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INDY 500: Infiniti Indy practice report, Tuesday, May 16

17 May 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

On day four of practice at the Indianapolis 500, Infiniti Indy and Team Cheever ended up sixth fastest, and completed 120 miles of testing with Indy 500 champion Eddie Cheever Jr. behind the wheel.

Eddie Cheever

The No. 51 Infiniti-powered Excite@Home Dallara went out for 38 laps early in the day, and Eddie Cheever turned a quick lap of 221.087 mph just after Noon. After a two hour and 56 minute rain delay, the Team Cheever crew went back on track to put some miles on the backup car, but returned to the garages after ten laps due to engine troubles.

QUOTES

Eddie Cheever Jr., No. 51 Excite@Home Infiniti: "We made some changes to the back end of the No. 51 Excite@Home Infiniti, and the car is a little bit better. The wind changes constantly here. This morning it was pushing to the north, so you're almost eight miles an hour faster on one straightaway than the other. The car is running well, though -- so far, so good. We're continuing to put miles on the No. 51 Excite@Home car and we made a lot of progress today. The cars are all very close and we're just slugging away, one day at a time. You just try to learn something every time you go out. In the afternoon, we went out to shake down the spare car that I crashed on Saturday, but we had an engine problem and that ended our day."

(On the rain delay): "The rain allows you to sit down and go through all the data instead of being out on the racetrack. You can study it instead of just accumulating it. In the beginning, it used to frustrate me, but it doesn't anymore. There's nothing you can do about it. You just need to use the time to your advantage, and go around and look at data, trying to figure things out."

PRACTICE HIGHLIGHTS

1. Scott Sharp, 223.936, #8T Dallara-Oldsmobile
2. Juan Montoya, 222.102, #9 G Force-Oldsmobile
3. Jimmy Vasser, 221.773, #10 G Force-Oldsmobile
4. Greg Ray, 221.740, #1 Dallara-Oldsmobile
5. Stephan Gregoire, 221.397, #7 G Force-Oldsmobile
*6. Eddie Cheever Jr., 221.087, #51 Dallara-Infiniti
7. Sarah Fisher, 220.881, #15 Dallara-Oldsmobile
8. Buddy Lazier, 220.810, #91 Dallara-Oldsmobile
9. Eliseo Salazar, 220.610, #11 G Force-Oldsmobile
10. Doug Didero, 220.518, #43 Dallara-Oldsmobile
*30. Eddie Cheever Jr., 212.988, #51T Dallara-Infiniti

Text provided by Heather Handley

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