IROC: Eddie Cheever, Scott Goodyear ready for Talladega high banks

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

April 21, 2001

Talladega, AL - 1998 Indianapolis 500 Champion Eddie Cheever Jr. and his Cheever Indy Racing teammate Scott Goodyear will battle NASCAR stars and fellow open-wheel standouts at the second round of 2001 True Value IROC Series competition at Talladega Superspeedway on April 21.

Cheever, who captured his first IROC victory at Michigan Speedway last season, finished third at the Daytona season opener, while IROC rookie Goodyear came home in sixth position.

The second round of 2001 True Value IROC Series competition will be broadcast on ABC on Saturday, May 26 at 5:00pm ET.

Eddie Cheever Jr. (on racing at Talladega Superspeedway): "My experience at Talladega is that you'd better not get out of the draft, and if you do get out of the draft, you'd better get back in it as soon as possible. Last year I was leading, and from the start of one straight to the end I went from first to last. I just lost the draft and that was that. But I am getting the hang of getting back in the draft."

On the IROC season opener at Daytona: "I have never really finished well at Daytona or Talladega, but I had a good race at Daytona this year. I was a bit more patient than I had been, and I was lucky to hook up with Earnhardt. We moved our way back up after we had both kind of fallen to the back of the line. Actually, at the end of the last race in Daytona, if I had felt that Kenny Brack was going to follow me, I probably would have made a different move on Earnhardt. Brack was not very committed to following me through, so it made my move a lot more important. Brack and I have been friends for a long time, but IROC racing does not lend itself to continued friendships over the course of a race. One minute you're backing one guy, and the next minute that guy has taken off with someone else."

Scott Goodyear (on his first race at Talledega): "For me Talladega is going to be a new experience, much like Daytona was. Overall, I was pleased with Daytona. I learned a lot. I had a goal for myself to finish in the top three -- which I didn't achieve since I finished sixth -- but I have that same goal this weekend: to learn, run strong, and finish in the top three.

Before testing here earlier this week, I had only been to Talladega once (when I was a youngster watching the Talladega 500), so I have not had the opportunity to race on the track. I'm looking forward to that. From my experience in Indy cars, I seem to like the high-banked ovals the best. I have four victories on the high-banked ovals (two wins at Texas Motor Speedway in Indy Racing competition and two wins at Michigan Speedway in CART competition), and I enjoy that type of track."

On drafting and racing with teammate Cheever: "I think that after Daytona - where I stuck with Eddie through thick and thin, and helped him when he was about ready to get in trouble and lose the draft - he owes me one or two at Talladega. I'll see if I can improve my finishing position if he helps me out a bit, but I think that when it's five laps from the end, it's every man for himself. I just want to be up in that front fray and battle it out. I think the most important thing is to be there. Hopefully you have chosen the right line or have the right draft, and that will put you in a good finishing position because that is what it seems to be all about in the last couple of laps."

On the bumping in IROC: "I started experiencing that on the very first lap at Daytona. I don't think I was even in Turn 3 by the time I first got nudged. I got nudged going into the turns, in the middle of the turns, coming out of the turns -- the IROC series is a contact sport, basically, and I learned that very quickly. I'm a little bit more prepared to expect that sort of thing at Talladega."

Text provided by Ashleigh Higgins

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