Hemelgarn confirm Indy entry for Lazier.

After confirming that they would be racing in this weekend's Purex Dial Indy 200 at the Phoenix International Raceway, Hemelgarn Racing and Buddy Lazier also officially entered the Indy 500 this week.

Buddy Lazier's tenure with Hemelgarn Racing reached a low ebb when they were forced to sit out the opening round of the 2003 Indy Racing League IndyCar Series earlier this month at Homestead. Although their funding for the rest of the season remains uncertain, Hemelgarn and Lazier gave their fans a boost by officially filing an entry for the 87th running of the Indianapolis 500 shortly after confirming their entry for the second round of the 2003 Series at Phoenix.

Lazier, from Vail, Colorado, will drive the No. 91 Hemelgarn/Life Fitness/Delta Faucet Dallara/Chevrolet/Firestone car, attempting to qualify for his 11th Indianapolis 500. The team also entered an identical backup car.

2000 IRL IndyCar Series champion Lazier has one of the most remarkable finishing records in recent "500" history, having won with Hemelgarn in 1996, followed by finished of fourth, second, seventh and second from 1997-2000, respectively. He finished 18th in 2001 despite losing a cylinder early in the race and 15th in 2002.

Lazier and team owner Ron Hemelgarn have one of the longest-running partnerships in open-wheel racing, having competed together in every Indianapolis 500 since 1996, and also in 1991 when he made his first career "500" start for Hemelgarn-Byrd Racing.

Managing Hemelgarn Racing's 2003 program will be two other long-time team employees: team manager Lee Kunzman and chief mechanic Dennis LaCava.