It was a lost weekend for driver Eddie Cheever at Road America. First, he lost his job when car owner Chip Ganassi announced he would not re-sign the former Formula One driver for next season.
Next, his brother, Ross Cheever, said, ”My brother chopped me off and put me into the dirt.” That happened on the first green flag lap.
Later, he touched wheels with teammate Robby Gordon and finally dropped out after only seven laps with a gearbox failure.
”All I can do and all I will continue to do is give 100 percent as a driver,” Cheever said. ”There is only so much I can control. Now there are only four races remaining and I will do my best to deliver a win for the team.”
Said Ganassi: ”A decision was made to do what is best for the team and I think what is best for the team is a driver change. I felt it was better to let Eddie know sooner rather than later, to give him ample time to try to find a ride and stay in the sport.”
Ganassi did not name a replacement. Gordon has been driving the road courses for him this year and Arie Luyendyk has driven a second car on the superspeedways.
– Jeff Andretti, severely injured in a crash during the Indy 500, was here for the weekend watching the race from his brother Michael and father Mario`s pits.
Still in a wheelchair, Andretti vowed: ”I plan to drive Indy cars next year. I`m ahead of schedule.” He is scheduled to begin therapy soon in Indianapolis.
”They`ll start him in a swimming pool,” explained Michael. ”First he`ll just move his legs in the water. They`ll have him in a weighted jacket and gradually they`ll remove the weights, putting more and more pressure on his feet.”