Eddie Cheever

Eddie Cheever

Eddie Cheever, Jr. at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2009.
Born	January 10, 1958 (1958-01-10)
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	American
Active years	1978, 1980 - 1989
Teams	Theodore, Hesketh, Osella, Tyrrell, Ligier, Renault, Alfa Romeo, Haas Lola, Arrows
Races	143 (132 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	9
Career points	70
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First race	1978 Argentine Grand Prix
Last race	1989 Australian Grand Prix

Edward "Eddie" McKay Cheever, Jr. (born January 10, 1958 in Phoenix, Arizona) is an American racing driver who raced for almost thirty years in Formula One, Sports cars, CART and the Indy Racing League. Cheever participated in 143 World Championship Formula One races and started 132, more than any other American, driving for nine different teams from 1978 through 1989. In 1997, he formed his own IRL team and won the 1998 Indianapolis 500 as both owner and driver. The team now competes in sports cars.

Beginnings

Cheever lived in Rome as a child and was introduced to motorsports at age eight when his father took him to a sports car race in Monza, Italy. He soon began racing go karts and won both Italian and European Karting championships at age 15. He worked his way up through the levels of European Formula racing, teaming with American Danny Sullivan in Formula Three and driving for Ron Dennis in Formula Two.

Formula One

He made his Formula One debut at age 20 in 1978. After failing to qualify in Argentina, he made the grid at Kyalami for the South African Grand Prix in a Hesketh-Ford. An engine problem forced him to retire after just eight laps. Two seasons later, he became a regular driver for the Osella team, but finished only once in ten races. Switching teams repeatedly as he tried to climb his way up the grid, Cheever had five points-scoring finishes for the Tyrrell team in 1981, and three podiums for Ligier the following year, including a second place at the 1982 Detroit Grand Prix in Detroit.

Cheever driving for Alfa Romeo at the 1985 German Grand Prix.

Cheever driving his 1988 Arrows A10B at the 2008 Goodwood Festival of Speed.

The 1983 season proved to be Cheever's high point in Formula One. He signed with the Renault team alongside Frenchman Alain Prost, both of whom were among the year's Championship favorites. Cheever earned four more podiums and 22 Championship points, but the team's disappointment after losing both the Drivers' and Constructors' titles late in the season brought about the replacement of both Cheever and Prost. In six more seasons, he never drove another truly competitive F1 car. His final podium finishes in Formula One came for Arrows in the 1988 Italian Grand Prix at Monza and at the 1989 United States Grand Prix at Phoenix; at one stage in Monza, he was almost declared the winner as Ferrari had an over sized fuel tank. The podium cost him a new pair of sunglasses for the chief mechanic. At Phoenix, he was involved in a race long battle with Riccardo Patrese for 2nd place, but then had to give way at the later stages of the race when his brakes started to fade.

In all, he participated in 143 Grands Prix, achieved 9 podiums, and scored a total of 70 championship points.

CART

Eddie Cheever
CART World Series
Years active	1986, 1990-1995
Teams	Arciero Racing Chip Ganassi Racing Team Menard King Racing Turley Motorsports A. J. Foyt Enterprises
Starts	82
Wins	0
Poles	0
Best finish	9th in 1990, 1991
Awards
1990	CART Rookie of the Year

Cheever driving for Chip Ganassi Racing at Laguna Seca in 1991

From 1986 to 1988, while still driving in Formula One, Cheever won ten sports car races for Jaguar. In 1990 he moved to the US to drive for Chip Ganassi Racing in the CART series. In his first attempt at the Indianapolis 500, he finished eighth and was named the race's Rookie of the Year, as well as CART's Rookie of the Year. In 1992, he qualified second for the race and finished fourth. In total, he scored four podium finishes in the series, but never won. Driving for A.J. Foyt's team, Cheever came closest to victory at Nazareth in 1995; he was leading the race on the last lap when he ran out of fuel.

Indianapolis 500 and Indy Racing League

Eddie Cheever
Indy Racing League IndyCar Series
Years active	1996-2002, 2006
Teams	Team Menard Cheever Racing
Starts	77
Wins	5
Poles	1
Best finish	3rd in 1996-1997, 2000
Awards
1998	Indianapolis 500 winner

In 1996 the Indy Racing League began, and Cheever moved there from CART. Cheever ran for Team Menard for the three-race series, and at the 1996 Indianapolis 500, he set the fastest race lap to date at 236.103 mph (379.971 km/h). Cheever then set up his own team and had his first race as a driver/owner at New Hampshire later that August, which was the first race of the next season.

