Press Release

IRL Announces Indy 200 at Walt Disney World Payout

01/31/97

For Immediate Release

IRL PAYOUT $1,137,500 FOR INDY 200 AT WALT DISNEY WORLD;
WINNER EDDIE CHEEVER CAPTURES $170,000


INDIANAPOLIS, Jan. 30, 1997--Eddie Cheever, the Indy Racing League's
first driver/owner captured $170,000 of a $1,137,500 purse for the
Indy 200 at Walt Disney World Presented by Aurora, which kicked off
the League's new engines (Oldsmobile Aurora and Nissan Infiniti) and
chassis (Dallara and G Force).

Cheever's awards included $128,000 for the victory and $42,000 in
additional designated awards. It is the League's largest winning
payout to date for any race other than the Indianapolis 500, which
paid in excess of $8.1 million last May.

Cheever, 39, of Indianapolis, Ind., notched his first IRL victory last
Saturday as the first driver/owner to win since A.J. Foyt at Pocono in
1989.  In the FirstPlus Team Cheever G Force/Aurora machine, he
started in fifth, then dropped to eighth before battling his way to
the front.  A sudden rainstorm on Lap 149 ended the race and gave
Cheever the win.

The purse for the league's third 1996-97 event was announced today by
Leo Mehl, vice president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and
executive director of the Indy Racing League.  Cheever's Orlando
winner's purse tops Arie Luyendyk's first-place payoff of $132,000 at
the Dura-Lube 200 last March at Phoenix.

Mike Groff, the current 1996-97 driver points leader, finished second
in the Jonathan Byrd's Cafeteria Bryant Heating & Cooling G
Force/Infiniti entry and was awarded $118,850.  Third-place prize of
$68,900 went to Scott Goodyear in the Treadway Racing/NORTEL G Force/
Aurora. Top-finishing rookie Jim Guthrie drove to sixth in the
Blueprint Racing Dallara/Aurora and received $63,250, thanks in part
to the $5,000 Highest Finishing Rookie award from Kruse International.

Tony Stewart, in the Glidden/Menard Special G Force/Aurora started
from the pole and earned $83,300, which included the $10,000 PPG Pole
award, $10,000 True Value Chief Mechanic award, and $10,000 MBNA
America Lap Leader for leading 131 laps. The $10,000 Coors Pit
Performance went to Marco Greco in the Intl. Sports
Ltd/Scandia/Alta/Xcel/Royal Purple Dallara/Aurora entry and was
awarded $63,550.

Buzz Calkins, the inaugural Indy 200 winner and 1996 IRL driver
co-champion, led for 14 laps before engine problems put him out late
in the race. He finished 11th with awards totaling $54,200.

The next IRL race, also carrying posted awards of $1 million-plus,
will be the Phoenix 200 at Phoenix International Raceway on Sunday,
March 23 and will be aired live by ABC Sports television and the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network.