Qualifying within two-hundreths of a second from each other, the Cheever Racing duo of Max Papis and Eddie Cheever Jr. qualified 18th and 19th, respectively, for the 90th running of the Indianapolis 500. source: cheeverracing.com Thirty-two of the 33 available starting positions were filled today in the run for the Worldpoints Visa Card Pole on Coca-cola Throwback Day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. "I am glad we have both cars in the field. It took a tremendous amount of effort by the entire team to get here," said owner and driver Eddie Cheever Jr. Cheever was the first of the two Cheever Racing cars to qualify on Pole Day, which was rescheduled for today after a washout last weekend. The tenth car on track, Cheever drove four laps at 220.916, 222.305, 222.508 and 222.389 for a four-lap average speed of 222.028 mph in the No. 51 Cheever Racing Honda/Dallara. "My qualifying was a little more difficult than usual," Cheever said. "I got sideways in turn three and by the time I collected my wits enough I was kind of off base and that dragged all the way through that first timed lap. "I heard Rick Mears say the other day that these are the four most physical laps you can do in racing and I would agree with him. I would add to that if you go away for three years, then come back, and get sideways in your warm-up lap, that makes it even better," continued Cheever, who last drove at Indy in 2002. "That was the most severe, quick and abrupt talking to I had to give myself in 30 years of racing, to decide if I was going to hold the throttle down in turn one after getting sideways in turn three. As it turned out the car was good." This will be Cheever's 14th Indy 500. His journey began in 1990, when he finished eighth and was named the race's rookie of the year. He finished fourth in 1992, won in '98, and finished fifth in 2000 and 2002. He also holds the record for the fastest race lap with an average speed of 236.103 mph set in 1996.
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