INDY 500: Cheever gears up for run at second Indy 500 win in three years
27 May 2000
Posted By Terry CallahanMotorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
Indianapolis, IN - #51 Excite@Home driver Eddie Cheever Jr. posted the second fastest time of the final practice session for the 84th running of the Indianapolis 500. Cheever, the 1998 Indy 500 Champion, lapped the 2.5-mile Brickyard in 41.3016 seconds for a top speed of 217.909mph. With no track activity scheduled for the next two days, Cheever will participate in the CARA fashion show tomorrow, as well as the 500 Festival parade on Saturday. Cheever will grid tenth for the race, which is scheduled for 11:00am Central time on Sunday, May 28.
Cheever (on Carburetion Day): "This day is more for the fans in the stands than it is for the drivers. If you haven't got your race set-up yet, I doubt like hell that you will find it on Carburetion Day. We ran a few laps with our race engine, did all of the usual checks, and the #51 Excite@Home Infiniti feels good. Obviously, it's better to be second than second from last today, but it's going to be a long 500 miles on Sunday.
Every year over 50 drivers try to qualify for the 33 starting spots available for the Indy 500, and now that we've qualified, we have our lottery ticket. Now it's up to the #51 Excite@Home team, including myself, to execute a winning 500 mile run."
Text provided by Ashleigh Higgins
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