Northern Light IRL: New Infiniti 35A Engine Finishes 11th at Phoenix
Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
March 19, 2001Phoenix, Ariz. -- The all-new Infiniti Indy 35A engine finished 11th in its debut race at Phoenix International Raceway today, in the back of Robbie Buhl's No. 24 Team Purex Dreyer & Reinbold Racing GForce.
Starting eighth in the Pennzoil Copper World Indy 200, Buhl fought handling problems and narrowly missed being taken out by a spinning car, which damaged his car's front wing. He ran as high as sixth in the 200-lap race, and ultimately finished 11th in round one of the 13-race Indy Racing Northern Light Series.
Infiniti entry Eddie Cheever Jr., in the No. 51 Excite@Home Dallara, started 12th and was in eighth position--closing in on second-place finisher Eliseo Salazar--when he came into the pits for an unscheduled stop on lap 134 when his throttle stuck open. Unable to repair the problem, Cheever's race ended early.
Round two of the 13-race 2001 Indy Racing Northern Light Series takes place April 6-8 with the Infiniti Grand Prix of Miami, which will be televised live on ABC.
QUOTES
Robbie Buhl, No. 24 Team Purex Dreyer & Reinbold Racing GForce-Infiniti: "We fought handling problems most of the day, which gave us trouble in traffic. We had to make an extra stop to fix the car after Gregoire came down on my right front, which hurt us. The Infiniti 35A survived the day, which is a good thing. We've got a lot of work to do, so we can race instead of just survive."
Eddie Cheever Jr., No. 51 Excite@Home Dallara-Infiniti: "We got caught out by a few auxiliary pieces that were left over from the old motor. The new Infiniti engine itself ran absolutely fine. I was running right behind Salazar and was in a good position for the rest of the race when something in the throttle linkage broke. We're not quite sure what happened. We just have to keep on testing and we'll be there."
Steve Kight, Director of Marketing, Infiniti Division: "It's always disappointing when we don't win, but overall we are very happy with the new engine and that we finished the race. Robbie Buhl fought with handling problems early in the race, but was able to bring the new engine home in 11th place with a very limited amount of practice time. The Infiniti 35A is an engine that is much lighter and has a lower center of gravity, which definitely effects the handling of the car. The teams just need more track time with the new engine to resolve these issues. We were pleased to see Cheever's competitiveness in the first half of the race when he was running in the top ten. It's frustrating that we had a carryover piece from the old engine that seemed to have caused some problems that eventually ended Eddie's day early. We gathered a lot of data from this race, which will help us tremendously in our preparations for the Infiniti Grand Prix of Miami on April 8."
RACE RESULTS
1 4 Hornish Jr, Sam D/O/F
2 14 Salazar, Eliseo D/O/F
3 91 Lazier, Buddy D/O/F
4 8 Sharp, Scott D/O/F
5 98 Boat, Billy D/O/F
6 21 Giaffone, Felipe G/O/F
7 35 Ward, Jeff G/O/F
8 10 McGehee, Robby D/O/F
9 12 Calkins, Buzz D/O/F
10 88 Dare, Airton G/O/F
*11 24 Buhl, Robbie G/I/F
12 99 Hamilton, Davey D/O/F
13 55 Hattori, Shigeaki D/O/F
14 30 Erwin, Brandon G/O/F
15 6 Carlson, Tyce D/O/F
16 92 Wattles, Stan D/O/F
17 15 Fisher, Sarah D/O/F
18 68 Castroneves, Helio D/O/F
*19 51 Cheever Jr, Eddie D/I/F
20 31 Mears, Casey G/O/F
21 7 Gregoire, Stephan D/O/F
22 2 Ray, Greg D/O/F
23 3 Unser Jr, Al G/O/F
24 66 de Ferran, Gil D/O/F
25 28 Dismore, Mark D/O/F
26 9 Schroeder, Jeret D/O/F
27 32 Andre, Didier G/O/F
Text provided by Heather Handley
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