INDY 500: Indy 500 Starting Lineup Set With Three Infiniti Drivers in Field

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

May 21, 2001

Buhl Starts Ninth with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Infiniti

Indianapolis, Ind. (May 20, 2001) -- With the final day of qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 complete, the 33-car starting grid is set with three Infiniti drivers in the field, led by Robbie Buhl in ninth place.

Buhl, who qualified the No. 24 Team Purex Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Infiniti on the first day of time trials, will start from the outside of row three--the best starting position ever for Infiniti at the Indianapolis 500.

Scott Goodyear, who also qualified on the first day of qualifications, will start 16th from row six in the No. 52 Thermos Grill2Go Infiniti.

Eddie Cheever Jr.'s starting position changed from 30th to 25th when several slower cars were bumped out of the field on the final day of qualifications. Cheever, who qualified on the second day of time trials, will start from the inside of row nine in the No. 51 Excite@Home Infiniti.

Robbie Buhl and Eddie Cheever Jr. both went out for practice during the final day of qualifying on May 20. Focusing on race-day simulations, Cheever completed 37 laps, while Robbie Buhl completed nine laps in his backup car.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is closed for practice until Carburetion Day on May 24. The final practice session takes place from 12 to 2 p.m. (EDT). The 85th running of the Indianapolis 500 starts at Noon (EDT) on May 27 and will be televised live on ABC.

QUOTES

Eddie Cheever Jr., No. 51 Excite@Home Dallara-Infiniti: "We did more work on the race car than we expected because we had some things to solve. But now we are very, very happy with the race balance. We found another two or three little things that will help us do just fine in race traffic. These last few days of practice we are looking for consistency. You don't want your balance to change too much from the beginning of your run, when you have 35 gallons of fuel, to the end of your run. That's what we are trying to achieve." Regarding electrical problems that occurred last week: "We have spent a lot of time working with the Infiniti engineers on resolving the issues we had prior to qualifying and we have now done, between Scott and myself, over 700 miles with the alternators that failed earlier in the month."

Text provided by Heather Handley

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