IRL: Gateway: Cheever Racing preview

Three Red Bull Cheever Racing cars ready to take on Gateway.

Red Bull Cheever Racing will continue with its three-car effort in the Aug. 25th running of the Gateway Indy 250 located in Madison, Ill. just across the Mississippi River from St. Louis.

Buddy Rice will drive the No. 53 Red Bull Cheever Racing Infiniti in his third race for the team. Rice finished second in his IRL debut at Michigan, and 12th at Kentucky.

"We are continuing to watch Buddy," team owner and driver Eddie Cheever Jr. said. "He has done very well in his two races with us, finishing both times. His second place finish at Michigan was terrific, and at Kentucky he managed to bring the car home after a difficult race."

Eddie Cheever Jr. will drive the No. 51 Red Bull Infiniti while Tomas Scheckter, who currently leads the Bombardier Rookie of the Year Championship, will drive the No. 52 car.

The Red Bull squad will be going after its second victory of the season, after Scheckter's win at the Michigan Indy 400. The team, which is currently tied with Team Penske for the most number of pole positions this season, will be looking for its fifth pole.

Eddie Cheever Jr. on Gateway Test
"We had a two-day test last week at Gateway with Buddy and me. The test got off to a slow start but we were happy with the results by the end of the day. We expect it to be just as difficult as every short oval we have been to this year. The Infiniti engines from TWR are strong, but we decided from the beginning to sacrifice a little on the shorter ovals so that we can be stronger on the superspeedways. We will be looking to get all three cars to finish in the top ten.'

"As I have said in the past, whoever designed Gateway was in a bad mood that day because it is not very driver-friendly. It is a unique oval, with a speed variation of 35 miles per hour. The corners are totally different from each other. Turns 3 and 4 are very fast, whereas Turns 1 and 2 are very slow. It has long straightaways, and there will be a lot of ducking under people turning into corners."

Tomas Scheckter on Gateway
"All I know about Gateway is what the team has told me. It seems to be a challenging oval because of the two tight corners. I think I will have a slight disadvantage to Eddie and Buddy since they tested there last week. Hopefully they found a good setup and I will get up to speed immediately."

Buddy Rice on Gateway
"Gateway will be the hardest race of the year for me. The track is very difficult with the two ends being completely different. I think there will be a lot of attrition in the race. I just want to stick around for the end and get another solid finish for Red Bull Cheever Racing."

Flashback: Cheever's History at Gateway
In last season's inaugural IRL race at Gateway International Raceway, Eddie Cheever Jr. was the best finishing Infiniti driver, placing fourth. He drove a steady pace in the race, working his way through the field from his ninth-place starting position. Running as high as third, Cheever moved into fourth position when he went into the pits with 11 laps to go for a 'splash-and-go' fuel stop. He took the checkered flag in fourth place, only four seconds behind race winner Al Unser Jr.

Race Information
The Gateway Indy 250 starts at 2 p.m. (CDT) Sunday, Aug. 25. The race will be televised live on ESPN and by the Indy Racing Radio Network. Practice and qualifying takes place on Aug. 24. Live timing and scoring of all on-track activity can be found on www.indyracing.com.

Red Bull Cheever Racing, based in Indianapolis, is the brainchild of 1998 Indy 500 champion Eddie Cheever Jr. A leader in American motorsports, the Indy Racing League team is built on Cheever's experience in Formula One, sports cars and open-wheel oval racing. Corporate and technical partnerships with the world's leading energy drink Red Bull, Nissan North America's Infiniti Division, TWR Group, and Lincoln Financial Group greatly enhance the team's resources and technology. For more information, visit www.cheeverindyracing.com.

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