IRL: Team Cheever Plans to Turn Up the Heat in Texas

17 September 1998

Fort Worth, Texas -- Coming off the momentum of Eddie Cheever's third place finish in Atlanta, Team Cheever looks to turn up the heat at this weekend's Lone Star 500K at Texas Motor Speedway.

Eddie Cheever Jr.

"I'm really looking forward to coming back to Texas," commented Cheever. " Bruton Smith's tracks are state of the art and the combination of the our finish in Atlanta with the prospect of 100,000 spectators in the stands, has us charged up and ready to go. "

With the Championship still very much up in the air, Eddie Cheever and his #51 Rachel's Gourmet Potato Chips Dallara is ranked 8th in points while Robby Unser and his #52 The Children's Beverage Group GForce still leads all rookies.

"These one and a half mile ovals are all about aerodynamics and horsepower," commented Cheever on the 1.5-mile quad oval. "The radius of the Texas corners are narrower and more angled, so they scrub off more speed and demand more steering from the driver."

"The banks will help us with our tire wear, " added Unser in describing the famous 24 degree high banks. "They'll help hold the car on the road allowing two-to-three wide wheel-to-wheel racing."

In June of this year, during the True Value 500K, Cheever was knocked out early when he was caught up in a multi-car collision on Lap 5; Teammate Unser went on to finish ninth in the race. The previous three years, the IRL has run at night; this time, all 208-laps of Sunday's 312-mile race will enjoy the Texas sunshine.

"I anticipate that the heat will play a factor in our engine performance and the car's overall aerodynamics," explained Cheever. "Our cars are very sensitive to temperature changes. The team that finds the most effective way to push their car through this Texas heat will win on Sunday."

Robby Unser

"I expect it to be an-over-210-mph-4-inches-from-the-other-guy's-wheel kind of show," added Unser. "We'll run hard every step of the race knowing that if we don't have our act together, the guy right behind us might and he'll be sure to take advantage of us if he can."

The Lone Star 500 race will air live on Sunday, September 20th at 3pm EDT on ABC Sports. Qualifying will air live at 5pm on Speedvision, Friday, September 18th.

Primary sponsorship of Team Cheever comes from Rachel's Gourmet Potato Chips and The Children's Beverage Group. Rachel's, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is both the manufacturer and distributor of the 9 unique flavors of Rachel's Gourmet Potato Chips. The company is publicly traded under the symbol "RLDS" and can be contacted toll free at 800-730-3700 or at their website www.rachelspotatochips.com. The Children's Beverage Group (TCBG) is the designer of the RIP-IT SIP-IT(tm) straw-in-the-pouch drinking system that began distribution nationwide in 1997. For more information, call TCBG's corporate headquarters at 847-562-4040 or visit their website at www. stockprofiles.com/tcbg. Secondary sponsors of Team Cheever include Goodyear, Menards, Sony Disc Manufacturing, All Sports Telemetry (AST), Bosch, True Grit Apparel and Pennzoil.

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