Cheever to miss Indianapolis 500

Eddie Cheever Jr. has decided to sit out the Indianapolis 500 next month, but stopped short of saying he's retiring from racing. Calling it a "self-imposed sabbatical," Cheever said has only entered two Red Bull Cheever Racing cars for Buddy Rice and a driver "to be determined."

Apr 9, 2003, 12:49 PM

Cheever cited a busy schedule, including running the race team, Menard Cheever Technologies and the recent purchase of TWR Engines, has prevented him from focusing on driving.

"I haven't been able to spend any time at all preparing myself for this race," said Cheever, who won the Indy 500 in 1998. "I'm just looking at this as a sabbatical - a self-imposed sabbatical. I don't know what I'll do next year. All I know is that I won't be doing Indy this year."

Cheever also indicated he wasn't pleased with the car so far this season. Rice's Chevrolet-powered Dallara finished 16th in the opener at Homestead-Miami, then finished ninth at Phoenix.

"We need to get our car farther up the grid than it is now," Cheever said. "We're having to do a lot of catch-up work right now. We need to get more competitive. We're working very hard on that."

It will be the first time since his rookie-of-the-year campaign in 1990 that Cheever has not raced in the 500.