IRL: Red Bull Cheever Racing statement

Red Bull Cheever Racing has withdrawn the entry for the No. 53 Red Bull Cheever Racing Infiniti for the Gateway Indy 250 after Tomas Scheckter elected not to participate in the race this weekend. The team will compete with Eddie Cheever Jr. in the No. 51 car and Buddy Rice in the No. 52 car.

Team owner and driver Eddie Cheever Jr. said: "After not showing up for a scheduled technical briefing yesterday we called and were informed by Tomas that he was not going to participate in the race this weekend. He did not offer any further details. This news was very shocking after the time and effort that both Red Bull Cheever Racing and TWR have put into preparing his car for this race, as we have done all season. We have a contract with Tomas through 2003 which we fully intend to enforce. Although this is a surprise, it will not have a negative impact on our performance this weekend."

-cir-