Townsend Bell confirmed at D&R

Bell last completed a full season in the IRL with Panther Racing in 2004, but has since enjoyed one-off outings with Vision Racing at Michigan in 2005 and the '06 Indianapolis 500. He will drive selected races in the 2008 season, which will include a return to Indy.

"I'm ready to get going," said the 32-year-old, who tested for the D&R Dallara at Sebring on Thursday. "There are a few new things [associated with the car], and obviously the driver has a lot of rust. That showed up on the very first lap. I've done 15 laps in one of these cars on a road course at Sonoma a year and a half ago, and prior to that I hadn't been on a road course in three years.

"This is just a lot of cobwebs getting out of the system. The first couple of laps when the track was green it was like, 'Oh, yeah, these things are pretty fast.' ''

Bell's first race for Dreyer & Reinbold will be at St. Petersburg on April 6, and team co-owner Dennis Reinbold is confident the former International F3000 and Champ Car driver will be ready.

"Townsend fits right into the Dreyer and Reinbold mold," he said. "We've seen what he's done in the past in this series, and we're excited to see him in one of our race cars for this year.

"We're confident that we're making great strides with our race team. To bring in someone like Townsend allows us to gather information from an experienced driver, and at the same time, he can help share information with Milka and help her continue to improve and gain."