Excite@Home signed a deal through 2001 to sponsor Eddie
Cheever's two-car IRL team. Team Cheever and Excite will
run several events and promotional programs to maximize the
partnership, and information on Cheever's teams will be
provided on Excite's sports page, sports.excite.com (THE
DAILY). The AP's Mel Reisner writes that the portal will
provide fans "access to inside details of the teams'
operations -- possibly as early as" the April 22 IRL race in
Las Vegas. Team "planning meetings, debriefings and in-the-
cockpit updates during races" are "types of information that
may be made available" on the Web site. Cheever: "You'll be
able in those last 10 laps at the Indy 500 ... to know where
we stand. You'll be able to see what my heart rate is, and
how the engine is doing." Excite VP/Business Development
Michael Healy said the company's "target market areas line
up very well with IRL markets" (AP, 3/17).
EXPENSIVE RIDES: ESPN2's John Kernan reported that
Renault, the "top" F-1 engine-maker of the '90s, is
"returning to the sport, but this time as a car owner.
Renault purchased the Benetton Team for $120M on Thursday.
That's big, because, think about it - two cars. The Kansas
City Royals, a whole baseball team, just sold for less than
$100M. ... Benetton will remain as the team's sponsor for
the next two years" ("RPM 2Night," ESPN2, 3/16).
