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IRL: Oldsmobile Dominates Indianapolis 500 Eddie Cheever "I ran hard all day long," Cheever reported. "My car ran impeccably. I had to take the risk of running the last 20 laps in fifth gear, but (engine builder) Brayton Engineering has done one hell of a job with the engine." The Indy 500 victory continued Oldsmobile's dominance in Pep Boys Indy Racing League competition. Oldsmobile IRL Aurora V8 engines have won 11 straight IRL events, won every pole, and led every lap since the series introduced its production-based engine formula in January 1997. Cheever scored Oldsmobile's first Indy car victory in the rain-shortened 1997 Indy 200 at Walt Disney World -- the first race for the IRL's new-generation Indy cars. The 82nd running of America's oldest auto race spotlighted the performance and reliability of Oldsmobile's IRL Aurora V8 racing engine. Seventeen cars were running at the finish, exceeding the 13.8 average for the last 20 years and equaling the number of finishers in 1994 and 1995. Oldsmobile engines had an 84 percent reliability record, with only five engine-related problems reported among the 32 drivers who started the race with IRL Aurora V8 motors. Three independent Oldsmobile engine builders were represented in the top three finishers: Brayton Engineering (Eddie Cheever, Jr., winner); Speedway Engine Development (Buddy Lazier, runner-up); and Comptech (Steve Knapp, third). Cheever's teammate Robby Unser, the son of three-time Indy 500 winner Bobby Unser, finished fifth -- the best showing among the eight rookies in this year's race. "I don't think I can describe the feeling without crying -- winning the Indy 500 means that much," said Jim Wright, general manager of Brayton Engineering in Coldwater, Mich. "We've got 28 guys working at Brayton Engineering, and they've done a great job. Eddie had to run his engine hard, because everyone was chasing him. He had confidence in the equipment." "Oldsmobile is going from success to success in 1998," commented Oldsmobile General Manager Darwin Clark. "We're winning in the showroom with rising sales of Oldsmobile vehicles, and we're winning on the race track with an engine that is based on the architecture of the production Aurora V8 that we sell to our customers. We congratulate the team of GM engineers who created the IRL Aurora V8, the racing teams and development partners who have made Oldsmobile the preeminent manufacturer in the Pep Boys Indy Racing League, and the drivers who have raced to 11 straight victories with Oldsmobile engines." The IRL Aurora V8 will be gunning for another victory at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth on June 6 in the fourth race of the 11-event Pep Boys Indy Racing League series.
INDIANAPOLIS 500 RESULTS Top Five Finishers: Driver Entrant Engine Laps 1. Eddie Cheever Team Cheever Oldsmobile 200 2. Buddy Lazier Hemelgarn Racing Oldsmobile 200 3. Steve Knapp ISM Racing Oldsmobile 200 4. Davey Hamilton Nienhouse Mtrspts Oldsmobile 199 5. Robby Unser Team Cheever Oldsmobile 198
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