Wheldon tries out for Cheever's squad

Wheldon ran on the 1.5-mile Homestead oval in Cheever's Dallara-Infiniti, running alongside the American on the day.

"Danny drove on the first day of the test when the handling of the car was horrific," Cheever told Speedvision.com. "He did everything we requested of him, including keeping it off the wall. I only did a 191mph lap that day, so considering everything he did a great job on his first Indy car test."

Wheldon, who has tested a PacWest Champ Car in the past, is understood to have signed an option with Cheever's team, along with American Buddy Rice and Scottish-born Jeff Ward. This is believed to give him first refusal on either of their services for 2002.

"We hope to select a second driver before the end of January," said Richard Caron, Cheever Racing's general manager. "We are not only looking at the drivers we tested but several others as well. It is a very hard decision because there are so many good drivers on the market right now."