INDIANAPOLIS — Emerson Fittipaldi, the 1989 and 1993 Indianapolis 500 winner, returned to Indianapolis Motor Speedway last week along with the Chevrolet Corvette E85 that will serve as the Pace Car for the 92nd Indianapolis 500.
“I’m very happy for the Speedway to invite me to be here as well,” said the man who also won two Formula One World Championships. “Every time I walk in the Speedway and I drive into the Speedway, I feel goose bumps. This place is magic. I’m very, very happy to be back here on the special year for the unification of open-wheel racing in America.
“I think open-wheel racing is going to get strong again. We have already some very good races this year.”
Fittipaldi’s son-in-law is Max Papis, who will be returning to Indianapolis to make another run at the Indy 500 as a driver.
“I’m very happy that Max is going to drive again,” Fittipaldi said. “Max is very enthusiastic. It will be a family get-together again. I will be here with my daughter, and I think we’re going to have fun. I hope Max can do well. I always loved the oval tracks; he always did well in oval. It will be a challenge for him again to be back in Indianapolis.”

• Graham Rahal was scheduled to appear on “The Late Show with David Letterman” April 16. Rahal became the youngest winner in a major open-wheel racing series at 19 years and 93 days old when he won the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. 

• Fresh with new choppers after getting his teeth fixed in the offseason, Dan Wheldon is ready to add a new smile to the face on the Borg-Warner Trophy if he wins the Indianapolis 500 for a second time in 2008.
“For me it’s definitely the biggest event of the year,” Wheldon said. “There’s a lot of history behind it, but there are a lot of reasons why I’m so passionate about the event. I think obviously, you know, it’s the one event where you get to be in the car nearly every day of the month. That’s something that I love to do.
“The history and tradition and the fact the track is such a challenge. It’s one of those tracks where we can run the wing angle of our choice, and if you do a good job, you can actually get a very good mechanical balance and have a very fast race car that’s very rewarding to drive. But it’s a great facility; it’s never the same any one particular day. I’ve been able to see what it’s done for my career by winning the event. I think, you know, I’d love to have that feeling again.”

• With Coca-Cola and DirecTV as the IndyCar Series two newest sponsors, IndyCar President, Commercial Division Terry Angstadt has a few more deals he believes will be completed in the near future.
“There are a lot of conversations, proposals,” Angstadt said. “Believe me, we’re just getting started. No one is suggesting that this is all the way there yet, and we’re working real hard at more announcements to come, yes.
“We are hard at work at securing a title sponsor. There are a number of likely suspects out there that really align well with our brand attributes. If you really think about what we have established as when you think of IndyCar, what do you think of, and that is speed, technology and innovation, diversity and green. Then, if you think of companies that can also align their brands or their goals or their business objectives with those brand attributes, you have a pretty wide field to choose from.
“If you think of technology companies, cell phones, mobile platforms, financial services, it’s a pretty wide field. We’ve cast our net pretty wide. So now, when you’re looking for an investment of that scale, do you typically get those mid-year? No. But we want to secure that this year for a roll out next year.
“If something happens before that, fantastic, but that’s our goal.”