Hearn bids to show his worth.

Richie Hearn has admitted that he is banking on a decent run in Sunday's Indianapolis 500 to give his racing career a boost after several years out of the limelight.

The former Champ Car and Indy Racing League stalwart has concentrated on building up his eponymous development squad in recent seasons but, having squeezed the Hemelgarn/Racing Professionals entry onto the back row of the 500 grid, he admits that he has not been idle as far as his own career is concerned.

"I'm really trying to get back full-time," he insisted, "It's not like I choose to do this one race a year. It's very tough to find a ride but, hopefully, I can have a good run next week and get something for next year."

Hearn revealed that his entire presence at the Brickyard had been down to a combination of coincidence and good faith from those running him.

"Ron [Hemelgarn] loved this place, but he sold all his cars to Racing Professionals and Jon Herb," he explained, "However, I think he decided he wanted to do it again. He leased this car back from Jon, but unfortunately Jon had an accident last week so they had to put it together. Ron just called me. He knew I was coming here for a ride. We kept working on it and working on it - I tried to find some money, but none of my deals came through. Then Jon and Ron decided to do it anyways and really stuck their necks out for me. I have to thank them. Hopefully, I can give them a good race next week and have a good run.

"I felt positive that I could get something. There weren't a lot of rides available without bringing money. I tried, but I couldn't put anything together. Ron and Jon had some offers from some guys with money, but they decided to put their trust in me. I know Ron is working on some stuff. Sometimes sponsors are wary about doing something before you're in the race. Now you can go back and say 'I'm in the biggest sporting event in the world. You need to be a part of it'. Hopefully, we can put some stuff together. I don't know how it is going to happen, but hopefully it will."

Incredibly, Hearn hasn't even sat in a racecar since Indianapolis two seasons ago, but insisted that the lure of running was too good to ignore.

"I've been in some go-kart races, but I don't count that," he smiled, "It's been two years since I drove anything, but I try not to think about that too much.

"This is the greatest race in the world, and anyone who doesn't say that hasn't been a part of it. Once you do it one time, you want it again. Last year, I had a lot of things going on and I just couldn't be here but, this year, I decided to say 'screw it.' My team raced this weekend, and I put my truck driver in charge!

"I had to be here. I was not happy watching the race on TV last year. I remember where I was watching it on TV in a bar. I was not a happy guy to be with. The one place about this place is that it rewards experience. I know that if I could get here and if there was an opportunity, then people would look at me since I've had success here. That's what I had hoped to happen. I didn't get my ticket until the Friday, but I got on a plane and flew here and hoped for the best."

Despite his optimism, Hearn is also realistic about his prospects.

"I think we could finish in the top 15," he reasoned, "You have to be optimistic. You don't really want to say that, because you come here to win, but I'm not going to beat the other teams that do this all the time. Something really bad would have to happen to them for us to win. But my sixth-place finish was because Mark Dismore had crashed, so I didn't get in the car until the second week, and look how we finished. You just have to stay out of trouble and let it fall how it falls. If I finish the race and I'm not in the top 15, then I will be disappointed."

The veteran allowed his experience to count on Bump Day, taking the Hemelgarn/Racing Professionals car and making sure it was in the race, without pushing the envelope too far in terms of set-up. As a result, he hopes that there is more to come on race day.

"There is definitely more in the car," Hearn said, "We're not very trimmed out. There just wasn't a reason to stretch it that much. What's the difference between starting 33rd or a couple spots better? So what if I could be a couple a miles faster? If it came down to that, then I could have squeezed more out of it, no problem. The car is very solid, and I'd rather get it in and get out there in practice and work in traffic."