Canadian Motorsports Hall of Famer Brian Stewart, meanwhile, is fielding a car for a race in his home country for the first time in nearly a decade, with Russian Sergey Mokshantsev putting the #3 machine on the back row of the grid.

"If you take the names out of Canada, Brian Stewart is probably one of the best-known Canadian personalities in motorsports, right up there with the names Villeneuve, Tracy and Carpentier," Roger Bailey, executive director of the Firestone Indy Lights series and a friend of Stewarts for more than 20 years, claimed, "And he's certainly one of the best ambassadors of Canadian motor sports."

Ontario native Stewart has run drivers such as Cristiano da Matta, Bryan Herta, Eric Bachelart and Paul Tracy during his long career as a mechanic and team owner.