getting the nod from MCM while Eddie Cheever has discussed entering the race with driver Max Papis. With drivers such as Alex Barron, Davey Hamilton, Al Unser Jr, Ryan Hunter-Reay, PJ Chesson, Jeff Bucknum, Roger Yasukawa and Jaques Lazier still in the mix, the 2007 version of the Indy 500 could see a return to the days when making the race was an accomplishment in itself.

ORS / CAPSIS International