Sprint star Kruseman to make debut at Texas.

Popular sprint-car driver Cory Kruseman will make his Indy Racing League debut with PDM Racing in this weekend's Chevy 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Kruseman, will drive the #18 PDM Racing Dallara-Chevrolet on the 1.5mile oval, aiming to carry his sprint race record into the premier single-seater class.

Few American short-track drivers have enjoyed more success in recent years than the 31-year old, having won the coveted USAC Valvoline Indiana Sprint Week championship this year, with four victories in the eight-race series. He is also the reigning champion in the Sprint Car Racing Association series, winning 15 features en route to the title in 2001. Kruseman is currently second in the 2002 SCRA standings with four victories in the primarily West Coast series.

In 2000, Kruseman won the prestigious Chili Bowl Midget Nationals at Tulsa, after finishing runner-up in the event in 1999. He also scored six SCRA victories in 2000 and finished second in the Non-Winged World Championship series, a title he won in 1999.

Nicknamed 'The Kruser', he has shown his versatility by competing in a variety of vehicles, including USAC Silver Crown cars, sprint cars, midgets, three-quarter midgets, stock cars and karts.

"It's a dream of mine to run an Indy car," Kruseman said, "I'm pretty excited that I've got a great group of people behind me to help make this happen.

"I think my biggest goal is to go out and finish the race. I'd like to get all the laps to get all the experience I can and hopefully not go out and make any rookie mistakes. I think it's neat that a sprint car driver is actually making it. That's where we're all hoping to go, the Infiniti Pro Series and the IRL."

Kruseman passed the IRL rookie test with PDM in February 2002 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, completing the four-phase test in just 81 laps with an unofficial top speed of 207.6mph.