Northern Light IRL: Cheever makes steady progress in Nashville practice

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

July 20, 2001

Lebanon, TN - Eddie Cheever Jr. made steady progress during the first practice for Saturday's inaugural Harrah's Indy 200 at Nashville Superspeedway, posting a fast lap of 23.6455 seconds (197.923 mph) in his #51 Cheever Indy Racing Infiniti. Cheever, who captured the first victory for the new Infiniti Indy 35A engine two weeks ago at Kansas City, will aim for his first Indy Racing pole position tomorrow. Friday's MBNA Pole Qualifying will be broadcast live on ESPN2 at 4:30pm Central time.

Eddie Cheever Jr. (on Thursday's practice): "We made a lot of gains in the second practice and the car is better. Nashville is a very difficult track and the field is very tight. We figured something out towards the end of the practice that should help us. We did all of our full tank work today, so tomorrow we will concentrate on running a bit quicker."

On Nashville Superspeedway: "They've done some work on the track-- they've taken some bumps out -- and they're going in the right direction. I'd like it if they would widen the grooves, though. I know one thing: I'm not going to be running the top groove."

Text provided by Ashleigh Higgins

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