INDY 500: Five teams file entries on deadline day for 85th Indy 500

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

April 12, 2001

Cheever, Goodyear, Fisher, Schroeder, Erwin named as drivers

INDIANAPOLIS - Five teams - Cheever Indy Racing, Hemelgarn Racing, McCormack Motorsports, PDM Racing and Walker Racing - filed a total of seven entries April 11, entry deadline day for the 85th Indianapolis 500.

The 85th Indianapolis 500 is scheduled for May 27. Entries must be postmarked by April 11, so the Indy Racing League expects to receive additional entries in the next few days. All drivers will compete for one of the 33 starting spots in the world's most prestigious auto race.

1998 Indianapolis 500 winner Eddie Cheever Jr. and two-time Indy runner-up Scott Goodyear were named as the drivers for Cheever Indy Racing. Walker Racing named sophomore sensation Sarah Fisher as the driver for one of its two entries, while Jeret Schroeder was named to drive for PDM. Rookie Brandon Erwin was named by McCormack Motorsports as the driver of its single entry.

Hemelgarn Racing became the first team to submit four entries for the Indianapolis 500 this year, naming no driver for its fourth entry.

Cheever, from Orlando, Fla., will drive the #51 Excite@Home Indy Race Car Dallara/Infiniti/Firestone, with an identical backup entered. Owen Snyder III is the chief mechanic, and Richard Caron is the team manager - the same braintrust that helped Cheever to victory in 1998.

1990 Indianapolis 500 Bank One Rookie of the Year Cheever will attempt to make his 12th start at Indianapolis. He has five career top-10 finishes at Indy.

Goodyear, from Carmel, Ind., will drive the No. 52 Cheever Indy Racing Dallara/Infiniti/Firestone, with an identical backup entered. Dane Harte is the chief mechanic, and Caron is team manager.

Just six-tenths of a second has separated Goodyear from victory at Indy. Goodyear, who will attempt to make his 11th Indy start, finished second to Al Unser Jr. by .043 of a second in 1992 in the closest finish in Indianapolis 500 history. Goodyear was second to then-teammate Arie Luyendyk by .570 of a second in 1997.

Fisher, from Indianapolis, will drive the No. 15 Walker Racing Kroger Special Dallara/Oldsmobile/Firestone, with an identical backup entered. Ron Catt is the chief mechanic, and Gilbert Lage is the team manager.

Fisher, 20, finished 31st as a rookie last year at Indianapolis. She was just the third woman to ever start the race. She recorded a second-place finish on April 8 in the Indy Racing Northern Light Series event in Miami, the best ever by a woman in a major North American open-wheel series.

Walker also fielded the No. 25 Walker Racing Special. No driver, chassis, engine or tire was named.

Schroeder, from Vineland, N.J., will drive the No. 9 Purity Products Dallara/Oldsmobile/Firestone, with an undisclosed backup entered. Paul Murphy is the chief mechanic, and team co-owner Paul Diatlovich is the team manager.

Schroeder will attempt to make his third consecutive Indianapolis start since his rookie year in 1998. His best finish was 14th in 2000. Schroeder is the full-time driver for PDM in the Indy Racing Northern Light Series.

Erwin, from Denton, Texas, will attempt to make his first Indianapolis 500 start in the No. 30 WorldBestBuy.com/McCormack Motorsports G Force/Oldsmobile/Firestone, with an identical backup entered. Larry Sisk is the chief mechanic, and Michael McCormack is the team manager.

Hemelgarn added a fourth entry, the #94 Hemelgarn Racing Dallara/Oldsmobile/Firestone, to its burgeoning stable. An identical backup car also was entered. No driver or chief mechanic was named. Greg Wattles is the team manager.

Text provided by Paul Kelly

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