THE SIDELINES : Penske Enters 8 Cars at Indy

The Penske Racing team entered eight cars and three drivers in the Indianapolis 500 today, including defending champion Emerson Fittipaldi and three-time winner Rick Mears.

Fittipaldi, who last year became the Speedway’s first million-dollar race winner, left the Patrick Racing team at the end of the season and joined Mears and former winner Danny Sullivan on a team that has dominated Indy-car racing with victories in the 500 four of the last six years and seven times overall.

The eight Penske-Chevrolet entries--two for each of the three former winners and two others with no driver listed--raised the total received by the Speedway to 51.