INDIANAPOLIS -- Target Ganassi Racing, a four-time CART series champion that won the Indianapolis 500 last year, will return to the Indy Racing League's premier event in May with two rookie drivers.

	Chip Ganassi celebrates Juan Montoya's win at the 2000 Indianapolis 500.

Bruno Junqueira and Nicolas Minassian, who last season finished 1-2 in the Formula 3000 series, will replace the departed Juan Montoya and Jimmy Vasser.

"Last year, Team Target found out how much time and effort it takes to field a competitive team at the Indy 500, but we also found out what a great feeling it is when that hard work pays off with a win," car owner Chip Ganassi said Monday. "We realize that it's difficult to come in here with rookies and win the race, but it can be done."

Montoya led 167 of 200 laps last year and became the first rookie winner at Indianapolis since Graham Hill in 1966. But he left Ganassi for the Williams team in Formula One.

Junqueira and Minassian will make their CART debuts on Sunday in Monterrey, Mexico.

"In the back of my mind I was very happy about the possibility of racing at Indy, but I didn't allow myself to get too excited in case the team didn't return," Minassian said. "Now that we are definitely returning to Indy, I can say what I really feel. This race has a lot of tradition, and I hope to help build another tradition here with a second championship for Target Chip Ganassi Racing."

Last month, CART's Penske Racing also said it would compete at Indianapolis with drivers Gil de Ferran and Helio Castroneves. Car owner Roger Penske's drivers have won a record 10 Indy 500 races, but his team has not entered Indy since 1995, the year before the CART-IRL split.