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NorthernLight IRL: Cheever continues to chase title with fourth place at Kentucky

28 August 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

Sparta, KY - 1998 Indianapolis 500 Champion Eddie Cheever Jr. displayed his trademark tenacity at Sunday's Belterra Resort Indy 300 at Kentucky Speedway, powering his #51 Excite@Home Infiniti from fifteenth on the grid to a well-deserved fourth place finish. Cheever's performance marked his fourth top five result in eight Indy Racing Northern Light Series events this season.

Cheever is currently third in the Indy Racing standings with 217 points, forty-one points behind series leader Buddy Lazier and only three points behind Scott Goodyear. The Indy Racing veteran captured the first victory for the #51 Excite@Home Indy Race Team and the first win for the Infiniti Indy engine at Pikes Peak (CO) in June. Cheever has finished in the top eleven in seven of eight Indy Racing events this season.

Eddie Cheever Jr. (on the race): "The #51 Excite@Home car was loose at the beginning of the race. We over-corrected at the first pit stop and gave it some push, but the car was good for the last two stints. Oldsmobile has obviously made enormous gains since the last race at Atlanta."

(On the battle for the Indy Racing championship): "It's been a slugfest with Buddy Lazier for most of the season, but now I'd say he has a pretty firm lock on the Indy Racing championship. Today was Buddy's day. He deserved to win, and I was happy to see Sarah do well."

Text provided by Ashleigh Higgins

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