Ganassi first team to enter Indy 500

Chip Ganassi Racing, which won the opening race of this year's IRL IndyCar championship with driver Scott Dixon, has become the first team to officially enter this year's Indianapolis 500

Mar 6, 2003, 12:49 PM

Team owner Chip Ganassi filed entries for the 87th running of the world famous race at Indy Racing League headquarters on Wednesday (yesterday), with both Dixon and team-mate Tomas Scheckter on hand to help him submit the paperwork. It was the first day on which entries for the event were accepted.

Dixon, Ganassi and the team are still buzzing from their surprising win in the Toyota Indy 300 at Homestead. In his first IRL event, Dixon started 12th but surged through the field to take the lead from Gil de Ferran with 53 laps left.

"I had a lot of fun," said Dixon, whose expertise is in road racing. "Even if I hadn't won, for 90 percent of the race I had a smile on my face just because I could race other guys. It's just something different. I loved it."

Entry invitations for the 500 were mailed Wednesday to eligible race teams. Entries must be postmarked by April 2. All drivers named to an Indianapolis 500 entry will compete for one of the 33 starting spots in the race.