INDY RACING: Cheever Qualifies Second With Infiniti Power at Chicago

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

September 2, 2001

Joliet, Ill. (Sept. 1, 2001) -- For the second time this season, Eddie Cheever Jr. qualified his Infiniti-powered machine in second place, less than a tenth of a second shy of pole winner Jaques Lazier. The last time Cheever started on the front row was at the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway, where he went on to win after leading 104 laps.

Cheever qualified second for the Delphi Indy 300, at the 1.5-mile Chicagoland Speedway, with a quick speed of 221.105 mph. He was also fastest in the Saturday morning practice session with a 222.736 mph lap.

Robbie Buhl, who was fastest in both practice sessions on Friday, qualified fourth in the No. 24 Team Purex Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Infiniti with a 220.631 mph lap. The effort matched his best qualifying effort this season, having qualified fourth at the three other races this year.

The Delphi Indy 300 will be televised live on ABC at 4 p.m. (EDT) Sunday, Sept. 2, and "Indy Racing 2Day" will be televised live at 10:30 (EDT) a.m. on ESPN2.

QUOTES

Eddie Cheever Jr., No. 51 Cheever Indy Racing Infiniti: "I'm glad we're on the front row. We made a lot of progress from this morning but Menards are always quick when it comes to qualifying. You can never underestimate them. Our Infiniti was very strong today and technically it was a very good run for us -- probably the best qualifying run we've done this year. The Infiniti is a great engine to race with and it seems to do pretty well in qualifying. The package that we ran in qualifying is the same that we're going to use in the race, so what you see is what we've got. I will be severely disappointed if we don't win tomorrow."

Robbie Buhl, No. 24 Team Purex Dreyer & Reinbold Racing GForce-Infiniti: "I was hoping for an all Infiniti front row with Eddie (Cheever Jr.) and myself, but obviously Menard's guys had something up their sleeves. That's not unusual. It's the race that matters, and I am not worried about them (Menard's team) in the race. The Purex car is an excellent race car and the Infiniti power has shown great reliability. We just need to win one."

Text provided by Heather Handley

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