Flash.(Briefs)

Prepping for Indy

Newman-Haas Racing has been cryptic about its plans for next month's Indy 500. But this much we know: Paul Newman and Carl Haas will enter a car at Indianapolis. The Champ Car team has not participated in the race since 1995.

Newman-Haas has filed an entry with a backup car. It did not name a driver(s), chassis or engine. That information is due after this weekend's Grand Prix of Long Beach. All signs point to the shoe being Bruno Junqueira, who won the 500 pole in 2002 as a Ganassi Racing driver. Newman-Haas' Sebastien Bourdais has never made an Indy start; Junqueira has made two.

Senna inquiry continues

Nearly 10 years after Ayrton Senna was killed in the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix at Imola, the blame game refuses to die. Sir Frank Williams, Patrick Head and former Williams chief designer Adrian Newey will once again face manslaughter charges. Huh? The Italian supreme court published the reasons for its 2003 decision to annul an appeals court verdict that upheld the original trial court's not-guilty finding. The supreme court cites "material errors'' by the appeals court, some of which relate to speculation a pre-race steering column modification caused Senna's fatal crash. The appeals court is yet to determine a retrial date.

Another Unser moves up

Al Unser Jr.'s son Al Unser will run the Toyota Atlantic season. The 21-year-old from Albuquerque, New Mexico, enters Atlantic after scoring four top-10 finishes en route to 12th place in the 2003 Barber Dodge Pro Series Champion-ship. He also ...