OCTOBER 19, 2005

Cheever loses Red Bull backing

Cheever Racing, the Indy Racing League team run by former Formula 1 driver Eddie Cheever, has lost its sponsorship from Red Bull after four years. In the course of the partnership the team has won only one race, at Michigan in 2002, the first year of the partnership. The loss of Red Bull will be a major blow to Cheever who is now looking for a sponsor for the two-car operation which this year ran Patrick Carpentier and Alex Barron. Cheever says that he is planning to field a GrandAm sports car team over the winter months because the reduced Indy Racing League calendar in 2006 makes it difficult to keep the crew together. The new season does not kick off until the end of March next year, five months away. Cheever will run cars in GrandAm, beginning at the Daytona 24 Hours at the end of January.