IZOD IndyCar Series team owner/driver Ed Carpenter will be an honorary starter for the 36th OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon in Indianapolis on May 5.

The “Mini” is the nation’s largest half-marathon with 35,000 participants.

Carpenter will join OneAmerica Chairman, President and CEO Dayton Molendorp, Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard and 500 Festival Board of Directors member Scott Thiems as starters for the 13.1-mile event.

“The ‘Mini’ really gets things going in Indianapolis for the Month of May,” Carpenter said. “It is a great event, and a spectacular view at the start downtown and at the Speedway with all of the runners.”

Indy 500 Soiree to benefit two groups

Indianapolis 500 drivers are expected at the Indy 500 Soiree presented by Lucas Oil to be held May 25 at the Lucas Estate in Carmel, Ind.

The event is a fund-raiser for Garth Brooks’ Teammates for Kids Foundation and the Riley Hospital for Children Child Life Zone project.

For more information, visit www.lucasoil.com/indy500soiree or call Detail & Design at 317-423-3590.

Help beat childhood cancer at The Yellow Party

The Yellow Party, presented by DHL, will be held May 24 at the One America building in downtown Indianapolis.

Hosted by non-profit organization Racing For Cancer, and working together with Racing For Kids and local charity The Little Red Door Cancer Agency, the event aims to raise awareness and funds for the fight against childhood cancer.

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.TheYellowParty.org.

INDYCAR amends engine participation rule

Rule 3.8 of the 2012 Supplemental Guidelines for Engine Manufacturer Participation has been amended to teams can only pair with one manufacturer in any single season unless approval is granted by INDYCAR.

“The intent of the rule is to try to help build a partnership between a team and its engine manufacturer,” said Trevor Knowles, INDYCAR’s director of engine development. “Having a long-term commitment helps ease concerns about confidentiality of any information the manufacturer may share with a team.  It also limits a manufacturer’s ability to drop a team from its line-up if they are going through a bad patch.  Without it, one would see a drift of all the teams with the best results to the manufacturers with the best results creating a big imbalance across the field.

“However, we have to be pragmatic and realize that there have been and will be times when a team and its manufacturer have to go their separate ways to their mutual benefit.  This change allows that to happen while still maintaining control of the process.”