Dan Wheldon in for Kentucky

Indy 500 champ takes over Tagliani’s No. 77 for Sunday’s race

As a precursor to his $5 million challenge at the end of the season in Las Vegas, Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon will take over for Alex Tagliani in the No. 77 Sam Schmidt Motorsports machine at this weekend’s Kentucky Indy 300 (Sunday, 2 p.m. ET, Versus).

Wheldon is slated to compete at the IZOD IndyCar World Championships on October 16, in which he must win from the back of the field to split a $5 million prize with one lucky fan. That particular race will see him in a car fielded by both SSM and Bryan Herta Autosport, the team with which he won his second “500” back in May.

This season, Tagliani’s ran all 15 events up to this point in the No. 77 car. He sits 11th in the championship, with a top finish of fourth place at both the first Texas race and last weekend at Motegi, Japan.

For more details, check out the stories on RACER.com and on INDYCAR.com.