When you talk to Larry Blair he throws around Silicon Valley terms with effusive enthusiasm. His patter is spiced with references to value proposition, market strategies, technical initiatives and high impact infrastructure.

It's not surprising. Blair held key positions with businesses that laid the foundation of the Internet. His former posts include vice president of marketing for both Redback Networks, Inc. and Ipsilon, and co-founder of Kalpana Networks, Inc., the inventor of the Ethernet switch.

Blair started his racing pursuit last season, partnering with Frank Arciero and campaigning Brazilian rookie Max Wilson on the CART FedEx Champ Car circuit. Disappointing results led to Wilson's dismissal and the hiring of open wheel veteran Alex Barron for the last two races of the season.

"I got some incredible life experiences from my one year in racing," Blair said. "I can tell you that from my experience in the high tech community that any time you are associated with a company or collection of companies in an industry you make an assessment of how you can differentiate yourself."

Blair found the way to do just that. He upgraded his commitment, expanded his Indianapolis base and announced that he would campaign Barron full time on the Indy Racing League for 2002.

"We have brought in some very competitive personnel," explained Blair. "We're not just here for a couple of races. As part of that commitment we have expanded our facilities and we have a partnership with Hayden Harris, a veteran capitalist and chairman of McLaren Performance Technology. Their return to Indy racing is a significant milestone"

McLaren has a rich Indy Car legacy. McLaren-built engines have appeared at Indianapolis since the late 1960s and powered Johnny Rutherford's Indianapolis 500 victories in 1974 and 1976. In addition, a McLaren-made Buick engine powered Pancho Carter to the pole for the 1985 Indianapolis 500.

"Considering what Tony George and the Indy Racing League have already contributed to the well-being of the sport, it's only natural that McLaren Engines now accelerate its return to Indy as an engine source," said McLaren's Harris.

Another key element to Blair's IRL blueprint is the appointment of Tom Gloy as the team's president and John Dick as head of engineering. Gloy is a former SCCA Trans Am Champion as well as a former Indy 500 driver. Dick has engineered some of Indy's top cars and has won the 500 as an engineer.

"This is an enormously exciting opportunity. It's a significant life experience for me," said Blair. "We want to take a mature and seasoned approach and thanks to the experience of both John Dick and Tom Gloy I believe that we will be very successful."

For Blair success is not just racing boxscores.

"Obviously, everyone wants to win races and that is the competitive goal on every given Sunday, but we want to be successful both on the track and off the track," said Blair. "We want to also be competitive in the paddock with our sponsors and our partners."

Luck is an important part of any racing equation and Blair was quick to quote a time won cliché to characterize his team.

"Luck is where preparation meets opportunity, I think we will be well prepared. We aren't going to make any lofty claims of what we are going to achieve. We want to earn respect and demonstrate a competitive program."