Autumnpuma 0 Report post Posted June 7, 2006 from speedtv.com ***** Called twice an "idiot" on national TV during the Watkins Glen IndyCar race, due to incidents with Marco Andretti and Danica Patrick, veteran driver Eddie Cheever spoke out to defend himself of the accusations from his rivals. Cheever, who finished 17th at the Glen after tangling with Andretti, denied the suggestions from both Marco and his father Michael that he intentionally took the 19-year old rookie out of the race. "To think I would intentionally take anyone out is just ludicrous," the owner/driver said. "It's beyond words. It was a racing accident, pure and simple. There certainly wasn't any intent, so I find the accusations incomprehensible. "Nobody took them out intentionally, so their accusations look a bit ridiculous." It wasn't the first round of mutual accusations between the Andrettis and Cheever this season: at St. Petersburg, Cheever was similarly criticized for an incident happened during practice. "Let there be no mistake, I would never let any feelings I might have carry over to the race course, where lives are at stake," he added. "I have lost too many friends to this sport to be so shallow. It was a racing accident, pure and simple." Prior to that incident, Cheever had been accused of spinning out Danica Patrick's car. What exactly happened during Patrick's spin on a restart was unclear on TV, as footage showed only the No.16 Panoz already going the wrong way leading into the Glen pit straight. Over the radio to her team, Danica made use of the "I-word" to refer to the driver of the No.51 car. "She did that all by herself," Cheever claimed. The 48-year old didn't let the opportunity to have a poke at the Andrettis pass him by, however: "The last I looked, I earned the label of Indy 500 champion [in 1998, when Michael Andretti was driving in CART]; those lobbing unfounded accusations at me have not," he said. "I'm not perfect, and neither are my accusers. Let's get back to racing." **** I know this is harsh, but why did we have to lose Senna and keep Cheever...? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pumpdoc 2 Report post Posted June 7, 2006 Cheever ought to back from the hole which he crawled, I only saw on replay how he took out Marco, sad so ****ing sad That's the gIRL for you they will let anyone drive, got to keep up the car count ya know Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sliderule 0 Report post Posted June 7, 2006 part of the job of a racecar driver is to keep his nose clean, he and only he is responsible for this, and Marco should learn this preatty quick so he wont gert stuck in gIRL racing and can move up to hopefully F1, however Cheever is a numbskull and should understand is time for him to go home and stay there Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ecapdeville 0 Report post Posted June 7, 2006 I watched the accident at home...weird!, that Cheever went directly into Andretti Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AutoRacer5 0 Report post Posted June 8, 2006 Cheever has always been concerned about safety. He called the three-wide racing at Texas about 6 years ago lunasy. Him, Greg Ray, and Scott Sharp. I gotta admit, it was damned exciting, but I haven't seen the incident. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
c21 0 Report post Posted June 8, 2006 Ive just seen the footage, very strange accident. Have a look. (hope it works)Cheever crash Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
