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Eddie Cheever
Born 10 1958 (1958-Template:Pad2digit-Template:Pad2digit) (age 66)
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Died {{{death_date}}}
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Formula One career
Nationality 25px USA American
Years 1978, 19801989

Edward McKay "Eddie" 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, Alfa Romeo 02.08

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

Eddie Cheever 2008 Goodwood

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[]

The Corkscrew

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.[1] 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[]

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[]

Cheever 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
MUG
EST
5
March 762 PER
3
Ralt RT1 NOG
8
HOC
15
1977 Project Four Racing Ralt RT1 BMW SIL
7
THR
2
HOC
Ret
NÜR
1
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 Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Rank Points
1986 Arciero Racing March 86C Ford Cosworth DFX PHX LBH IND MIL POR MEA CLE TOR MIS POC MDO SAN MIS2 ROA LS PHX2 MIA
Ret
NC 0
1990 Chip Ganassi Racing Penske PC-18 Chevrolet 265A 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 Chip Ganassi Racing Lola T91/00 Chevrolet 265A 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 Chip Ganassi Racing Lola T91/00 Ford XB SRF
8
10th 80
Lola T92/00 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
1993 Turley Penske PC-21 Chevrolet 265B SRF
7
PHX
Ret
LBH
9
DET
Ret
POR CLE TOR MIS NHA 17th 21
Team Menard Lola T92/00 Buick V6 (t/c) IND
16
MIL
Dick Simon Racing Lola T93/00 Ford XB ROA
6
VAN
King Racing Chevrolet 265C MDO
Ret
NAZ
10
LS
14
1994 Team Menard Lola T93/00 Menard V6 (t/c) SRF PHX LBH IND
8
MIL DET POR CLE TOR 27th 5
A. J. Foyt Enterprises Lola T94/00 Ford XB MIS
Ret
MDO
17
NHA
Ret
VAN
17
ROA
Ret
NAZ
Ret
LS
Ret
1995 A. J. Foyt Enterprises Lola T95/00 Ford XB MIA
14
SRF
7
PHX
14
LBH
4
NAZ
5
IND
Ret
DET
Ret
POR
Ret
ROA
17
TOR
11
CLE
22
MIS
Ret
MDO
10
NHA
17
VAN LS 18th 33
Lola T94/00 MIL
Ret

IRL IndyCar Series results[]

Year Team Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Rank Points
1996 Team Menard Lola T95/00 Menard V6 (t/c) WDW
10
PHX
DNS
INDY
11
16th 49
1996–1997 Team Cheever Lola T95/00 Menard V6 (t/c) NHM
15
LVS
25
3rd 230
G-Force Oldsmobile WDW
1
PHX
12
INDY
23
TXS
6
PPIR
4
CLT
6
NH2
9
LV2
21
1998 Team Cheever Dallara Oldsmobile 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 Dallara Oldsmobile WDW
1
PHX
17
7th 222
Infiniti 25px USA
CLT
C1
INDY
18
TXS
16
PPIR
4
ATL
6
DOV
21
PPI2
11
LVS
17
TX2
4
2000 Team Cheever Riley & Scott Infiniti WDW
3
PHX
10
3rd 257
Dallara LVS
11
INDY
5
TXS
9
PPIR
1
ATL
21
KTY
4
TX2
2
2001 Team Cheever Dallara Infiniti 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 Dallara Infiniti 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 Dallara Honda HMS
10
STP
11
MOT INDY
13
WGL
17
TXS
17
RIR
14
KAN
14
NSH MIL MIS KTY SNM CHI 19th 114
1 The 1999 VisionAire 500K at Charlotte was cancelled after 79 laps due to spectator fatalities. Cheever qualified 18th.

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

Indianapolis 500 results[]

Year Chassis Engine Start Finish Team
1990 Penske PC-18 Chevrolet 265A 14 8 Chip Ganassi Racing
1991 Lola T91/00 Chevrolet 265A 10 31 Chip Ganassi Racing
1992 Lola T92/00 Ford XB 2 4 Chip Ganassi Racing
1993 Lola T92/00 Buick V6 (t/c) 33 16 Team Menard
1994 Lola T93/00 Menard V6 (t/c) 11 8 Team Menard
1995 Lola T95/00 Ford XB 14 31 A.J. Foyt Enterprises
1996 Lola T95/00 Menard V6 (t/c) 4 11 Team Menard
1997 G-Force Oldsmobile 11 23 Team Cheever
1998 Dallara Oldsmobile 17 1 Team Cheever
1999 Dallara Infiniti 16 18 Team Cheever
2000 Dallara Infiniti 10 5 Team Cheever
2001 Dallara Infiniti 26 25 Team Cheever
2002 Dallara Infiniti 6 5 Team Cheever
2006 Dallara Honda 19 13 Cheever Racing

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

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results[]

Year Class No Tyres Car Team Co-Drivers Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
1980 Gr.5 53 P Lancia Beta Monte Carlo
Lancia 1.4L Turbo I4
25px Italy Jolly Club - Lancia Corse 25px Italy Carlo Facetti
25px Italy Martino Finotto
272 19th* 2nd*
1981 Gr.5 65 P Lancia Beta Monte Carlo
Lancia 1.4L Turbo I4
25px Italy Martini Racing 25px Italy Michele Alboreto
25px Italy Carlo Facetti
322 8th 2nd
1986 C1 51 D Jaguar XJR-6
Jaguar 6.0L V12
25px Great Britain Silk Cut Jaguar
25px Great Britain Tom Walkinshaw Racing
25px Great Britain Derek Warwick
25px France Jean-Louis Schlesser
239 DNF DNF
1987 C1 4 D Jaguar XJR-8LM
Jaguar 6.9L V12
25px Great Britain Silk Cut Jaguar
25px Great Britain Tom Walkinshaw Racing
25px Brazil Raul Boesel
25px Netherlands Jan Lammers
325 5th 5th

* Cheever was listed as DNS

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Wicker, Ned. IndyCar Champion - A Season with Target/Chip Ganassi Racing, Motorbooks International, 1997, page 12

External links[]


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



Smallwikipedialogo.png This page uses some content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Eddie Cheever. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Autopedia, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

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