IRL: Eddie Cheever, Jr. Qualifying Notes & Quotes, Las Vegas
25 September 1999
Posted By Terry
Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
Eddie Cheever, Jr. Qualifying Notes & Quotes#51 The Children's Beverage Group/Team Cheever Dallara/Goodyear/Infiniti
Results
Eddie Cheever will start Sunday's race from the back row as he lost his engine during the second of his two green qualifying laps. Cheever's lapped the 1.5-mile oval initially in under 26.357 seconds at an average speed of 204.879 mph.
Quotes
"(On the qualifier) We changed engines right before qualifying. This was definitely a strong engine. Our first lap was a high 204 mph and I feel as though lap two would have be a strong 207. We continue to push the envelope of these engines and so you have to expect things like this to happen. The only way to improve is to keep trying and that is what both Infiniti and Team Cheever are committed to doing. (On keeping the car off the wall). When the engine let lose, a bit of oil got on the tires and I spun. It's no big deal. We'll just change my shorts and the engine and go after it tomorrow. (On tomorrow's race) Vegas is a very difficult track. Since the banking is not as extreme as we are used to at these 1.5-mile ovals and the weather is so hot (as high as 150 degrees), tires and handling become the real issues during the race. There are twelve guys going for the Top Three positions this weekend, so it is going to be one great race. Vegas is the perfect setting for the final minutes of the race for the Championship title to take place."
It's All In The Family. Each race weekend, Team Cheever's two-time Indy 500 winning Chief Mechanic, Owen Snyder, has more in common with the guy who works the Pit Board than just a desire to win races....it's his dad! Snyder grew up going to races with his father, who is affectionately known as "Owen Senior", where his father raced midgets and sprint cars throughout Wisconsin.
The Trucker's Life for Me Team Cheever's truck driver and Goodyear/CAM Tire Specialist of the Year, Rob Channell, isn't the only family member that pulls a big rig into the paddock on an IRL race weekend...so does his father, Ted, who drives for Treadway Racing, and his brother Ted, Jr., who drives the IRL Kids trailer. This trucking family has 3 Indy 500 rings amongst themselves.
TCBG Is Tops With Wal-Mart's Kids and Moms. Primary sponsor, The Children's Beverage Group, took on giant Capri Sun and won with it's unique and patented 'rip-it-sip-it'(tm) no-spillage packaging system. Now, this growing Chicago based company has one of the fastest selling products in Wal-Mart Super Center's history and is primed for success in the $800+ million dollar children's drink market.
Editors Note: For hundreds of hot racing photos and racing art, be sure to visit The Racing ImageGalleries and the Visions of Speed Art Gallery.