Northern Light IRL: New Season, New Name: Team Cheever Becomes Cheever Indy Racing
Posted By Terry CallahanMotorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
March 15, 2001
Indianapolis, IN - One of the Indy Racing League's premier teams, Indianapolis-based Team Cheever, will now be known as Cheever Indy Racing, team owner/driver Eddie Cheever Jr. announced Wednesday.
"We changed the name of our team to highlight our strong commitment to the Indy Racing League," explained Cheever, who enters this weekend's season-opening event at Phoenix International Raceway as one of the favorites for the 2001 Northern Light Series title.
Cheever became the Indy Racing League's first owner/driver in 1997, and went on to score Team Cheever's maiden victory at Walt Disney World Speedway that same year. Cheever also recorded five top-five finishes (in eight starts), finished third overall in the Indy Racing championship, and helped guide teammate Jeff Ward to Rookie of the Year honors.
In 1998, Cheever joined forces with partner Clyde Perlee, and became the first owner/driver to win the Indianapolis 500 since A.J. Foyt claimed victory in 1977. Rookie teammate Robby Unser notched three top-10 finishes in eight races, including a fifth place finish at the Indy 500.
In 1999, Cheever charged to victory in the season opener at Walt Disney World Speedway. In April, immediately prior to defending his Indianapolis 500 title, he made the unusual decision to change engines mid-season, moving from the Oldsmobile to the Infiniti Indy engine program.
Cheever's gamble paid off the following season, as he captured the first victory for the #51 Excite@Home Indy Race Team and the Infiniti Indy engine program at Pikes Peak (CO) in June 2000.
The 1998 Indianapolis 500 Champion and his #51 Excite@Home team finished in the top-11 in eight of nine 2000 Indy Racing events and earned five top-five finishes. Cheever also led six of the nine rounds of 2000 competition. He claimed fifth place in the 84th running of the Indianapolis 500, and finished third overall in the 2000 Indy Racing championship.
While the 2001 Indy Racing season brings a name change from Team Cheever to Cheever Indy Racing, the organization's winning focus remains the same.
"Our goals for 2001 and beyond are ambitious, but with the support of Excite@Home and Infiniti we are taking our program to the next level," affirms Cheever, now in his fifth year as owner/driver. "We won't be satisfied unless we win another Indianapolis 500 and the Northern Light Cup."
Primary Sponsorship of the #51 Indy Car comes from Excite@Home. The company is based in Redwood City, California, at the heart of Silicon Valley. Associate sponsors of Cheever Indy Racing include Infiniti, Firestone, Menards, Bosch, Pennzoil, Streaming Media, and Eviciti.
Excite@Home is the leader in broadband, offering residential and commercial services, with a global footprint of 74 million homes under long-term contract. Excite@Home offers consumers residential broadband services and businesses high-speed commercial services. Excite@Home has over 14 million cable franchise homes under contract outside of North America and localized versions of the Excite service in 15 leading international markets.
Excite@Home, @Home, Excite and the "@" stylized logo are trademarks of At Home Corporation and may be registered in certain jurisdictions.
Text provided by Ashleigh Higgins
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