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NorthernLight IRL: Cheever challenged by new Kentucky circuit

27 August 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

Sparta, KY - Following two difficult practice sessions on Friday, Eddie Cheever Jr. and his #51 Excite@Home team made several gains prior to Saturday qualifying for the Belterra Resort Indy 300 at Kentucky Speedway. Cheever, who posted a quick time of 215.191mph on his second qualifying lap, will start tomorrow's penultimate round of the 2000 Indy Racing Northern Light Series from fifteenth on the grid.

Cheever is currently second in the Indy Racing standings with 185 points, only twenty-three points behind series leader Buddy Lazier. The 1998 Indianapolis 500 Champion captured the first victory for the #51 Excite@Home Indy Race Team and the first win for the Infiniti Indy engine at Pikes Peak (CO) in June. Cheever, who has finished in the top eleven in six of seven Indy Racing events this season, has also led five of the seven rounds of 2000 competition.

Eddie Cheever Jr. (on qualifying): "The #51 Excite@Home Infiniti did okay, not great, in qualifying. It's about what we expected. Of all the races this year, Kentucky has been the most difficult for us. We've done five days of testing at this circuit, but our package is not working as well here as it has at other tracks. But qualifying is one thing - the race is another. I will take the rear wing off my car, put some mayonnaise on it, and eat it if Goodyear and Salazar can do those times in the race tomorrow."

(On the race): "We're in the dog days of summer and the battle for the Indy Racing championship. I'm looking forward to a hot, greasy day tomorrow. I'm hoping that it will be a very difficult track on tires and that we'll be able to make our Firestones last longer than the other guys'."

Text provided by Ashleigh Higgins

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