In 1998, all the pieces came together for Cheever when he took the biggest win of his career. He started from 17th position and led 76 of 200 laps to win the 82nd Indianapolis 500, despite sliding in the first turn of the race's first lap, helping bring out the race's first caution period. He was the first owner/driver to win the race since A.J. Foyt (one of Cheever's former bosses) in 1977.

Cheever's IRL team, active until July 2006, ran cars for Alex Barron and Patrick Carpentier in 2005. Having hung up his helmet in 2002, except for occasional instances such as the 2006 24 Hours of Daytona where he competed in the first race with his new Grand-Am series team, Eddie announced on February 21 he would come out of retirement to run his own car in the IRL's first four races, including the Indianapolis 500. He shut his team down after the 8th race of the season due to lack of sponsorship. The team continues to compete in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series.

Currently, Cheever is providing television commentary on ABC for the Indianapolis 500, a position he has held since 2008.

GP Masters

Eddie Cheever, Silverstone GP Masters, 2006.

In 2005 Cheever competed in the GP Masters series which is open to former Formula One drivers over the age of 45. In the championship's first ever event at Kyalami International Raceway in South Africa, Cheever finished in 8th position. Cheever finished 4th in the 2nd GP Masters race on April 29, 2006 at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar.

In the 3rd GP Masters race on August 13, 2006 at the Silverstone Circuit in England, he took the victory under wet track conditions.

Career statistics

Complete European Formula Two Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Pos	Pts
1976	Project Four Racing	March/752	Lancia-Ferrari	HOC DNQ													9th	10
			Hart 420R		THR 4	VAL DSQ	SAL Ret	PAU Ret	HOC Ret	ROU Ret			EST 5
		March/762									MUG DNA	PER 3
		Ralt/RT1												NOG 8	HOC 15
1977	Project Four Racing	Ralt/RT1	BMW	SIL 7	THR 2	HOC Ret	NÜR 2	VAL 3	PAU Ret	MUG 17	ROU 1	NOG 5	PER Ret	MIS 2	EST 3	DON	2nd	40
1978	Project Four Racing	March/782	BMW	THR 4	HOC Ret	NÜR 3	PAU 5	MUG 7	VAL Ret	ROU 2	DON Ret	NOG 9	PER 2	MIS 6	HOC Ret		4th	24
1979	Osella Squadra Corse	OsellaFA2/79	BMW	SIL 1	HOC 5	THR Ret	NÜR 8	VAL Ret	MUG Ret	PAU 1	HOC Ret	ZAN 1	PER 5	MIS 6	DON 7		4th	32

Complete World Championship Formula One results

(key)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	WDC	Points
1978	Theodore Racing Hong Kong	Theodore TR1	Ford Cosworth DFV	ARG DNQ	BRA DNQ															NC	0
	Olympus Cameras Hesketh Racing	Hesketh 308E	Ford Cosworth DFV			RSA Ret	USW	MON	BEL	ESP	SWE	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	USA	CAN
1980	Osella Squadra Corse	Osella FA1	Ford Cosworth DFV	ARG DNQ	BRA DNQ	RSA Ret	USW Ret	BEL DNQ	MON DNQ	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	GER Ret	AUT Ret	NED Ret						NC	0
		Osella FA1B													ITA 12	CAN Ret	USA Ret
1981	Team Tyrrell	Tyrrell 010	Ford Cosworth DFV	USW 5	BRA NC	ARG Ret	SMR Ret	BEL 6	MON 5	ESP NC	FRA 13	GBR 4								12th	10
		Tyrrell 011											GER 5	AUT DNQ	NED Ret	ITA Ret	CAN 12	CPL Ret
1982	Equipe Talbot Gitanes	Ligier JS17	Matra V12	RSA Ret	BRA Ret	USW Ret	SMR	BEL 3		DET 2	CAN 10									12th	15
		Ligier JS19							MON Ret			NED DNQ	GBR Ret	FRA 16	GER Ret	AUT Ret	SUI NC	ITA 6	CPL 3
1983	Equipe Renault Elf	Renault RE30C	Renault V6 (t/c)	BRA Ret	USW 13															6th	22
		Renault RE40				FRA 3	SMR Ret	MON Ret	BEL 3	DET Ret	CAN 2	GBR Ret	GER Ret	AUT 4	NED Ret	ITA 3	EUR 10	RSA 6
1984	Benetton Team Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo 184T	Alfa Romeo V8 (t/c)	BRA 4	RSA Ret	BEL Ret	SMR 7	FRA Ret	MON DNQ	CAN 11	DET Ret	DAL Ret	GBR Ret	GER Ret	AUT Ret	NED 13	ITA 9	EUR Ret	POR 17	16th	3
1985	Benetton Team Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo 185T	Alfa Romeo V8 (t/c)	BRA Ret	POR Ret	SMR Ret	MON Ret	CAN 17	DET 9	FRA 10										NC	0
		Alfa Romeo 184TB									GBR Ret	GER Ret	AUT Ret	NED Ret	ITA Ret	BEL Ret	EUR 11	RSA Ret	AUS Ret
1986	Haas Lola	Lola THL-1	Ford V6 (t/c)	BRA	ESP	SMR	MON	BEL	CAN	DET Ret	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	AUT	ITA	POR	MEX	AUS	NC	0
1987	USF&G Arrows Megatron	Arrows A10	Megatron Straight-4 (t/c)	BRA Ret	SMR Ret	BEL 4	MON Ret	DET 6	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	GER Ret	HUN 8	AUT Ret	ITA Ret	POR 6	ESP 8	MEX 4	JPN 9	AUS Ret	10th	8
1988	USF&G Arrows Megatron	Arrows A10B	Megatron Straight-4 (t/c)	BRA 8	SMR 7	MON Ret	MEX 6	CAN Ret	DET Ret	FRA 11	GBR 7	GER 10	HUN Ret	BEL 6	ITA 3	POR Ret	ESP Ret	JPN Ret		12th	6
		Arrows A10																	AUS Ret
1989	USF&G Arrows	Arrows A11	Ford Cosworth DFR	BRA Ret	SMR 9	MON 7	MEX 7	USA 3	CAN Ret	FRA 7	GBR DNQ	GER 12	HUN 5	BEL Ret	ITA DNQ	POR Ret	ESP Ret	JPN 8	AUS Ret	11th	6

