Cheever laps in 224mph at Indy

The former Grand Prix racer, whose Dallara-Infiniti will be backed by Red Bull next year, was pleased with the speed he achieved.

"The last time we were here, we were doing some tests for Dallara for their wind tunnel," said Cheever. "This time we came out and tried some things on the set-up and did some work on the Infiniti engine, and today [Wednesday] or the day after we will do our second and last 500 [mile] simulation. We had a successful one about two months ago, so this is a progression of that."

Cheever took one race win this year at Kansas in July and finished eighth in the point standings. He confirmed that his team will field a second car in the 2002 Indy Racing Northern Light Series.

"We will run a second car," he said. "We're 99 percent sure. We will start testing some drivers probably 10 days from now. We have a list of eight, and we will narrow it down to five."

Britain's Johnny Herbert has been linked to a seat with Cheever's team.