This year marks the 93rd running of the Indy 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and this Centennial Era race is bringing out the big guns, as open-wheel racing's biggest hotshots are already vying for a spot in the prestigious race. Last week, the huge announcement that Richard Petty will be fielding John Andretti for the 2009 Indianapolis 500 was the talk of the town, and now two more competitors are lining up to start their engines at May's big event, as well.
Racing veterans Paul Tracy and Scott Sharp are both expected to be in the driver's seat this May, and everyone with Indianapolis 500 tickets will get to witness these two drivers as they come out to the racetrack to compete in one more running of "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing." Tracy has reportedly scored a deal with KV Racing Technology for the big race (though no formal announcement has been made yet) joining No. 5 Mario Moraes with KV for the Indy 500. Sharp, on the other hand, will join the team of former Indy 500 winner Dan Wheldon and compete in this year's race with Panther Racing, suiting up in the No. 16 Tequila Patron racecar for the big event.
Sharp recently made a statement concerning his return to open-wheel racing, saying, "I can't express how excited I am to be back at the Indianapolis 500, especially with the chance to team with Tequila Patron and Panther Racing. I want to thank Tequila Patron for all of their support and I am excited to showcase the world's No. 1 premium tequila in the world's biggest race. John Barnes and the entire Panther team are relentless in pushing their cars to the top and that has shown in their results. We will be a great combination."
Scott Sharp is the son of racing legend Bob Sharp, and the Norwalk, CT native jumpstarted his luminous racing career with sports cars in his youth, quickly moving up the rungs of the racing realm and eventually diving into open-wheel racing in 1994, driving for Bettenhausen Motorsports and then for A.J. Foyt in the first years of his Champ Car Series career. Sharp's repertoire includes nine IndyCar wins and 35 top five finishes, and in his last Indianapolis 500 race in 2007 he landed a solid sixth place finish. Sharp moved on to the American Le Mans Series in 2008, but will return to the IRL for the Indy 500 on May 24.
Paul Tracy, on the other hand, is from Ontario, Canada and has been racing since the '80s, when he started competing with karts. In 1984, Tracy finished sixth in the World Karting Championship, moving on to the Formula 2000 in 1986 and eventually making his way into the Indy Lights Series, joining Champ Car before winning the 2003 Champ Car World Series. Tracy has also won the prestigious Grand Prix of Long Beach four times, and he has made five Indy 500 starts in his racing career.
Tracy's best run with the Indianapolis race was in 2002, when he was involved in a very controversial battle for first place with Helio Castroneves that ended with a protest and subsequent ruling that a caution flag thrown on the 199th lap came before Tracy passed Castroneves, crowning Castroneves the victor of the race and leaving Tracy in second place.
Paul Tracy will now attempt to avenge his 2002 defeat while Scott Sharp goes in for another chance to better his record, as well. Tickets to the 93rd annual Indianapolis 500 are still available online, so get yours today and head down to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to catch "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing" before it zooms by!
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