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Busy Day For Boesel During Testing For Indy 200;
Jeff Ward Crashes...Not Injured

12 January 1998

Raul Boesel

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla., - Raul Boesel sliced one-half second off his best time during his second day of testing in an Indy Racing League car Saturday at Walt Disney World Speedway, and he also helped team owner Dennis McCormack unveil a unique associate sponsorship.

Boesel's best unofficial lap of the 1-mile oval was 22.2 seconds, 162.62 mph in the McCormack Motorsports G Force/Oldsmobile Aurora. His best testing lap Friday in his IRL debut was 22.716, 158.479 as he began preparation for the Indy 200 Presented by Aurora on Jan. 24.

Boesel and McCormack announced that the National Hockey League Players Association will be an associate sponsor of the team this season. Representing the NHLPA during the announcement were Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brian Bradley and former Lightning forward Adam Creighton.

Defending race champion Eddie Cheever Jr. was the quickest of seven drivers testing Saturday. His best lap was 21.480, 167.598 in the Team Cheever Dallara/Oldsmobile Aurora. Scott Sharp set an unofficial track record for the new IRL cars Friday with a lap of 20.967, 171.698 in the Delphi Automotive Systems Dallara/Oldsmobile Aurora.

IRL testing will resume Monday morning. Among the drivers scheduled to test are Boesel and 1996 Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy Lazier.
RAUL BOESEL: "I'm starting to get used to it. Every time we go out we move forward."

DENNIS McCORMACK: "We just want to log more miles. We're moving in the right direction. We're getting in the window now. We're very happy with how things are going."

Jeff Ward

At 10:02 a.m. Saturday, Jeff Ward was unhurt when his Team Tabasco G Force/Oldsmobile Aurora spun in Turn 1, hitting the wall with the rear of the car and spinning again, hitting the wall again with the right side of the car. The car sustained extensive rear-end damage, preventing Ward's teammate, Jim Guthrie, from testing later in the day. Ward was examined in the Infield Care Center and released.

JEFF WARD: "It just snapped around. We've been having a big push in Turn 1, and for some reason right on the r-entry it just came around. It's unfortunate, because Jim needed to get in the car. I didn't feel the hit at all. The car absorbed it really well."

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