IRL: Indy 500: Cheever Racing practice day twelve practice notes

Red Bull Cheever Racing gets in full day of practice at Indy.

Red Bull Cheever Racing drivers completed over 500 miles of testing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway today in preparation for the 86th Indianapolis 500.

In unseasonably cold temperatures in the low 50s, Eddie Cheever Jr. completed 29 laps of practice with a quick speed of 223.886 mph. Rookies Tomas Scheckter and Max Papis completed 93 laps and 81 laps, respectively, working together to test the cars in traffic conditions.

Eddie Cheever Jr. on Practice: "It's the last day of running for the Red Bull Cheever Racing team. Tomas tried some different things on his setup which he might carry over to the race. Max found a few things with the aerodynamics. I have already done eight full-tank runs and I am quite confident. We just practiced a few other things today. Now we just have to prepare the cars for the race. We wanted to have Max and Tomas to run together today so they had a better idea of how things were with traffic. I have had an opportunity to run in traffic at Indy, they have not, so we orchestrated that experience for them today. They both ran well. One car was faster at the beginning of the run with one setup, and the other car was faster at the end of the run with another setup. It was more good information that we can sit down and analyze. I would say that our bread is in the oven now. The ingredients are all gathered and the dough is mixed, we just have to wait and see how it comes out."

Tomas Scheckter on Practice:
"This last day has been our best day so far. We got some decent race runs in. I ran behind Max to see how the car would react in bad air and my car was unbelievable. That's going to be an important thing, especially in the race. We're going to analyze the data tonight and make sure the car is perfect for the race."

Max Papis on Practice:
"Today we focused a lot on race day. Unfortunately, I couldn't find too much traffic out there so I ran around with Tomas. I felt we have a very strong car, and we have a great knowledge on what we need to do for the race. It was very cold, so I am not so sure how representative today will be of the race. I was very happy when I was able to run Eddie's setup a couple of days ago. It put us on the right track much faster than if I had to do the setup all by myself. It was very important in our preparation this week. Eddie has more laps around this track than any of us, so his input is very important. But come race day, I still want to beat him."

Red Bull Cheever Racing Qualifying Recap
All three Red Bull Cheever Racing drivers earned a spot on the starting grid for the 86th Indianapolis 500 on the first day of qualifying on May 11. Starting in the second row, Eddie Cheever Jr. qualified sixth at 229.786 mph in the No. 51 car. Starting in the fourth row, Tomas Scheckter, the youngest driver in the field so far, qualified 10th at 229.210 in the No. 52 car. Starting in the sixth row, Max Papis qualified 18th at 227.941 in the No. 53 car.

Race Information
Practice resumes Sunday, May 19 from 10 to 11:15 a.m. (EST) and Bump Day qualifications take place from 12 to 6 p.m. (EST). The 86th running of the Indianapolis 500 starts at 11 a.m. (EST) Sunday, May 26. Live timing and scoring of all on-track activity can be found on www.indyracing.com.

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