American Open Wheel

(key)

CART results

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Rank	Points
1986	Arciero	PHX	LBH	IND	MIL	POR	MEA	CLE	TOR	MIS	POC	MDO	SAN	MIS2	ROA	LS	PHX2	MIA Ret	NC	0
1990	Ganassi	PHX 7	LBH Ret	IND 8	MIL 11	DET 3	POR Ret	CLE Ret	MEA Ret	TOR 3	MIS 4	DEN Ret	VAN 14	MDO 4	ROA 9	NAZ 6	LS 10		9th	80
1991	Ganassi	SRF Ret	LBH 3	PHX 8	IND Ret	MIL 7	DET 12	POR 9	CLE 8	MEA 5	TOR Ret	MIS 7	DEN 4	VAN Ret	MDO 8	ROA 7	NAZ 6	LS 6	9th	91
1992	Ganassi	SRF 8	PHX 2	LBH Ret	IND 4	DET 11	POR 4	MIL 5	NHA Ret	TOR Ret	MIS Ret	CLE 11	ROA Ret	VAN Ret	MDO 12	NAZ 9	LS 4		10th	80
1993	Turley	SRF 7	PHX Ret	LBH 9			DET Ret	POR	CLE	TOR	MIS	NHA							17th	21
	Menard				IND 16	MIL
	Simon												ROA 6	VAN
	King														MDO Ret	NAZ 10	LS 14
1994	Menard	SRF	PHX	LBH	IND 8	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	TOR									27th	5
	Foyt										MIS Ret	MDO 17	NHA Ret	VAN 17	ROA Ret	NAZ Ret	LS Ret
1995	Foyt	MIA 14	SRF 7	PHX 14	LBH 4	NAZ 5	IND Ret	MIL Ret	DET Ret	POR Ret	ROA 17	TOR 11	CLE 22	MIS Ret	MDO 10	NHA 17	VAN	LS	18th	33

IndyCar

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Rank	Points
1996	Team Menard	WDW 10	PHX DNS	INDY 11													16th	49
1996–1997	Team Cheever	NHM 15	LVS 25	WDW 1	PHX 12	INDY 23	TXS 6	PPIR 4	CLT 6	NH2 9	LV2 21						3rd	230
1998	Team Cheever	WDW 24	PHX 10	INDY 1	TXS 26	NHM 9	DOV 16	CLT 20	PPI 8	ATL 3	TX2 25	LVS 5					9th	222
1999	Team Cheever	WDW 1	PHX 17	INDY 18	TXS 16	PPIR 4	ATL 6	DOV 21	PPI2 11	LVS 17	TX2 4						7th	222
2000	Team Cheever	WDW 3	PHX 10	LVS 11	INDY 5	TXS 9	PPIR 1	ATL 21	KTY 4	TX2 2							3rd	257
2001	Team Cheever	PHX 19	HMS 9	ATL 24	INDY 26	TXS 12	PPIR 6	RIR 13	KAN 1	NSH 15	KTY 21	STL 4	CHI 3	TX2 18			8th	261
2002	Team Cheever	HMS 25	PHX 15	FON 20	NZR 7	INDY 5	TXS 19	PPIR 8	RIR 14	KAN 16	NSH 6	MIS 22	KTY 11	STL 10	CHI 5	TX2 8	10th	280
2006	Cheever Racing	HMS 10	STP 11	MOT	INDY 13	WGL 17	TXS 17	RIR 14	KAN 14	NSH	MIL	MIS	KTY	SNM	CHI		19th	114

