Indy 500 practice - day 2

Eddie Cheever, former F1 driver and 1998 Indy 500 winner beat multiple CART champion Al Unser jr. with a lap set three minutes before the end of the session.

"It's kind of like having the best grades on the first day of school, but today was a lot of fun," said Cheever.

"Today was for the mechanics - they've worked really hard," he added.

"The #51 Excite@Home car wasn't perfect - we had some push in Turn 2 - and the westerly wind was making things very tricky. The winds will actually move you over about ten feet going through the corners, and it's not a nice feeling when you're going 230mph. You have to take a deep breath and hope the car sticks all the way around. The Infiniti engine was just tremendous today, we are extremely pleased with the performance of the Firestone tires, and the #51 Excite@Home Dallara is handling very well."

Cheever denied any suggestion that Unser Jr. had moved to the IRL after losing his touch, saying "I find it so funny that people have said that Al is done, he's washed up, he's finished," said Cheever. "As far as I know, Unsers give up when they want to give up. I do get great pleasure out of beating the red-head today."

Cheever drove for Renault and Arrows in F1, before moving to the US. He won the first race of the IRL to be raced under the proper regulations, the first few races using ex-CART machinery.

1999 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year Robby McGehee was third fastest at 219.780, Scott Sharp fourth at 219.769 and Buddy Lazier was fifth at 219.

Pole Day qualifying takes place from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. May 20.