Townsend Bell has confirmed to The Associated Press that he will enter the Indianapolis 500 with team owner Sam Schmidt.

Schmidt filed a second entry for the May 27 race, but did not announce a driver.

Bell drove for Schmidt in the Indy 500 the last two seasons, and he will attempt to qualify the No. 99 Schmidt Pelfrey Motorsports entry this time around. He'll have a Honda engine and be sponsored by BraunAbility. He will be teammates to Simon Pagenaud, who drives full-time for Schmidt in the IndyCar Series.

Bell nearly qualified on the front row for last year's race along with then-teammate Alex Tagliani, who was the surprise pole winner.

Bell wound up qualifying fourth, and started on the inside of Row 2.