As the ALMS field prepares for the green flag here at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, teams and drivers 2,300 miles away also prepare to take to the track for the weeklong run-up to qualifying for the Indianapolis 500. For three of the ALMS GT teams here, that is not merely a side interest, it means double-duty.

Bobby Rahal and Derrick Walker know a great deal about Indy. Rahal has victories at Indy both as a driver (1986) and as team owner. Here in Monterey, he leads the powerful BMW Team RLL. Meanwhile, at Indy, his Rahal Letterman Lanigan team will field a pair of Honda powered entries for Takuma Sato and Michel Jourdain, Jr.

Walker, with five Indy 500 wins as team manager for Penske Racing, is back at Indy this year with a Chevrolet-powered car for Ed Carpenter Racing. His Walker Racing team oversees the Falken Porsche in ALMS GT competition.

Especially busy is Townsend Bell, who hops from his seat aboard the Alex Job Racing Lotus here today to a driver’s seat at Sam Schmidt Motorsports at Indy tomorrow.

A number of current IndyCar drivers, including former ALMS champion Simon Pagenaud, Dario Franchitti, Scott Dixon, Helio Castroneves, Ryan Briscoe, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Tony Kanaan, Marco Andretti, and E.J. Viso have all competed in the ALMS.

Among the ALMS entries here this weekend, Aston Martin’s Adrian Fernandez, Extreme Speed Ferrari’s Scott Sharp, and RSR’s Bruno Junqueira all have multiple starts at Indy. The ALMS field also includes a number of factory drivers, former F1, endurance, and sports car talents.

What does that link between ALMS and Indy mean?

“When you have Indy 500-winning team leaders, engineers, drivers, mechanics and race strategists here in the ALMS, it tells you the bar is set pretty high,” said ESPN broadcaster Brian Till, himself a former driver at Indianapolis.