BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Hydroxycut will be the primary sponsor of the No. 11 KVSH Racing car for seven races of the Verizon IndyCar Series season, including the March 28-30 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, and co-sponsor for the 98th Indianapolis 500 Mile Race.

Sebastien Bourdais, fresh off a podium finish in the 12 Hours of Sebring, drove the Chevrolet-powered car with Hydroxycut livery on the Barber Motorsports Park course during the preseason Open Test. Hydroxycut, the country’s No. 1 selling weight loss supplement brand, was the primary sponsor of the 2013 Indianapolis 500-winning car driven by Tony Kanaan.

“Having Hydroxycut, a world class brand that’s been chosen by millions, back on board with us long term is the last piece of the puzzle for our assault on the 2014 championship,” KVSH Racing partner James “Sulli” Sullivan said.

Mistic Electronic Cigarettes will be the primary sponsor for the other events as well as the co-primary sponsor for the Indianapolis 500.

Adapting to new tire spec for Barber race

Tire degradation is foremost on the minds of Andretti Autosport's Carlos Munoz and James Hinchcliffe when they return for the fifth Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama in late April on the 2.38-mile, 17-turn course that features hard braking and flowing corners and 80 feet of elevation change. Firestone

"With the treatment that was done to the track last year with some grinding it improved lap times but it also took a tool on the tires, so you need some sort of compromise," Hinchcliffe said. "The other big compromise at this track is setup-wise the low-speed corners you'll be dealing with a lot of understeer and some of the other corners the rear slides out. So you want a nice, stable rear and a well-connected front.

"We have a good basis to go on, but Firestone has a new tire this year and in testing at other places it's been considerably quicker. I think we'll be testing the limits of arm strength around here."

Of note

Dale Coyne confirmed that a second entry will be at St. Petersburg next week to complement the No. 19 Honda-powered car driven by Justin Wilson. ... The entrant name for No. 77 car driven by Simon Pagenaud has been changed to Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports in recognition of Davey Hamilton rejoining the team for 2014. … Juan Piedrahita, 21, from Bogota, Colombia, will compete in Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires in a Schmidt Peterson Motorsports car. He contested USF2000 in 2011 and drove in Pro Mazda the past two seasons (five podiums in 2013). … Gehl-branded equipment returns as a Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing associate sponsor after a five-year absence. ... Roger Griffiths resigned late last week as Honda Performance Development’s technical director.