Eddie Cheever facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Eddie Cheever

Cheever at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2009
Born	Edward McKay Cheever Jr. (1958-01-10) January 10, 1958 (age 67) Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	American
Active years	1978, 1980–1989
Teams	Theodore, Hesketh, Osella, Tyrrell, Ligier, Renault, Alfa Romeo, Haas Lola, Arrows
Entries	143 (132 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	9
Career points	70
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First entry	1978 Argentine Grand Prix
Last entry	1989 Australian Grand Prix

Edward McKay Cheever Jr. (born January 10, 1958) is an American former racing driver. He raced for almost 30 years in many types of motorsport. These included Formula One, sports cars, and IndyCar.

Cheever took part in 143 Formula One races. He started 132 of them. This is more than any other American driver. He drove for nine different teams from 1978 to 1989. In 1996, he started his own IndyCar team, Team Cheever. He won the famous 1998 Indianapolis 500 race as both the owner and driver. His team later raced in sports car events.

His younger brother Ross Cheever, nephew Richard Antinucci, and son Eddie Cheever III also became racing drivers.

Growing Up and Early Racing

Even though Eddie Cheever was born in Phoenix, Arizona, he lived in Rome, Italy, when he was a child. He went to British and international schools there. He first learned about racing when he was eight years old. His dad took him to a sports car race in Monza, Italy.

Soon after, he started racing go-karts. By age 15, he had won both the Italian and European Karting Championships. He then moved up to higher levels of European racing. In 1975, he raced in Formula Three with another American driver, Danny Sullivan. He won an important race that year. In 1977, he finished second in the Formula Two championship. By the end of 1977, many people thought he was the most promising young driver outside of Formula One.

Formula One Racing

Cheever first joined Formula One in 1978, just after his 20th birthday. He tried to qualify for the first two races but didn't make it. He finally started a race in South Africa, but had to stop early. For the rest of 1978 and 1979, he focused on Formula Two.

Cheever driving for Tyrrell at the 1981 Dutch Grand Prix

In 1980, Cheever's team, Osella, moved up to Formula One. But their car was not very reliable. Cheever only finished one race that year. He kept switching teams to try and find a better car. In 1981, he scored points five times for the Tyrrell team. The next year, he earned three podium finishes (top three) for the Ligier team. One of these was a second-place finish at the 1982 Detroit Grand Prix.

The 1983 season was Cheever's best in Formula One. He joined the factory Equipe Renault team. His teammate was the French driver Alain Prost. Both were expected to do very well that year. Cheever got four more podiums and 22 championship points. He drove the Renault RE30C car at first, then the much better Renault RE40. His best finish for Renault was second place at the 1983 Canadian Grand Prix. He also had his highest ever starting position, second, at the 1983 French Grand Prix.

Cheever driving for Alfa Romeo at the 1985 German Grand Prix

After leaving Renault, Cheever raced for six more seasons in Formula One. He never drove another truly competitive car. He spent two difficult seasons with Alfa Romeo. Their engine was powerful but used a lot of fuel. This made it hard to finish races well. In 1985, Alfa Romeo announced they were leaving F1. This left Cheever without a team.

In 1986, Cheever raced in only one F1 Grand Prix. He filled in for an injured driver at the Detroit race for the Haas Lola team. He qualified well, starting tenth. Both cars had to stop early in the race due to steering problems.

For 1987, he joined the Arrows team. He and his teammate, Derek Warwick, were very close in performance. They often had exciting battles on the track. In 1988, he finished third at the 1988 Italian Grand Prix in Monza. This was a great result. It was one of the few races that year not won by the dominant McLaren-Honda cars.

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

His last podium finish came at the 1989 United States Grand Prix in his hometown of Phoenix. He battled for second place but his brakes started to fail. Cheever's last Formula One race was in Australia in 1989. He crashed his car during qualifying. In the race, he had to stop after spinning off the track.

