INDIANAPOLIS -- Profiles of first-time Indianapolis 500 drivers:

Alex Barron: 31, Menifee, Calif. Driving for Blair Racing, 13th in IRL standings after three races this season. The 1997 Toyota Atlantic champion and rookie of the year. Made CART debut in 1998, starting 17 races for Dan Gurney's All-American Racers. Drove for Gurney, Team Penske and Coyne Racing in 1999-2000. Best finish was eighth at California. Started twice for Blair in 2001 and made IRL debut with 21st-place finish for Sam Schmidt Motorsports last August. Won three U.S. national karting titles in 1995 and had six top-10 finishes in Formula 2000 series in 1996.

John de Vries: 36, Las Vegas. Driving for Brayton Racing, with co-sponsorship from Sprewell Racing, owned by New York Knicks' Latrell Sprewell. Passed IRL rookie test in January at California Speedway. Was a test driver in 1999-2000 for Gearbox Motorsport, an Australian touring car team. Won Silver Star championship in the Formula Holden series in Australia in 1998.

Dario Franchitti: 29, Scotland. Driving for CART's Team Green, with teammates Michael Andretti and Paul Tracy. Second in season-opening race in Mexico last month. Finished among the top seven in CART series three of the past four years, including runner-up in 1999 to Juan Montoya. Made CART debut in 1997 with Hogan Racing and had seven victories with Team Green in 1998-2001. Began racing go-karts in Scotland. Drove in the British Formula 3 series in 1995 and in FIA International Touring Car series in 1995-96. Married to actress Ashley Judd.

Shigeaki Hattori: 39, Japan. Driving for Bradley Motorsports. Began racing go-karts in Japan in 1979. Raced in Formula Toyota Esso Challenge Cup series in 1992-94 and competed in Formula Atlantic after moving to United States in 1995. Drove in Indy Lights series in 1996-98, winning two races. Raced in CART with Bettenhausen Motorsports in 1999 and in IRL with Treadway Vertex-Cunningham in 2000. Finished 13th in IRL standings in 2001 for Vertex-Cunningham.

Johnny Herbert: 37, England. Driving for the new Duesenberg Brothers Racing team. Former teammate of Michael Schumacher, won three races in 12 seasons in Formula One. Test driver for Arrows in 2001 after disappointing season with Jaguar. Tested an IRL car for Heritage Motorsports last summer at Kentucky, only his second time on an oval track. Last month, teamed with Rinaldo Capello and Christian Pescatori to win the American Le Mans Series 12 Hours of Sebring.

Tony Kanaan: 27, Brazil. Driving for CART's Mo Nunn Racing. The 1997 Indy Lights champion. Made CART debut in 1998 with 10 top-10 finishes and was the series' rookie of the year. Only CART victory came in 1999 at Michigan, beating Juan Montoya by 0.032 seconds, the second-closest finish in Indy-car history. Moved from Forsythe Racing to Nunn in 2000 but missed four races after breaking his arm in qualifying at Detroit. Ninth in CART series in 2001, with best finish third in Japan. Fifth in the Italian Formula 3 series in 1995 before going to Indy Lights.

Anthony Lazzaro: 38, Acworth, Ga. Driving for Sam Schmidt Motorsports. Nineteenth in IRL standings after three races this season. Five-time World Karting Association champion, finished fourth in SCCA North American Oldsmobile Pro Series and second in Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona in 1993. Competed in Formula Atlantic Series in 1997, won Toyota Atlantic championship in 1999. Competed in 10 NASCAR Busch Series races in 2000. Made IRL debut with 18th-place finish at Gateway International for Schmidt in 2001.

George Mack: 30, Inglewood, Calif. Driving for the new 310 Racing team, is 15th in IRL standings after three races this season. Passed rookie test in January, joining Willy T. Ribbs as the only black drivers to have competed in the IRL. Had more than 200 karting victories in California from 1986-98. Won the International Karting Federation Grand National Championship in 1994. Test driver for U.S. Formula 2000, Star Mazda and NASCAR late-model teams from 1995-2001.

Laurent Redon: 28, France. Driving for Mi-Jack/Conquest Racing. Sixth in IRL standings after three races this season. Raced go-karts in 1990-93, was 1995 French Formula 3 champion. Finished ninth in 1997 Intercontinental Formula 3000 championship. Formula One test driver for Minardi team in 1998 and Benetton team in 1999. Won three races in the European Le Mans series in 2001 and drove in the final two IRL races of the season, with best finish seventh at Chicagoland.

Tomas Scheckter: 21, South Africa. Son of 1979 Formula One champion Jody Scheckter, driving for Cheever Racing teammate-owner Eddie Cheever, the 1998 Indy winner. Sixteenth in IRL standings after three races this season. South African karting champion in 1995. Drove Formula Fords in 1997. Won Formula Opel Euroseries championship in 1999 and was runner-up in the British Formula 3 series in 2000. Test driver for Jaguar's Formula One team and runner-up in the Formula Nissan championship in 2001. Passed IRL rookie test in January at Las Vegas.

Rick Treadway: 32, Indianapolis. Son of car owner Fred Treadway, driving for Treadway Racing. Eighteenth in IRL standings after three races this season. Graduate of Indiana State University. Started racing go-karts in 1996, drove midget cars in 1998-99 and in USAC Silver Bullet series in 1999. Finished second in Indianapolis Regional Speedrome midget car series and took IRL rookie test in 2000. Made IRL debut in 2001, with fifth at Texas his best finish in three starts.