CART career summary

Year	Team	Wins	Points	Championship Finish
1986	Arciero Racing	0	0	Unclassified
1990	Chip Ganassi Racing	0	80	9th
1991	Chip Ganassi Racing	0	91	9th
1992	Chip Ganassi Racing	0	80	10th
1993	Turley/Menard/Simon/King	0	21	17th
1994	Menard/Foyt	0	5	27th
1995	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	0	33	18th

Best race finish: 2nd (Phoenix - 1992), best championship result: 9th

IRL IndyCar career summary

Year	Team	Wins	Poles	Points	Championship Finish
1996	Team Menard	0	0	49	16th
1996-1997	Team Cheever	1	0	230	3rd
1998	Team Cheever	1	0	222	9th
1999	Team Cheever	1	0	222	7th
2000	Team Cheever	1	0	257	3rd
2001	Team Cheever	1	0	261	8th
2002	Team Cheever	0	1	280	10th
2006	Cheever Racing	0	0	114	19th

Wins	Poles	Best Championship Finish	Career Points
5	1	3rd (1996–1997, 2000)	1635

Indy 500 results

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish	Team
1990	Penske	Chevrolet	14th	8th	Ganassi
1991	Lola	Chevrolet	10th	31st	Ganassi
1992	Lola	Ford-Cosworth	2nd	4th	Ganassi
1993	Lola	Buick	33rd	16th	Menard
1994	Lola	Buick	11th	8th	Menard
1995	Lola	Ford-Cosworth	14th	31st	Foyt
1996	Lola	Menard-Buick	4th	11th	Menard
1997	G-Force	Oldsmobile	11th	23rd	Cheever
1998	Dallara	Oldsmobile	17th	1st	Cheever
1999	Dallara	Infiniti	16th	18th	Cheever
2000	Dallara	Infiniti	10th	5th	Cheever
2001	Dallara	Infiniti	26th	25th	Cheever
2002	Dallara	Infiniti	6th	5th	Cheever
2006	Dallara	Honda	19th	13th	Cheever

International Race of Champions results

Race Date	Location	Finish	Start Pos	Car No.	Laps	Status
12-Feb-99	Daytona, FL	11	5	5	8	Accident
24-Apr-99	Talladega, AL	8	2	11	38	Running
11-Jun-99	Brooklyn, MI	12	3	10	48	Running
06-Aug-99	Indianapolis, IN	3	1	12	40	Running
18-Feb-00	Daytona, FL	11	4	4	40	Running
18-Apr-00	Talladega, AL	10	7	11	38	Running
10-Jun-00	Brooklyn, MI	1	2	11	50	Running
04-Aug-00	Indianapolis, IN	7	8	8	40	Running
16-Feb-01	Daytona, FL	3	2	2	40	Running
20-Apr-01	Talladega, AL	5	9	9	38	Running
09-Jun-01	Brooklyn, MI	4	5	5	50	Running
03-Aug-01	Indianapolis, IN	7	3	3	40	Running

Le Mans 24 Hours results

Year	Finish	Car No.	Team	Car / engine	Co-Drivers	Laps / Poss laps	Status
1980	19	53	Jolly Club / Lancia Corse	Lancia Beta Montecarlo	Carlo Facetti, Martino Finotto	273 / 339	Listed as DNS
1981	8	65	Martini Racing	Lancia Beta Montecarlo Turbo	Michele Alboreto, Carlo Facetti	323 / 355
1986	24	51	Silk Cut Jaguar	Jaguar XJR-6 LM / Jaguar	Derek Warwick, Jean-Louis Schlesser	239 / 368	Puncture, suspension
1987	5	4	Silk Cut Jaguar	Jaguar XJR-8 LM / Jaguar	Raul Boesel, Jan Lammers	325 / 355

References

• Eddie Cheever
• Wheel 2 Wheel: Eddie Cheever

External links

• The "meteoric" rise of Eddie Cheever

Sporting positions
Preceded by Bernard Jourdain Scott Pruett	Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year 1990	Succeeded by Jeff Andretti
Preceded by Bernard Jourdain	CART Rookie of the Year 1990	Succeeded by Jeff Andretti
Preceded by Arie Luyendyk	Indianapolis 500 Winner 1998	Succeeded by Kenny Bräck
Awards and achievements
Preceded by Eliseo Salazar	Scott Brayton Award 2000	Succeeded by Davey Hamilton