Conseco backs Foyt, Hattori on board.

Finance house Conseco has been conformed as title sponsor of the car to be driven by IndyCar rookie AJ Foyt IV in this year's Indy Racing League Series, while team owner AJ Foyt has also announced that his grandson will be partnered by IRL veteran Shigeaki Hattori for the first four races of the year.

Indianapolis-based Conseco, one of America's leading insurance, investment and lending companies, has a long history with the Foyt family, having backed its NASCAR Winston Cup entry for several years. It also backed the team in the inaugural IRL series, helping Scott Sharp to a share of the title in 1996, and has been an associate sponsor in the years since.

It returns to title sponsorship with the younger Foyt IV who, at 18, graduates to the IRL IndyCar Series after winning the supporting Infiniti Pro Series in its first year in 2002. He will drive the #14 Conseco Panoz G-Force-Toyota owned by his four-time Indy 500 winning grandfather.

"I think it is a great opportunity to come in my freshman year and be with such a great team, with my grandfather, and a great sponsor like Conseco and a great crew," Foyt IV said, "I think we should do well this year. All I have to do is do my job. I think the pressure is more this year than last year. Last year there was no real pressure to go out there and win, but this year I feel the pressure to perform because I did so well last year. People expect me to come in and do well this year."

Foyt won four of seven starts and earned three poles in the Infiniti Pro Series.

"The Infiniti Pro Series was a big help," he continued, "I'm further ahead than I was before the Pro Series. It is a good thing for all of the young drivers to go there before coming to the IndyCar Series. I know it helped me a lot."

The return of Conseco as title sponsor means a lot to the team patron, too, and not just because it is his grandson in the driving seat.

"Conseco and I have been partners for many years, and the first year we tied for the championship with Scott Sharp," Foyt Sr said, "It's great to have them back because they've been such a great sponsor through the years.

"AJ IV is making a big step right here. I told him, this is probably the worst year you could come in with guys like Kenny Brack, who drove for me, and Michael Andretti and all of them [coming into the series]."

Foyt Jr will at least be able to count on a team-mate for the first four events of 2003, although not necessarily in the shape he expected. Brazilian Airton Dare - a former Foyt runner - was expected to fill a second seat at the team, but his failure to capture a sizeable budget has allowed Hattori to sneak in the back door with support from Epson.

"We've got Shigeaki here in the other car, and I look for a nice performance out of both of these boys," Foyt Sr said, "Shiggy's got a little more experience than pee-wee [AJ IV] over here, but pee-wee's got to step up."

The 39-year old Japan veteran will drive the #5 car as he looks to expand on a 23-race IRL career which has so far yielded eleven top-ten finishes and a best result of sixth.

"I came to the US in 1995, and AJ is my hero," Hattori said, "He is really famous, the most famous auto racer in the US, and I'm really excited to be with AJ.

"He is a big name in Japan. Everybody knows the name AJ Foyt. I'm so happy and so excited right now."

The IndyCar Series season starts with the Toyota Indy 300 on 2 March at Homestead-Miami Speedway.