In his final Formula One season, Cheever was still a good driver. But he struggled to qualify well. He took part in 143 Grand Prix races in total. He achieved nine podium finishes and scored 70 championship points. His best year was 1983, when he finished seventh in the championship.

CART Racing

From 1986 to 1988, while still in Formula One, Cheever won ten sports car races for Jaguar. In 1990, he moved to the United States to race in the CART series.

Cheever driving for Chip Ganassi Racing at Laguna Seca Raceway in 1991

In his first try at the Indianapolis 500 in 1990, he finished eighth. He was named the race's Rookie of the Year. He also won CART's Rookie of the Year award. In 1992, he started second in the Indy 500 and finished fourth. Overall, he had four podium finishes in the CART series, but he never won a race.

In 1995, while driving for A. J. Foyt's team, Cheever almost won a race at Nazareth. He was leading on the very last lap when his car ran out of fuel. In the 1995 Indianapolis 500, Cheever was involved in a big crash on the first lap.

Indianapolis 500 and Indy Racing League

In 1996, the Indy Racing League (IRL) started. Cheever moved from CART to race there. He raced for Team Menard in the first three-race series. At the 1996 Indianapolis 500, he set the fastest race lap ever at that time.

Cheever then started his own team, Team Cheever. He had his first race as a driver and owner in August 1996. In 1998, everything came together for Cheever. He won the biggest race of his career, the 1998 Indianapolis 500. He started from 17th place and led 76 of the 200 laps. He was the first owner-driver to win the race since A. J. Foyt in 1977.

Cheever's IRL team continued until 2006. He stopped driving full-time in 2002. However, he sometimes came out of retirement for special races. For example, he raced in the 2006 24 Hours of Daytona. On February 21, 2006, he announced he would race his own car in the first four IRL races, including the 2006 Indianapolis 500. He closed his team later that year because he couldn't find enough sponsors.

After his racing career, Cheever became a television commentator. He provided commentary for the IndyCar Series and the Indianapolis 500 on ABC from 2008 to 2018.

GP Masters Series

Eddie Cheever, Silverstone GP Masters, 2006

In 2005, Cheever competed in the GP Masters series. This series is for former Formula One drivers who are over 45 years old. In the very first GP Masters race in South Africa, Cheever finished eighth. He finished fourth in the second race in Qatar in 2006.

In the third GP Masters race on August 13, 2006, at the Silverstone Circuit in England, he won the race. The track was wet, making the victory even more impressive.

Personal Life

Eddie Cheever has a daughter and a son, Eddie Cheever III, with his ex-wife Rita Cheever. His son is also a racing driver. He also has another son from a previous relationship. In 2013, Cheever married Dianna, and they had a daughter later that year.

Racing Record

Career Summary

Complete European Formula Two Championship results

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

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key)

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1980	Jolly Club - Lancia Corse	Carlo Facetti Martino Finotto	Lancia Beta Monte Carlo	Gr.5	272	19th*	2nd*
1981	Martini Racing	Michele Alboreto Carlo Facetti	Lancia Beta Monte Carlo	Gr.5	322	8th	2nd
1986	Silk Cut Jaguar Tom Walkinshaw Racing	Derek Warwick Jean-Louis Schlesser	Jaguar XJR-6	C1	239	DNF	DNF
1987	Silk Cut Jaguar Tom Walkinshaw Racing	Raul Boesel Jan Lammers	Jaguar XJR-8LM	C1	325	5th	5th

* Cheever was listed as DNS

American Open-Wheel Results

(key)

CART Results

IRL IndyCar Series Results

¹ The 1999 VisionAire 500K at Charlotte was cancelled after 79 laps due to spectator fatalities. Cheever qualified 18th.

CART Career Summary

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

IRL IndyCar Career Summary

Indianapolis 500

International Race of Champions Results

(key) (Bold – Pole position. * – Most laps led.)

Complete Grand Prix Masters Results

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

See also

In Spanish: Eddie Cheever para niños