Five graduates of the Cooper Tires Presents the USF2000 National Championship Powered by Mazda will be among the starting field for this year’s Centennial Indianapolis 500 which will take the green flag at 12:00 EDT next Sunday, May 29, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Dan Wheldon, who captured the 1999 USF2000 title with six wins and 11 podiums as well as Rookie of the Year honors, will be the highest-placed alumnus when he lines up on the outside of Row Two in the #98 William Rast/aigo/Curb/Big Machine/Forsythe Solutions car entered by Bryan Herta Autosport. Wheldon, the 2005 Indy 500 winner, has finished second the past two years at the Speedway.

Also among the starting field will be 2004 Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy Rice (seventh-fastest qualifier in the #44 Panther Racing entry), who finished fourth in the series in 1997; 2006 USF2000 National Champion J.R. Hildebrand (12th-fastest qualifier in the #4 National Guard/Panther Racing entry and highest-placed Rookie in the field); 2005 USF2000 National Champion Jay Howard (21st-fastest qualifier in the #88 Service Central/Sam Schmidt Motorsports/Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing car); and Charlie Kimball (29th qualifier in the #83 Levemir and NovoLog FlexPen/Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing), who finished third in the 2003 title-chase.

Official starting lineup for 100th Anniversary Indianapolis 500:

1. (77) Alex Tagliani, Dallara-Honda, 02:38.2613 (227.472)
2. (9) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 02:38.3528 (227.340)
3. (2) Oriol Servia, Dallara-Honda, 02:38.4727 (227.168)
4. (99) Townsend Bell, Dallara-Honda, 02:38.6696 (226.887)
5. (12) Will Power, Dallara-Honda, 02:38.7493 (226.773)
6. (98) Dan Wheldon, Dallara-Honda, 02:38.9477 (226.171)
7. (44) Buddy Rice, Dallara-Honda, 02:39.4431 (225.786)
8. (67) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Honda, 02:39.9137 (225.121)
9. (10) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 02:39.0253 (226.379)
10. (5) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 02:39.4785 (225.736)
11. (14) Vitor Meira, Dallara-Honda, 02:39.5814 (225.590)
12. (4) JR Hildebrand, Dallara-Honda, 02:39.5895 (225.579)
13. (06) James Hinchcliffe, Dallara-Honda, 02:39.5942 (225.572)
14. (30) Bertrand Baguette, Dallara-Honda, 02:39.7973 (225.285)
15. (11) Davey Hamilton, Dallara-Honda, 02:39.8223 (225.250)
16. (3) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 02:39.8464 (225.216)
17. (43) John Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 02:40.0133 (224.981)
18. (59) EJ Viso, Dallara-Honda, 02:40.1907 (224.732)
19. (41) Bruno Junqueira, Dallara-Honda, 02:40.2203 (224.691)
20. (22) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 02:40.3488 (224.511)
21. (88) Jay Howard, Dallara-Honda, 02:40.3685 (224.483)
22. (07) Tomas Scheckter, Dallara-Honda, 02:40.4040 (224.433)
23. (82) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 02:40.4156 (224.417)
24. (78T) Simona de Silvestro, Dallara-Honda, 02:40.4335 (224.392)
25. (23) Paul Tracy, Dallara-Honda, 02:40.0433 (224.939)
26. (7) Danica Patrick, Dallara-Honda, 02:40.0987 (224.861)
27. (6T) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Honda, 02:40.2572 (224.639)
28. (26) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 02:40.2648 (224.628)
29. (83) Charlie Kimball, Dallara-Honda, 02:40.3574 (224.499)
30. (38) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 02:40.4424 (224.380)
31. (19) Alex Lloyd, Dallara-Honda, 02:40.7451 (223.957)
32. (36) Pippa Mann, Dallara-Honda, 02:40.7600 (223.936)
33. (24) Ana Beatriz, Dallara-Honda, 02:40.8012 (223.879)