Tomas Scheckter is expected to join the Indianapolis 500 hunt today as the final push to make the 93rd race resumes at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Scheckter hadn’t settled on a team as of Wednesday night — Conquest Racing’s second car was chief among them. A deal would make him the 13th driver for one of the 11 starting positions still up for grabs.

Practice resumes at noon today; qualifying is Saturday and Sunday.

Scheckter, a seven-time 500 starter who led a race-high 85 laps in 2002, has been out of the IndyCar Series since the end of last season. He was close to joining Team 3G last month, but options could make him a competitor to the team’s driver, series newcomer Stanton Barrett, who has struggled to find speed.

Barrett has been the slowest competitor of the month, with a best lap of 218.709 mph. It figures to take at least 220 mph to make the 33-car show. Scheckter has shown he is more than capable of reaching that speed.

The South African driver has never qualified worse than 12th for the 500. He finished fourth in 2003.

“Indy runs through my blood,” Scheckter said. “It keeps waking me in the night.”

This will be Scheckter’s sixth IndyCar team, having driven for the Cheever, Ganassi, Panther, Vision and Luczo Dragon teams.

Scheckter will be one of four veterans joining the action this week. The others are 1996 winner Buddy Lazier (Hemelgarn/Johnson Racing), Townsend Bell (KV Racing Technology) and Oriol Servia (Rahal Letterman Racing). Each program is on a short-month engine lease program, which is $130,000 cheaper than a full-month program.

Lazier has not been in an Indy car since last year’s 500. Bell and Servia will be driving for their teams for the first time.

Five of the event’s six rookies still need to qualify, and four are coming off accidents in the first week, including Mike Conway, who has not been medically cleared to return after suffering multiple bruises in his May 10 accident.

Dreyer&Reinbold Racing co-owner Dennis Reinbold said Wednesday that Conway is expected to be back in the car Friday or Saturday. Reinbold said there are no plans for a replacement driver. Darren Manning, who drove for the team in the first two races of the season, will be in Monterey, Calif., this weekend driving a sports car.

Robert Doornbos (Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing), Alex Tagliani (Conquest Racing) and Nelson Philippe (HVM Racing) are the other rookies who will be driving repaired cars.

Ryan Hunter-Reay (Vision Racing) and John Andretti (Dreyer&Reinbold) are other veterans still trying to earn a starting spot. Hunter-Reay will be using his backup car. His best lap in the primary car has been nearly 2 mph slower than teammate Ed Carpenter, who will start 17th.

“We haven’t been able to find the speed even at the low wing levels,” said Hunter-Reay, who finished sixth in last year’s 500.

Andretti will compete for a second-weekend qualifying spot for the third consecutive year.

“There was some anxiety the first time (in 2006) because it had been 13 years since I’d been here and everything had changed,” he said.

“Nothing has changed since last year except for a few rules.”

Other drivers who have yet to qualify are Milka Duno (Dreyer&Reinbold) and E.J. Viso (HVM Racing).

Bruno Junqueiraput his odds of being in a car this weekend at “50-50.” His best chance is in the second car of Dale Coyne Racing, which hasJustin Wilsonin the field. . . . A.J. Foyt Racing is not expected to field a third car unless the 500 is low on participants, a team official said . . . . Roth Racing has two cars ready for use, but it has no buyers. . . . Viso’s program at HVM Racing includes a partnership with iTeam Sports, which offers fans part-ownership for $199. . . .Al Speyer, the executive director of Firestone Racing, will drive the pace car for the Firestone Indy Lights race at the Speedway on May 22.

These drivers are still looking to qualify for one of the 11 remaining spots in the Indianapolis 500. Day three of qualifying is Saturday, with bump day on Sunday.

[chart]|||Car|Month’s||Driver|Team|No.|Best Lap||Robert Doornbos|Newman/Haas/Lanigan|06|223.955||John Andretti|Petty Enterprises|43|222.736||E.J. Viso|HVM Racing|13|222.225||Ryan Hunter-Reay|Vision|21|221.683||Alex Tagliani|Conquest|34|221.538||Mike Conway|Dreyer&Reinbold|24|220.646||Milka Duno|Dreyer&Reinbold|23|220.423||Nelson Philippe|HVM|00|219.847||Stanton Barrett|Team 3G|98|218.709|[end chart]

Second-week programs

[chart]|Townsend Bell|KV Racing|8|None||Buddy Lazier|Hemelgarn/Johnson|91|None||Oriol Servia|Rahal Letterman|17|None||Tomas Scheckter|uncertain|NA|None|[end chart]