INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Eddie Cheever took advantage of another abbreviated day of racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Cheever, the 1998 Indianapolis 500 winner, posted the fifth-best time Tuesday with an average speed of 227.413 mph. For the second straight day, rain forced most of the field to the garage with a delay of three hours.

Cheever spent the break in his garage, which more closely resembled a computer lab with data analyses and engineers and crew chiefs hunched over computers measuring every piece of information from the car.

"Every engineer and crew chief has all the data from the race cars and are sifting through it trying to find little bits and pieces," Cheever said. "We probably have half-a-million dollars of data acquisitions and data analysis here."

Using the data helps Cheever prepare for a track that has made a few changes since his rookie race at Indy in 1990. The asphalt surface was smoothed out to remove bumps and ridges and "soft" walls line all four corners at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Robbie McGehee was the first driver to hit the "soft" walls on Sunday and walked away with small fractures in his lower left leg and upper spine. PJ Jones his the wall Tuesday, and was hospitalized for observation after complaining of upper back and neck pain.

Still, Cheever called the padding the largest step forward in driver safety in 20 years.

"I think it is an incredibly positive first step in what will prove to be a long process," he said. "I am very grateful for the amount of time and money that the IRL has put into this. It will have a ripple effect all over the oval race tracks."

Cheever said the smoother track was conducive to quicker times, which has proven true. Scott Sharp's pole-winning time of last year was topped by seven drivers and eight cars on the first day of practice.

The track, however, has become a little more abrasive.

"We're going through our tires a little bit quicker than we'd like to," Cheever said. "We need to do about 35 laps on a full tank of fuel with one set of tires and I don't think we can get that out of them right now. We need a few days without rain so the track gets rubbered in."

SPONSOR WOES: The sidepod of Anthony Lazzaro's car remained blank Tuesday, as the rookie was still looking for a sponsor.

Lazzaro was driving the primary car for Sam Schmidt Motorsports, until the sponsor wanted Mark Dismore to replace him.

Now Lazzaro, who made his IRL debut with an 18th-place finish at Gateway International for Schmidt in 2001, races for PDM Racing.

After Indianapolis, Lazzaro is expected to return to Schmidt's team.

But the switch has not given Lazzaro much time to prepare.

"You work all season to build continuity," he said after finishing ninth at Nazareth, Pa. "We made a lot of progress at Nazareth. Then you come to the biggest race of the year and have to start with a new team."

STICKING WITH TRADITION: The national anthem will have a more a conservative and traditional approach this year. West Point cadets will sing the anthem and present the American flag during pre-race ceremonies.

Speedway president Tony George was forced to apologize last year when Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler began his performance with a harmonica solo and ended by singing "the home of the Indianapolis 500" instead of "home of the brave."

PIT STOPS: Billy Boat's car had gear box problems during Tuesday's abbreviated practice. ... Donnie Beechler turned down an opportunity to drive one of A.J. Foyt's cars at Indianapolis, but he remains hopeful he'll find a ride. ... CART driver Paul Tracy brushed the outside wall of turn one Tuesday but there was no major damage to the car. ... The last time the start of two consecutive practices was delayed was in 1997. Monday's 5-hour, 43-minute delay was the longest since 1990.

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