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Wednesday, April 11
Goodyear has two seconds at Indy
Associated Press
Standing atop an equipment box in Eddie Cheever's pit, Scott Goodyear sees everything going on around him.
He's watching the crew chief and engineer calculate adjustments, observing crew members preparing for the next stop and monitoring Cheever's every move around the race track.
|  | | Scott Goodyear worke Eddie Chever's pit during the Infiniti Grand Prix of Miami. |
It's a strange feeling for Goodyear, who stopped racing full time this year after getting "burnt out." But it keeps him close to the action.
More importantly, it also is preparing him for the Indianapolis 500 -- perhaps the only Indy Racing League event he will run this season.
"I'm learning a lot right now," Goodyear said. "It's the first time that I haven't been in the seat, so I'm now listening and learning and seeing more of what goes on.
"I'm able to put all these dots together in a sense, and it's going to be an advantage when it comes time to be in the seat for Indy."
Goodyear, whose only competition this year has been one race in the IROC all-star series, will join Cheever's team in a second car for the Indy 500 on May 27. The event -- and quite possibly the outcome -- will help determine what Goodyear does in the future.
The 41-year-old Canadian, second twice at Indy, has spent the last four seasons in the IRL.
Last year, while driving his third season for Panther Racing, Goodyear finished a career-high second in the IRL points standings.
But it wasn't enough to keep him racing. With his children growing older and personality conflicts inside the team growing stronger, Goodyear was ready to walk away for good.
"I got burnt out last year," he said. "Yeah, we ran well and finished second in the championship, but I was fried. I was to the point where I didn't enjoy going to the race track anymore.
"I needed a change of environment. I didn't know if it was a change of environment within racing or a change of doing something completely different."
Cheever, the only owner-driver in the IRL, wanted Goodyear to join his team. But Goodyear was certain he was finished as a full-time driver. He already had purchased a lakeside cottage in northern Indiana and had planned to spend much of this year there with his family.
But after months of careful consideration and a little persuasion, Goodyear agreed to drive for Cheever on a part-time basis.
"You could call us the odd couple," Cheever said.
Cheever and Goodyear never really became friends as they raced against each other week after week in the CART series during the early 1990s. Even as veteran drivers in the upstart IRL, they never really bonded.
Not until now.
They have developed a strong relationship since joining forces at the end of last year. Since then, they have been instrumental in developing Infiniti's racing program. That is the reason Goodyear has been in Cheever's pit for the season's first two races.
"Two drivers, or two heads, out there are better than one," Goodyear said. "That's the philosophy we have right now."
Goodyear has been working behind the scenes, watching the interaction between Cheever and his crew and hoping it will help him learn more about the new Infiniti 35A engine before the Indy 500. Goodyear also had been valuable in testing the engine and offering feedback to production engineers.
He says he has been too busy to really miss the full-time action, but he admitted that getting back in the seat after a three-month hiatus "was a big charge."
Goodyear and Cheever were scheduled to test the engine for nearly 600 miles this week at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the IRL's next and final stop before Indianapolis.
Both drivers say the engine, which was race-tested just a week before the season opener, will be the key for their success at the Brickyard.
"Let's put it this way: what we have in Atlanta, we're going to have at Indy, so it better be good," Cheever said.
If not?
Goodyear already has considered quitting twice, last year and once after the 1994 CART season. He says he was burned out then, too.
He ran only three races in 1995, including his strangest Indy 500 in a decade at the Brickyard. That year, Goodyear crossed the finish line first but was black-flagged for passing the pace car on the final restart. Goodyear finished a frustrating 14th.
"My whole life revolves around the 500," he said.
That is why he couldn't totally walk away last year. And that is why he probably will struggle with another career decision: what to do next season?
After Indianapolis, he will retreat to the lake to spend time with his wife and three children ranging in age from 9 to 3. He also will be contemplating his future.
"They're growing up so quickly, and I'm missing all that," Goodyear said. "I'm trying to find a balance. I think it about it a lot. Where it's going to go? I don't know.
"Whether I'm satisfied just to go do the 500, I won't be able to answer until after the 500. I might be standing there at the lake in the first week of July, saying 'OK, I'm ready to race."' Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
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