Carlos Munoz to drive for ill EJ Viso at Auto Club Speedway

Carlos Munoz will make his long awaited second start in the IZOD IndyCar Series this weekend at Auto Club Speedway. The Brazilian will replace a food poisoned EJ Viso in the No. 5 PDVSA/Citgo Chevrolet for Andretti Autosport.

Munoz dazzled in his debut in May at the Indianapolis 500 and finished second to Tony Kanaan, making him the obvious choice to replace Viso who also missed a sponsorship appearance due to his illness.

Andretti Autosport did not release what has sidelined Viso, but announced that the driver did not make the trip to Fontana Calif., site of this weekend’s MAVTV 500. The event is the 2013 IndyCar season finale.

A suspicious subplot has surrounded the story, as a report was posted in two Venezuelan media outlets that funding and payment had been delayed for Viso’s effort.

Prior to the announcement, Munoz had been listed on the IndyCar qualifying order sheet. He qualified in P14 on Friday night for the Saturday night race, which will begin shortly after 8 p.m. on the NBC Sports Network.

(h/t to NBC Sports Motorsports Talk for the Venezuelan links.)

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