Brayton name back on track.

After a miserable debut in which they failed to qualify for last year's Indy 500, Brayton Racing have secured the funds to complete a full 15-race Indy Racing League programme in 2002 with sponsorship from Pit Bull Energy Drinks and a number of other associate sponsors including the fans themselves.

The name Brayton will forever be synonymous with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway thanks to Scott Brayton's two Indy 500 pole positions and then his tragic and untimely death on the final day of practice prior to the 1996 '500 in which he was scheduled to start from pole.

Scott's legacy at Indy survives not only through his family's long-running engine-building business but also through the Scott Brayton award - given each year to the driver at Indy who personifies Scott's love and selfless attitude towards a sport that eventually took his life. Now Brayton has another legacy with the announcement that Brayton Racing will embark on its first full-time assault on the Indy Racing League in 2002.

Set-up by Scott's father Lee and managed by his brother Todd, Brayton Racing will campaign a single Dallara-Chevrolet for Australian single seater exponent John de Vries in all 15 races of the 2002 Indy Racing League season, including the Indianapolis 500.

The team originally made their debut last year at Indy but failed to make the field and thus, didn't have the finances to make another stab in 2001 but after acquiring a five-year deal with Pit Bull Energy Drinks and associate sponsorship from Rhino Cleaning Products and Sprewell Racing the team can now maintain full steam ahead towards the Homestead-Miami Speedway on March 2nd.

Sprewell Racing is run by controversial NBA star and current New York Knicks standout Latrell Sprewell who was once banned for a record 68 games in 1997 for "conduct detrimental to his team" while playing for the Golden State Warriors. However after joining the Knicks, long-time race fan Sprewell has cleaned up his act and has gone on to log more than 12,000 career points.

At 37 years of age, de Vries will be the oldest rookie in the field and he still has to pass his IRL rookie orientation test but after several years in Australia's Formula Holden Championship for ex-Formula 3000 cars he possesses plenty of open-wheel experience despite not having raced in the series since 1999. Obviously time needs to be taken to allow de Vries to adjust to driving on ovals at speeds of over 220mph and both driver and team are slated to participate in the IRL's test in the west prior to the start of the year.

Team Manager Todd Brayton, whose wife Teri becomes the first lady team owner in IRL history, has acquired Tri Star Motorsports equipment and machinery and had hoped to name Mark Dismore as the driver before financial issues intervened. The team will bear the No.37 on its debut and will, of course, used Brayton Engineering engines.

Another ingenuities aspect of Brayton's first full season is a sponsorship promotion whereby fans can donate money to the team in return for merchandise, invitations to IRL events as guests of the team and having their names displayed on the transporters and even the car itself.

Anyone interested should contact Todd Brayton at toddb@braytonracing.com or visit the team's website www.braytonracing.com for further details.