Chastain reunion gives Gregoire Indy shot.

A decade after he formed Chastain Motorsports to field a car in the Indycar Series, Indianapolis entrepreneur Tom Chastain is reunited key members of the team for a ten-year anniversary Indianapolis 500 programme.

Veteran crew chief Darrell Soppe, who held the same position on Chastain's original team, will once again head the programme and be reunited with the team's original driver, Stephan Gregoire.

Chastain was one of the original team owners who joined the Indycar Series when a totally new chassis was first introduced in 1997. In its two seasons of competition, the squad became known for its distinctive 'blue car' and achieving results that far surpassed its resources. With Gregoire at the wheel, the team finished in the top ten in half of its races, and came within a fraction of a second of victory when finishing second to Tony Stewart at Pikes Peak in 1997.

"Growing up in Indianapolis, I never dreamed I would ever be able to field a car in this race," Chastain said of the 500, "We had a real promising programme back in the '90s, with very talented and dedicated people and encouraging results, but we couldn't find a way to financially sustain ourselves. Being a part of Stephan's effort last year is what made me think about doing the 500 again and, when I realised that 2007 would mark ten years since the launch of my original team, that just gave me the reason I needed to return to the Speedway."

Gregoire competed in last year's race in the EFFEN Vodka Team Leader Special, and Chastain's company, electrical contracting firm Miller-Eads, was an associate sponsor of that effort. The new car will once again sport its distinctive blue livery as well as its #77.

"We've purchased two beautifully-prepared Panoz chassis, plus equipment and support from Rahal Letterman Racing," Chastain revealed, "I intend to field a quality programme, not only for this year, but also again in 2008."

Sponsorship for the effort is being generated through an innovative programme for the promotion of the Linux computer operating system. The community of individuals who have collectively developed Linux is being mobilised to promote Linux using the visibility of the world's most famous race. The brand's cherubic penguin mascot - affectionately known as Tux - will be featured on the car.