It's Miller Time again at Indy.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Miller Brewing Company officials announced on Friday morning (before the bar opened no less!!) that the Miller Lite brand is returning to IMS as the official beer for the Indy 500 and Brickyard 400.

Miller Lite will be a major sponsor at the Speedway during the Indianapolis 500 on May 25th for the IRL IndyCar Series and the Brickyard 400 on August 3rd for the NASCAR Winston Cup Series stock cars. The brewery has had a presence at the Speedway dating back to the 1973 Indianapolis 500 when Miller High Life sponsored the car driven by Jim 'Herk' Hurtubise.

"Miller is very happy to continue our great association with the Hulman-George family and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway," said Steve Lauletta, director of event marketing for Miller. "We have had a tremendous relationship with the Speedway for several decades, and we are very excited to be again be a partner at the world's greatest racing facility. We look forward to working with the Speedway in the future."

Miller Brewing, which began racing sponsorships on a national basis in 1971, has been involved in many forms of motorsports over 30 years, including open-wheel cars, stock cars, drag racing machines, sports cars, hydroplane boats and off-road vehicles.

In 2003, Miller Lite will be the a primary sponsor on the No. 15 Team Rahal Dallara-Honda driven by 1999 "500" winner Kenny Brack during the May 25th running Indianapolis 500 and on the No.2 Penske Racing Dodge Intrepid driven by 1989 Winston Cup champion Rusty Wallace at the Brickyard 400 on August 3rd.

Miller began its association as a sponsor with the Speedway in 1977 with the "Wall of Fame" at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum and served as primary sponsor of the Indianapolis 500 Carb Day Pit Stop Contest for 18 years.

"The relationship with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Miller Brewing Company dates back to my grandfather's (Tony Hulman) era," said Tony George, president and CEO of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. "Miller's involvement in this sport is legendary, and we are very pleased to bring back such a major motorsports leader to the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400. Our local Miller distributor, Monarch Beverage, has been a big supporter of our events for decades, and we look forward to working with them on our two big races in May and August."

The 2003 racing season marks the 31st season Miller has been an open-wheel racing sponsor beginning in 1973 as a team sponsor.

Miller Brewing has been associated with six victories at the Indianapolis 500 including primary sponsorship of the car driven by Danny Sullivan in 1985 - the year of his famous "Spin and Win." Miller was also an associate sponsor with Rick Mears in 1984, 1988 and 1991, Al Unser in 1987 and Arie Luyendyk in 1997.