John Andretti replaces Howard at Indy

Last year Andretti made a one-off comeback for Indy with Panther Racing, ending a 13-year absence from open wheel racing.

He returned to the Speedway to look for another drive this year, but was pessimistic about his chances prior to the Roth seat becoming available.

Roth have struggled through practice so far, with both rookie Howard and team owner/driver Marty Roth lacking speed all week.

With the situation exacerbated by the loss of practice time to rain, the team felt they could benefit from Andretti's experience.

The 45-year-old contested seven Indy 500s between 1988 and 1994 before his comeback last season, with a best result of fifth in 1991. He had his first taste of the Roth Dallara-Honda in this morning's pre-qualifying practice session, when he was 28th fastest.

"As a result of the days lost due to weather, and losing our chief engineer (David Cripps) days before the start of this month, we found ourselves behind the eight-ball," team president Margaret Roth said.

"John brings with him a wealth of experience, which can help us build two competitive cars for the 500."

Respected engineer Cripps left Roth for Panther Racing last month, but Roth have now recruited Larry Curry, who was recently released from the team manager role at Tony George's Vision Racing squad as a result of the Vision cars' technical infringements in Homestead qualifying.

Roth said Howard's replacement was only a temporary measure for Indianapolis.

"Jay will be back at Milwaukee," Margaret Roth insisted. "He has our full support. He's a great driver."